BF Spa is a company that operates in the cultivation and selling of agri-food products.
The company's assets currently consist of several agribusinesses located in the province of Ferrara, Arezzo, Oristano, and Grosseto with a total of about 9,300 hectares, which make it the largest Italian company by UAA (usable agricultural area).
Now the BF Spa Group includes Bonifiche Ferraresi, BF Agricola, S.I.S (Italian Seed Company, 42.12%), BF Agro-Industrial, Leopoldine, the Ghigi 1870 Company (pasta factory, 40.7%), BIA (leader in the production and selling of cous cous, 71.50%), CAI - Consorzi Agrari d'Italia (36.79%) and others.
In a historical moment when fewer and fewer hectares of land are available, and even more output is required, the company has decided to focus on precision farming, a direction that fits well with its desire to represent a National Champion, for the whole Italian agriculture.
Within this vision is located the partnership between BF and IBF Servizi, the first company that provides services in precision farming, making them accessible to farms of all sizes.
THE NEED
The fundamental need is to keep costs under control in one of the company's businesses: animal husbandry, specifically beef cattle breeding.
BF currently has two farms of this type, the first in Jolanda di Savoia (Ferrara) and the second in Arborea (Oristano). Both farms are large, with about 5,000 cows each, and already equipped with 4.0 technologies (e.g., for feeding).
The need was double:
- Monitoring, in real time, animal weight gain and cows health according to modern "one-health" principles, a joint effort of different professional disciplines (human and veterinary medicine, agrifood sector, environment, research and communication, business and others) which work, locally, nationally and globally, with a common purpose that can be summarized in three fundamental objectives:
- Prevent and reduce infections, especially those related to healthcare
- Promote and ensure cautious use of antimicrobials
- Minimize the incidence and spread of antibiotics and related risks to human and animal health.
- Monitor costs associated to animal feeding and the effectiveness of the feed mix related to weight gain.
Before Npo Sistemi's work, the company relied on a tool into which, only at the end of the month, the data and feed consumption records were manually uploaded. However, it was essential that the gathering was done not only automatically, but also in real time. Preventing and identifying any problems in feed administration, would in fact have allowed to act proactively and safeguard animals’ health. In particular, for the stable in Sardinia, the project was particularly important because it is a weaning stable, with newborn calves, so health monitoring, especially during the first months of life, is even more delicate.
SOLUTION
The solution given by Npo Sistemi was the combination of several technologies precisely because of the varied and innovative nature of the project: in fact, there is no single solution on the market that can achieve the required result.
Therefore, given the nature of the project, it was proposed to start with the implementation of a solution for the Jolanda di Savoia stable. The environment of the stable, moreover, with the presence of about 5,000 moving bulls and acidic materials, made the successful implementation of the project and the application of advanced technologies particularly challenging.
The first part of the project related to animal weight monitoring.
In this case, Npo Sistemi set up two garages with custom-built RFID scales under the trough. These are custom-made scales to detect the weight of the bull. An RFID TAG was also sticked to each cow behind the identification earpiece.
Every time the bull goes to drink, it is uniquely identified and weighed. In the past, weighing was done only at the beginning and end of the cow’s tenure cycle, usually 6 months, so no intermediate detection was available, act in a proactive way in case of animal sickness or poor growth was impossible.
In addition to this, the weight acquired by the cow at the end of the tenure cycle profoundly affects its value: therefore understanding if the growth is occurring according to proper standards is crucial.
The second part of the project related to consumption monitoring.
In this case, the feed mixer wagons, already equipped and already in 4.0 technology, in which veterinarians load diets, were used. Previously, however, it was not possible to understand the amount of feed given per stable.
The carts have therefore been equipped with an external RFID antenna and a tablet, from which the operator can command the unloading of feed from the silos. The operator, therefore, is now only required to start unloading the silos, which, having reached the estimated weight, will stop automatically.
Moreover, when the wagon passes by the silos, the weight is read at the RFID tags. In this way, it is possible to understand in real time how much product has been unloaded for each box.
Then, as mentioned earlier, every animal is tagged and identified: in this way is possible to know which animals are in the silos and consequently calculate per-capita consumption, as well as other indicators, such as the growth curve, to detect in advance any anomalies in feed assumption and thus any health problems for the animal.
Npo Sistemi also implemented a Computer Vision solution that, thanks to cameras and an Artificial Intelligence system, made it possible to extend the project to the other stables by extrapolating data from the first two stalls and replicating it then, for the other stables.
Moreover, the solution lead to a more efficient and easier communication between business departments: all extracted data is sent in real time to the control system, which, via a web-based dashboard, allows the technical and veterinary staff to constantly monitor the progress of the stable.
"We had several fun "accidents" along the way. When the cameras were installed, the team had to place them at a height of 2 meters, working near to strange spectators, bulls of about 800Kg that considered the ladder rather tasty. Basically, it was also a fun job, I was impressed by the preparation, professionalism and innovation converging in the solution of the Npo Sistemi team that managed to solve all the critical issues and thus enable, an innovative project."
Luca Bonaretti - BF Group IT Manager
