Ceres Tag: smart ear tags for livestock

We're working with agtech company, Ceres Tag, to develop next-generation ear tags to track and monitor livestock, unlocking invaluable data for the livestock industry.

The challenge

Livestock monitoring can be time consuming and costly

Australia’s $17 billion livestock industry plays a vital role in the national economy, fuelled by the rapid growth of Asia and increasing demand for high quality Australian exports from countries such as China.

For many livestock producers, locating and monitoring the activity of their livestock is a time-consuming and often costly challenge.

Our response

Teaming up to develop a smart ear tag

We have brought together our deep technology expertise and animal science know-how and teamed up with commercial partner, Ceres Tag, to tackle this problem with a smart ear tag.

The smart ear tag builds on years of our research in livestock production and long-term sensing and tracking. It features geo-location for greater traceability and provenance of livestock and will provide a platform for other possible applications in the future.

The results

Improved management of livestock and the paddock

The data collected from the tags can be translated into knowledge to improve management of both livestock and the paddock.

The ear tags will also give producers greater control over grazing management, allow them to locate livestock remotely and alert them to stock theft, illness or if an animal is giving birth. The aim is to reduce operating costs, increase operational efficiency and additional financing opportunities through better management of livestock through data.

Ceres Tag links animals directly to satellites, without going via on-farm towers. The tags last the lifetime of the animal with no battery change and the system is currently aspiring to meet the NLIS (National Livestock Identification System)  tag requirements. This work is part of a research and development project co-funded by MLA Donor Company.

Ceres Tags now have the additional ability to use behavioural information to estimate a daily pasture intake value for cattle. This function was developed on our eGrazor collar, in partnership with NSW Department of Primary Industries.

Find out more about our eGrazor technology.