PROFESSOR  TOBY  MOTTRAM    ROYAL  AGRICULTURAL  UNIVERSITY  

 

Agri-monitoring with wireless sensor

networks

Professor Toby Mottram Royal Agricultural University

Cirencester, England Toby.mottram@rau.ac.uk

Rumen pH Bolus

l  Invented in 2003 in UK l  First publication: Mottram et al., 2008 l  Low pH means high digestible energy

-  high energy ? -  High digestibility ? -  High sugar grasses ?

l  Improves milk yields AND cow health l  Commercialised by 5 companies worldwide l  Www.ecow.co.uk l  Revising the diagnosis of SARA and ketosis

Rumen pH Bolus

l  Inserted  by  mouth  l  Retained  in  Re>culo-­‐rumen  l  Data  downloaded  by  radio  l  Uploaded  to  internet  l  Analysed  and  interpreted        

A high yielding herd

Low pH but regular feed pattern with cows not eating at night

Same herd after a feed change

AEer  a  feed  change,  pH  is  higher  and  cows  eat  more  at  night  

Temperature Measurement

Each drop in temperature is caused by a drinking event, five a day is good, something was wrong here, it seems the cows did not have close access to water at grass.

The Challenges

Soil moisture management Improves crop growth Reduces N2O emission Drainage and irrigation control

Soil nutrient & pH measurement Crop management

Water N measurement Control pollution Reduce algal bloom

History

Smartdust A US DARPA project for military applications

Wireless Sensor Network for soil water management

Next Stage

Biogradeable wireless nodes for soil and water Multiple sensors per node Better modelling to interpret data Toby.mottram@rau.ac.uk Sensors from www.ecow.co.uk