A smart collar for cows could revolutionize farming - The Hustle

A smart collar for cows could revolutionize farming

Halter is a New Zealand-based startup bringing farming into the future with smart collars for cows.

WHAT’S THE DEAL?
  • There were 93.6m cattle and calves on US farms in January 2021
  • The total US farm income from dairy products in 2020 was $40.4B
  • Halter aims to save farmers 20-40 hours per week and increase pasture utilization by up to 10%
A high-tech system that can control your farm from your phone? Holy cow! New Zealand agtech startup Halter is bringing farming into the future with GPS-enabled solar-powered collars for dairy cows that connect to a smartphone app.

Through their phones, farmers can lead herds.

The collars gently vibrate to lead the cows, and the company says cows can be trained to navigate using the collar within 4-5 days. Virtual fences keep the cows in designated areas, and audio cues from the collar will alert cows if they’re nearing a fence — a short pulse will stop a cow from exiting should they keep moving. Total automation over cows’ movements allows farmers to save 20-40 hours per week and increase pasture utilization by up to 10%.

The collars also send real-time alerts.

The app can let a farmer know if a cow is sick or in heat. Best of all, all these insights are made possible by the company’s unique set of algorithms aptly named… Cowgorithm (can’t make this sh*t up). Halter just raised a $32m round of funding and is expanding to farms in another region of New Zealand. By the way, in case you’ve ever wondered why cows have hooves instead of feet… It’s because they lactose. (Have an idea for a Cool AF Business story? Tell us about it here.)
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Topics: Agriculture

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