406 Bovine, a provider of facial recognition software for livestock, is working on the adoption of artificial intelligence in animal agriculture applications.

Early applications for artificial intelligence in agriculture have been focused on row crop and land management applications. However, applications to animal agriculture are gaining attention as producers realize the value that can be generated and captured by implementing technology that utilizes artificial intelligence into their operations.

USDA estimates that the total market value of livestock in 2022 was more than $260 billion, with most of the value in beef cattle ($89 billion) followed by dairy ($52 billion), hogs and pigs ($36 billion), sheep and goats ($1.1 billion), and horses ($2 billion).

Artificial intelligence applications in animal agriculture fall into several primary categories: value creation, value capture and cost savings. Specific artificial intelligence applications range from animal identification and weight determination to optimizing genetics and feed intake to increasing production efficiency and market value.


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The 406 Bovine facial recognition solution is focused on animal identification and uses a database of more than six million animal images to train its artificial intelligence algorithms to identify individual animals quickly and reliably. After extensive field testing and model improvement, the 406 Bovine application is operating with more than 99% accuracy across all common cattle breeds.

406 Bovine has a Patent Cooperation Treaty, multination patent pending in the U.S on animal facial recognition. This patent is the first and only livestock biometrics patent that enables fast, accurate and permanent animal identification using facial recognition to identify livestock and companion animals.

Ranchers invest time and money to make incremental herd improvements. Most ranchers use ear tags to track and manage individual animals. However, losing that tag means a loss of identification and exclusion from many value-added programs.

By utilizing 406 Bovine facial recognition, ranchers can maintain individual animal identification and capture the value they have added to their herds. The 406 Bovine app is used to improve management of cattle herds and track information that helps ranchers make informative decisions that aid in making critical management choices. All the information collected may be stored and accessed on their smartphone.

Bryan Elliott, founder and CEO of 406 Bovine, said, "Artificial intelligence in animal production is in its infancy but we have already seen 406 Bovine customers use facial recognition to track program cattle with added value, replace DNA identification, and streamline data collection."

Elliott said, "406 Bovine is the only true permanent, individual animal identification option on the market, so our customers use the technology for a wide range of applications, from replacing brands and ear tags to serving as a backup identification method for program-specific cattle. Our customers are continually finding new and innovative ways to apply facial recognition technology to their operations, and we will continue to update the 406 Bovine service to meet their evolving needs."

The resources required to design, build, test and implement artificial intelligence solutions are significant. 406 Bovine has raised funds from angel investors and is currently accepting investors for subsequent funding rounds.

Elliott said, "As artificial intelligence utility increases and technology unit costs decrease, we believe 406 Bovine is positioned for long-term growth as a leading provider of artificial intelligence solutions to animal agriculture."

Source: 406 Bovine