A new study on precision farming has demonstrated the importance of collecting big data on swine farms, having those transformed into decision making tools and thus maximising profitability. Essentially, such a management system needs to be developed in 5 steps.
Data collection
The authors wrote that data are the raw material of the system and can come from human inputs or sensor-robots. Until now, data consisted only of numbers, but the sector is coming closer to the use of images and sounds.
Data processing
Data processing is related to the manipulation of data, including several tasks such as validation, sorting or aggregation, management of outliers and missing data. The objective is the correct set-up of databases that allows proper information generation, overcoming interoperability problems.
Reporting
From sow cards or working lists up to multivariate regression analysis to define the optimum value for a certain key performance indicator, every farm or company must decide the information needed from every work level, not forgetting that this could be either technical, economical, or a combination of the 2.
Distribution
The objective of this step is sending the right information to the right person at the right time. User preferences must also be considered and can include various types.
Analytics and decision making
Information must be readable and understood by the recipient, and the recipient must have sufficient time to make key decisions. Until now, analytics were aimed at being mainly explanatory, but due to the amount of quality data available, predictive analytics is becoming a key step.
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