M&S has become the first retailer to use AI-powered monitoring systems on its entire milk pool to monitor animal welfare across 46 dairy farms.
The tool uses cameras to capture footage of dairy cows when they are indoors, which is then analysed using an algorithm trained alongside vets to monitor the welfare of cows in real time.
The retailer said this move represented a “new standard for animal welfare in dairy cows”.
The tool uses AI-powered video analytics to build an individual health profile for each animal, tracking mobility and body condition scoring over time including lying time, feeding time, social interactions and mobility.
This then creates a ‘cow comfort score’, which supports vets in their assessment of an individual cow’s health, and gives farmers objective, consistent data on the wellbeing of their herd.
“Changes in body condition are early indicators of metabolic health, fertility, and overall wellbeing,” said CEO of Cattle Eye, Terry Canning. “Tracking those changes more regularly, across every cow, gives farmers a level of insight that was previously unavailable outside research environments.”
The algorithm supporting the tool has been tested and found to perform to the same standard as a trained welfare assessor, M&S said.
“M&S has always had market-leading welfare standards, and as we continue to support British farmers in this latest evolution of welfare monitoring, powered by AI, it will support farmers to give the best care to dairy cows,” said Peter Kennedy, head of agriculture at M&S Food. “This latest innovation supports our Plan A for farming to build resilience in British farming and continue to raise the bar on animal welfare.”
The tools are being rolled out following trials at a selection of M&S dairy farms, where farmers have used the technology to make changes to tailor care to individual cows’ needs including changes to feeding times, bedding and stall design.
“M&S has set a standard that the rest of the industry will be measured against. Deploying AI welfare monitoring across an entire supply chain is a first,” said Canning. “This means we can give farmers and consumers peace of mind that productive herds can be healthy herds.”
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