Robotic milking systems (RMS) have been demonstrated to reduce on-farm labour requirements and collect significant individual-level data in relation to animal health, welfare and production, but they are still largely underutilised. Studies on the relationship between heat stress, animal behaviour and robotic milking performance in a RMS are still insufficient. To model such a relationship, this study

Visual monitoring of behaviour on-farm is mostly challenging due to the number of animals to be observed and the time required. However, behavioural problems such as cannibalism in turkeys may be preceded by subtle changes in behaviour. Machine learning techniques allow automatic behavioural monitoring of livestock to be carried out under different farming conditions. The aim of this study was to develop

The study extracts representative features to train a model with supervised machine learning (ML) to detect powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca macularis f. sp. fragariae) on the strawberry leaves. Powdery mildew (PM) is a fungal disease that greatly affects the production of strawberry and usually infects under conditions of warming temperatures and high humidity. In this research, we report robust models

Body condition scoring (BCS) gives a relative measure of subcutaneous body fat available as energy reserves in the dairy cow. It is an important management tool for maximising milk production and reproduction efficiency while reducing the incidence of metabolic and peripartum diseases. The feasibility of estimating the BCS by computer vision has been demonstrated in recent research. However, the techniques

The effects of compaction pressures at 50, 130, and 210 kPa on airflow resistance on different classes of paddy rice (long thin, long, and short) were evaluated. The pressure drop was analysed by fitting the Shedd, Ergun, and Hukill & Ives models to the experimental data. The results indicated that differences in the mass compaction percentages were due to the compaction pressure rather than the distinct

To counteract heat stress in dairy cows, a more reliable and efficient method for monitoring the activity of dairy cows and ambient environmental conditions should be developed. This research presents a cost-effective embedded imaging system that is capable of monitoring the drinking behaviour of dairy cows, while ambient temperature and humidity are simultaneously and continuously recorded with the

The knowledge of bioenergetics and building ventilation rate in intensive livestock housing is important for efficient design and operation of modern animal production facilities. However, information is limited about ventilation performance and house-level heat and moisture production rates of laying hens in contemporary cage-free facilities. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (i) to determine

A greenhouse climate-crop yield model was adapted to include additional climate modification techniques suitable for enabling sustainable greenhouse management at high latitudes. Additions to the model were supplementary lighting, secondary heating and heat harvesting technologies. The model: 1) included the impact of different light sources on greenhouse air temperature and tomato production 2) included

As availability of skilled harvest labour is in decline, the sustainability of fresh market apple production in the USA is threatened. A mass mechanical harvesting of apples offers an alternative and promising solution. In addition to harvester design elements, it is important to understand the key canopy parameters of apple trees as they are closely integrated and interact with each other during the

Flower and fruitlet thinning can be an effective method of improving the yield and quality of fruit. Automatic detection flowers and fruits at different growth stages is essential for the intelligent management of apple orchards. The further segmentation of blossom areas contributes to extracting detailed growth information of apple flowers. However, the precise detection and segmentation of blossom

The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS), large eddy simulation (LES), and coupled level set-volume of fluid (CLSVOF) methods were used to numerically investigate the breakup characteristics of three-dimensional unsteady circular jets. The jet breakup lengths and initial amplitudes of the surface waves of the jets from nozzles with different geometries were measured in a high-speed photography (HSP)

Measuring the ventilation rate is crucial to ensuring the control of thermal comfort, energy saving, and emission of pollutants in greenhouses and animal houses. This is more difficult in naturally ventilated (NV) buildings because of the dynamic and complex air flow patterns caused by wind and buoyancy effects. In this study, a user-friendly computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulator is developed

Power transmission is a critical component of agricultural tractor designs and more demanding requirements have been placed on transmissions due to the complexities of their operational environments. However, economic performance is usually sacrificed in favour of using high-powered engines to satisfy the dynamic performance requirements related to power. In this study, a new power-cycle hydro-mechanical

A solar illumination design with fluorescent coatings to change in crop growth in vertical farms was investigated using simulations based on numerical analysis. The fluorescent reflectors were used as part of the lighting system to improve the irradiation for photosynthesis over the shelves. The reflectors were based on optical glass (BK7) embedded with fluorescent pigments (K2SiF6:Mn4+) and were used

The surface temperature of all-weather racetracks has previously been correlated to speed. However specific functional properties such as grip, cushioning and impact firmness have not been directly compared to environmental conditions. The objective of this study was to assess how temperature influences functional properties of racetracks, and categorise surface wax binders according to first thermal

Adopting an automatic gear-shifting strategy for agricultural tractors can be an important factor affecting fuel consumption, and a reasonable gear-shifting strategy can effectively improve fuel economy. However, as an important part of the resistance exerted on the tractor–implement combination during tillage, the draught force of the implement strongly influences the driving state of the tractor

Vegetable crop productivity is susceptible to damage from weed competition, with early season weeds a control priority to prevent significant yield loss. There is an urgent need for a reliable robotic sensing system that can work well in a variety of crops to achieve universal weed/crop differentiation, which would facilitate further development in robotic technologies for farming and bring economic

Since honey bees are one of the most important actors in the whole world, it is important to follow the life of these insects in order to preserve them from danger, via a range of risk factors such as Colony Collapse Disorder, pesticides, pests etc. Therefore it is important to identify any abnormalities inside the honey bee colony at an early stage, which may be possible using modern technologies

Monitoring crop development and accurately estimating crop yield are important to improve field management and crop production. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing system in cotton yield estimation. A UAV system, equipped with an RGB camera, a multispectral camera, and an infrared thermal camera, was used to acquire images of a cotton

Monitoring pests and diseases is an extremely important activity for increasing productivity in agriculture. In this scenario, remote sensing, coupled with techniques of machine learning, offer new prospects for monitoring and identifying characteristic specific patterns, such as manifestations of diseases, pests, and water and nutritional stress. The aim was to use high spatial resolution aerial images

In order to minimise nutrient losses, comprehensive overviews of the magnitude of gaseous emissions from manure composting processes and the factors that influence these losses are urgently needed. This study presents a meta-analysis of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and ammonia (NH3) emissions from four main dairy manure composting methods (static, turning, windrow and silo) based on 41 scientific articles

A portable visible and near-infrared (Vis/NIR) device could evaluate and monitor internal qualities of fruit on-tree, as well as during storage conditions after harvest. A portable Vis/NIR device which consisted of a commercial spectrometer in the spectral range of 400–1000 nm, an interactance fibre optic probe, a novel switch system, and a microcontroller, was developed and its ability for apple soluble

Greenhouses shelter the crop from unfavourable environmental conditions and the covering largely contributes to creating beneficial growing conditions inside. There is no perfect greenhouse cover for all combinations of crop and climatic regions. Usually a greenhouse cover has permanent optical properties determining the amount of solar radiation entering the greenhouse. Consequently during crop growth

Foliage density and spatial distribution affect droplet dispersion and deposition inside the plant canopy in pesticide spraying. Quantitative expression of foliage density and spatial distribution would contribute to improving pesticide spraying effect. Stratification porosity was proposed to describe density and spatial distribution of cotton foliage in this paper, and an estimation model of stratification

The visual recognition of green fruits in natural environments is always a difficult problem for agricultural robots due to the colour similarity between fruits and background. This study proposed a green fruit detection method named deep bounding box regression forest (DBBRF) for detecting green citrus in natural environments. First, probabilistic class labels were designed for image patches used

Valparaíso, a central-southern region in Chile, has one of the highest rates of wildfire occurrence in the country. The constant threat of fires is mainly due to its highly flammable forest plantation, composed of 97.5% Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus globulus. Fuel moisture content is one of the most relevant parameters for studying fire spreading and risk, and can be estimated from the reflectance of

Behaviour and physiological responses (e.g. respiratory rate and cloacal temperature) could be an indication of the thermal comfort or discomfort of broilers chicks. This study aimed to estimate the cloacal temperature (CT) of chicks in response to different intensities and durations of thermal exposure during the first week of life using a fuzzy inference system (FIS) and a fuzzy genetic algorithm

Ammonia and carbon dioxide are the most relevant among the harmful gases present in broiler houses and their effects on animal health depend on concentration and exposure time. Inside these houses, increasing ventilation is the most common strategy adopted to control the concentration of these gases. This strategy is effective but increases electrical energy consumption (for fan operation) and thermal

Thresholds of heat stress are identified by determining the values of thermal comfort indices with significant change of animal responses. However, published thresholds may lead to inaccuracy when dealing with specific climate conditions, animal breeds and production factors. Thus, determining dynamic thresholds might provide better assessment of heat stress, with self-calibration capabilities. In

Thermal comfort indices (TCIs) have been developed to assess heat stress and model the relationship between thermal parameters (e.g. dry-bulb temperature) and animal responses (e.g. daily milk yield, DMY). The published models typically include temperature humidity index (THI), black globe humidity index, environmental stress index, equivalent temperature index, heat load index, respiration rate index

Currently the temperature humidity index (THI) is a common method of evaluating the risk of heat stress in cows by employing climatic parameters. However, the THI is a general and indirect indicator that fails to consider individual cows. Various studies have used animal-related parameters to account for the heat load of individual cows. This review provides an overview of different heat stress indicators

The sequence pattern mining method aims to identify frequent sequences that exceed a user-specified support threshold. The present study uses the same approach based on sequential standards to estimate the heat stress of broilers from a resulting behavioural pattern. Experimental data were recorded in a climate chamber where the behaviour of broilers was recorded under thermoneutral (comfort) conditions

Heat stress of broilers in commercial broiler-houses decreases their productivity and thus farm profitability. Climate control systems use sensors measuring the temperature around the broilers, which can be different from the actual body temperature of the broilers. In this research, a method estimating the body temperature of an individual broiler was designed and validated for commercial broiler-houses

Low frequency aeration of slurries may reduce ammonia (NH3) and methane (CH4) emissions without increasing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The aim of this study was to quantify this potential reduction and to establish the underlying mechanisms. A batch experiment was designed with 6 tanks with 1 m3 of pig slurry each. After an initial phase of 7 days when none of the tanks were aerated, a second phase