The impact of artificial intelligence and new technologies on modern farming

The agricultural industry is undergoing changes thanks to the introduction of digital solutions. Farmer George McMaster began his career milking eight cows by hand and visually inspecting the livestock, but today he monitors a herd of 300 head via a video feed from an AI-powered camera in the milking parlour on his farm near Islandmagee, County Antrim. The algorithm assigns each cow an individual identifier, records a short video clip daily, analyses it, and detects changes before a human would notice them.

George's son, Jack McMaster, notes that the CattleEye application helps to promptly spot lameness and emergency situations in livestock before they lose condition and fall ill. According to him, good cow health increases milk yield. At Caleb Howard's farm near Coagh in County Tyrone, 90 Jersey cows autonomously enter and exit a robotic milking system, which increases overall farm efficiency. The development of such processes was facilitated by the rollout of high-speed internet under Project Stratum, as reported by Colin Hutchinson from Fibrus. Such connectivity has simplified operations and allowed Howard to open a farm shop with an electronic payment system.

Robert Smith keeps 100 dairy cows near Randalstown, County Antrim, and uses digital record-keeping instead of paper logs. This makes it possible to quickly generate reports for medicine and feed audits. Developer Gareth Macdonald compares the FarmDrive application to a social network for cows, where each individual has a profile with all the information. At the same information, the developer emphasises that artificial intelligence does not replace humans, but acts as an advisor to promptly provide the necessary information.

Former Ulster Farmers' Union president Ian Marshall compares the revolutionary impact of artificial intelligence to the invention of the tractor three-point linkage system by Harry Ferguson about a century ago. He believes that big data processing and digitalisation will help farmers achieve their goals, fulfil obligations, and ensure the production of high-quality and eco-friendly produce.