ThermlAid – Keeping Cows Cool and Profitable
A new product that can help animal farmers reduce a billion dollar problem in heat-related losses was recently released by the University of Missouri.
ThermalAid is a smart phone app that monitors heat-related stresses on beef and dairy cattle and alerts farmers when there is a health problem. The app also recommends which intervention strategy will be most effective. The 99 cent app receives temperature and humidity data from the weather service according to the GPS location of the user. The farmer tells the app if it is beef or dairy cow, if it is in the barn or outside, if it is on the pasture or feed lot, its health status, and other information.
With that, the app calculates the animal’s Temperature Humidity Index, or the THI. If the THI is not stressful, the app shows green for that cow. If heat stress is an issue, the color goes to yellow and then orange. Red indicates a life-threatening condition. The farmer can also measure each cow’s respiration rate, a good indicator of heat stress impact on the animal. A built-in timer can assist the user to record the respiration rate.
posted by Tiffany Haslacker
07/29/2013
