A Review of Passive Radio Frequency Identification Systems for Animal Monitoring in Livestock Facilities

Abstract

Abstract. Animal facilities are increasing in size, while the availability of skilled workers is decreasing, thus, making it difficult for the farm laborers to ensure the health and well-being of all animals under their care. Passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems have been successfully used in animal facilities and research has identified potential applications in behavior monitoring for automated illness detection. While RFID signals range in frequency from 9 kHz to 5.8 GHz, the three most common frequencies are Low Frequency (LF, 125 kHz or 134.2 kHz), High Frequency (HF, 13.56 MHz), and Ultra-High Frequency (UHF, 865-868 MHz or 902-928 MHz). The objective of this article is to compare and evaluate the application of these three different RFID systems within large research facilities for livestock and poultry in terms of hardware characteristics, system design, and data processing and usage. Differences in tag construction, availability and cost are evident, but also basic differences in reader and antenna function, such as physics of communication, speed of detection, and anti-collision procedures exist. The systems have significant differences in reading ranges and are known to have varying influence of materials, especially water and metal, on the performance of the systems. However, the data streams, as well as methods of data processing and the creation of events (e.g., visits to a feeder), are similar for all systems. The characteristics mentioned do not necessarily identify an ideal RFID technology but reveal positive and negative aspects of each system. The three different RFID systems have been successfully applied in livestock and poultry facilities. Current research is focused on the utilization of the RFID data in prediction and decision models for illness, animal welfare, and management actions. Keywords: Behavior, Cattle, Frequency ranges, Health and welfare, Poultry, Swine, Transponder.

Setup, Test and Validation of a UHF RFID System for Monitoring Feeding Behaviour of Dairy Cows

“…To fill in the resulting reading gaps, the raw registrations had to be aggregated to visiting events. For this, a bout criterion was applied as described in Brown-Brandl et al [ 13 ]. A bout criterion is the maximum allowed interval between two readings of the same tag so that both readings are part of the same visiting event.…”

“…Recently, researchers have applied especially UHF RFID technology for measuring different behaviours of pigs [ 10 ], poultry [ 11 ] and cattle [ 12 ]. Like LF RFID technology, which is commonly used for mandatory animal identification and also management applications, UHF RFID is based on passive transponders, which do not require a battery [ 13 ]. The advantages of UHF RFID in comparison to other RFID frequencies are a flexible and high reading range up to 12 m and the ability to detect over 100 animals per second.…”

“…Thus, UHF RFID systems need to be adapted and tested thoroughly within new application environments. A detailed overview about properties of different RFID frequencies, validation procedures for RFID systems and the possibilities to use the data from these systems has been given by Brown-Brandl et al [ 13 ].…”

Recent Advances in Passive UHF-RFID Tag Antenna Design for Improved Read Range in Product Packaging Applications: A Comprehensive Review

“…Electromagnetic radio signals behave uniquely at each of these frequencies, and there are merits and demerits associated with each. For example, LF passive RFID tags have a slower data read rate due to their low frequency, but has high capabilities to read near or on metal or liquid surfaces [5]. HF and UHF passive RFID tags, on the other hand, have faster data transfer rates and longer read ranges that increase with their operating frequencies, but they are also highly sensitive to radio wave interference caused by metals and liquids in the embedded environment [6].…”

A Survey of Dairy Cattle Behavior in Different Barns in Northern Italy

“…In recent years, the behavior, health and welfare of reared animals, and specifically of dairy cattle, have been increasingly put under pressure by extreme heat wave events. If not managed with proper cooling solutions, the hot periods, which hit during summer in temperate climates, negatively affect the Farming (PLF), which is a multidisciplinary science that allows us to manage animals by individually adopting a continuous real-time monitoring of health, welfare, production and reproduction aspects and their environmental impact [26,27].…”