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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 50(6)

Global navigation satellite system livestock tracking: system development and data interpretation

M. G. Trotter A B D , D. W. Lamb A B D , G. N. Hinch B C and C. N. Guppy A B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information, 723 Swanston Street, Carlton, Vic. 3053, Australia.

B Precision Agriculture Research Group, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.

C School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: parg@une.edu.au

Animal Production Science 50(6) 616-623 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN09203
Submitted: 15 December 2009  Accepted: 14 April 2010   Published: 11 June 2010

Abstract

The use of global satellite navigation system tracking as a research tool for monitoring livestock activity is increasing. Commercial systems are being developed for the livestock industry. This paper reports on the development of a low-cost, store-on-board Global Positioning System collar suitable for large-scale deployment in livestock herds. A robust collar design that avoids the necessity of external cables has been designed and was tested on beef cattle in western New South Wales. Configured for alternating wake and sleep modes to conserve battery life, the collars obtained a positional fix on 99.9% of attempts. Numerous alternatives for presenting extracted data, based on average diurnal activity, mean daily velocity, Livestock Residence Index and dry sheep equivalent maps are introduced and discussed.


Acknowledgements

This work was partially funded by the CRC for Spatial Information (CRCSI), established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program. The authors wish to acknowledge the significant contribution of Brad Dawson (UNE Science and Engineering Workshop) in fabricating the UNEtracker chipset and Derek Schneider (UNE Precision Agriculture Research Group), Nick Barton, Neil Arnold and Luke Gleeson (Twynam Agriculture Group) for their assistance in the deployment of collars.


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