Dutch pig innovation award for weighing without scales
The annual contest of most promising pig innovation in the Netherlands has been won by a novelty to weigh pigs using camera images, without the use of scales.
It was the 9th edition of the contest, which is officially called “Het beste idee van Varkensland” (which roughly translates to “The Best Idea in the Pig Community”). The winning innovation, developed by ICT expert Pieter Hoenderken, revolves around the use of artificial intelligence, which will help translate the dimensions of a pig into its weight – a process that can be done using fixed cameras. The intention behind the concept is to create a portable solution that the pig farmer can use to move around the barn.
The idea grew on Hoenderken, an expert from the city Doetinchem with 40 years of experience in data centres, when he started to set up a 4G network in agricultural areas.
Monitoring pig growth and health
Monitoring pig growth and health are important issues – as one of the main targets of producing swine is to get them to slaughter in a uniform manner. In case of deviation from the average, something may be wrong. Hence Hoenderken’s claim that the innovation can even contribute to improving pig welfare.
The technology is initially being prepared to determine the correct pig delivery weight. In the long term, it will be possible to monitor the development of pigs with the invention and link that to the management system.
The jury chose this idea as it was the most complete – scoring well on all points that the jury included in the assessment. That included questions like: does the innovation contribute to sustainability? Does it help to work in a future-proof manner? Is it innovative? Is it good for animal welfare and animal health? Does it lead to emission reduction? Is it scalable? 6 innovations submitted in total.
Audience award
Apart from the jury award, there was also an audience award – this prize went to Jari Vogels and Sydney Schipper. On behalf of The Pig Story – an initiative by 50 pig producers in the Netherlands to share what pig production is about – they two launched the initiative of “Customised Sector Promotion.” With a flowchart and a so-called PigStoryBuddy (a chatbot), pig producers could determine which form of sector promotion suits them.
