"Apple Watch for cows" — HerdDogg's latest biometric agtech
HerdDogg Launches First Commercially Available Long-Range Smart Tags for Livestock Care
HerdDogg announced the general availability of its long-range ear tags for livestock, part of the company’s broader data collection and analysis platform that enables producers to monitor animal health and farm-to-fork traceability.
HerdDogg’s DoggTags use Bluetooth 5 technology to capture sensor data within an active smart tag attached to the animal’s ear that reads at distances of 100 yards or more — much farther than with RFID or other short-range tags — and delivers real-time alerts, animal location, and health information.
The company’s patented technology is a small, lightweight tag designed for easy installation on cattle, bison and other livestock. The HerdDogg’s TraceTag reports identification and location and lasts up to five years, while the HerdDogg WelfareTag tracks animal biometrics and lasts up to two years. Both tags have LEDs that can be turned on directly from any smart phone.
HerdDogg’s portable tag reader, the DoggBone is a Bluetooth-to-cellular bridge engineered for remote monitoring of livestock and can read tags at a distance of 100 yards or more. Sensor data is stored and forwarded from the hardware into the HerdDogg platform, which supports both mobile and web users. Animal data is transmitted in real time and producers can augment animal records with their own insights and reporting.
“We’re bringing Bluetooth 5 technology to an application for which it is ideally suited: beef cattle. Our Bluetooth 5 tags ensure that animals can spend more time in the field and can be remotely monitored over longer distances,” said Melissa Brandao, HerdDogg's founder and chief revenue officer. “The DoggBone is powerful enough to gather at long distances but portable enough to be moved with your herd or attached to a drone for herd visibility in remote areas.”
Traditional RFID and other tag technologies have fallen short of producer requirements because of their limited readability and minimal data collection abilities. In contrast, the HerdDogg platform enables automated data capture and analytics at an individual animal level, which reduces animal handling and improves accuracy. Leveraging Bluetooth 5, the HerdDogg technology is offered at a far lower out-of-pocket cost to producers. The rich animal data sets it delivers can be easily shared with livestock buyers, which in turn increases animal value.
Brandao added: “We’re bringing technology to the herd in the field where they want to be, and data to the producers, wherever they need to be. That has been our vision from the start.”
Chase Lockhart of the Lockhart Cattle Company clearly understands these benefits. The Wyoming-based 100% grass-fed producer said:
“I want my cattle to spend as much time as they can in the field where their food is. It’s a game-changer for me if I don’t have to round them up for health checks or herd counts. The less you mess with your cattle, the healthier they are. That’s good for both the cattle and the consumer.”
About HerdDogg Inc.
HerdDogg is passionate about livestock. Its innovative data platform sits at the intersection of agtech, the internet of things, and global food security. Our patented DoggTags and DoggBone, together with our Animal Traceability Platform, help producers make more money from every animal they raise. The HerdDogg system enables animal tracking, welfare monitoring and traceability in an easy-to-use application. For more information, visit herddogg.com.
