Agroninja creates innovative cattle weighing smartphone app
After a successful trial in Hungary, the business is set to roll out the ‘Beefie’ application across the European market.
The app is designed to enable a farmer to get an accurate record of weight of an animal by taking just a picture, which saves on operation costs and reduces stress for the animal.
The technology uses photographs captured from two to six metres away and is linked to an external device to calculate weight, giving a 95% accurate reading. The application takes into account the condition, breed, gender and general appearance of an animal based on user input, which creates an entry with the animal’s individual ID number.
The start-up firm claimed there had previously been no such tools available for livestock owners, who are normally forced to estimate weight based on inspection.
“Every farmer knows exactly how important and delicate the weighing of cattle is,” said Beefie co-founder Gergely Boromisza. “Knowing the exact weight is the key to optimising feeding, healing and inseminating as well.”
With the problems regarding cattle weighing, Boromisza founded Agroninja and began developing a new digital scale that would utilise advanced algorithms and data analysis with standard handheld technology to weigh animals where they stood and without moving them at all.
“I found this problem so fascinating that I bought a pair of wellingtons and spend half of last year in fields,” added Boromisza. “We took more than 2,000 measuring tests personally on the most important breeds. I was sure that if we understood the problem in detail, we would be able to build a technological solution for it.”
The start-up will showcase the app at the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture event in Utrecht, the Netherlands from 21-22 June.
