‘Fitbit for cows’ helps farmers get more milk out of their cattle

Photo credit: Jeena Paradies .

Dairy farming is one of the biggest industries in Pakistan, with an estimated 42 billion liters of milk production per year. With approximately 63 million animals producing milk, and over eight million households involved in the trade, the country ranks as the fourth-highest milk producing nation globally.

Despite these rosy numbers, average milk yields per cow are abysmally low – estimated at only four to five liters per day during the lactation cycle. This pales in comparison to the United States – incidentally the world’s highest milk producing country – where cows yield on average 32 liters per day.

The reason behind low yields boils down to primitive agricultural practices. Farmers rely on techniques that are several decades-old, and the concept of large, monitored dairy farms is almost non-existent. They also fail to utilize technology, which is commonly done in the West.

It instantly recognizes it is now installed on a cow

That’s the problem Cowlar wishes to solve. The startup makes a tracking wearable for cows and buffaloes that helps farmers increase milk yields by up to 15 percent, it claims.

“In Pakistan and other developing markets farmers often fail to detect when their cows are in heat,” explains Umer Adnan, co-founder of Cowlar. “Hence they can’t inseminate the cow in time and milk production goes down.”

Drink more milk

Cowlar’s wearable constantly monitors the temperature and behavior of the animal through motion-sensing trackers. Umer claims it can determine when the cow is eating, sleeping, mating, and any other significant activity. The data is then fed back into an algorithm which determines things like the health of the cow, its predicted heat cycle, and any irregularities in behavior.

“There’s no on switch [for the gizmo],” says Umer. “It instantly recognizes it is now installed on a cow.”

The wearable itself is developed by e4 technologies, the startup’s parent company. Among other things, the company also develops products for wireless crop monitoring, energy optimization, and motion tracking for sports.

Umer’s background is in mechatronics and electrical engineering, while his co-founder is trained in robotics. He says the size of the global market opportunity is “approximately US$400 billion,” and they’re building solutions for both small-scale and advanced dairy farms.

Cowlar’s trials in Pakistan have been fairly successful. Umer says they’ve managed to increase milk yields between 8 and 14 percent.

Boon for farmers