The Potential of RFID Technology for Tracking Mangalica Pigs in the Extensive Farming System – A Research from Hungary
The Power of RFID Technology in Outdoor Pig Farming
In recent years, the focus on sustainable meat production in large-scale pig farming has increased. An essential element is acquiring and evaluating digital data on ecological, outdoor pig housing environments and individuals. Some of the precision farming Internet of Things (IoT) tools that can be used in pasture-based, extensive pig production include Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology.
RFID technology uses passive RFID tags attached to pigs’ ears to capture signals from a reader equipped with an antenna. The reader can also be used to collect weather parameters. In our on-farm research, which lasted 7 months and covered three seasons, we used RFID technology to investigate the effects of ambient temperature, humidity, air pressure, and hour of day on the appearance of breeding sows kept on pasture at the wallowing site.
We found that all three weather parameters and hour-of-day had a significant effect (p < 0.001) on the appearance of sows at the wallow. We calculated the THI (Temperature Humidity Index) and found days in summer and early autumn when there was a risk of heat stress. This is essential information for the pig farmer because heat stress has a strong negative effect on sow fertility.
Our on-farm study found that RFID technology is suitable for detecting the presence of pigs in the pasture. However, the limitations of the technology, both in terms of the housing environment and the species specificity of the pigs, need to be taken into account.
The Benefits of RFID Tracking in Outdoor Pig Production
In pasture-based pig production systems, the meat production process is performed under extensive conditions of natural animal-environment interaction. The negative impact on the natural environment is much lower, but animal welfare is higher than in intensive pig farming. It is also a profit-oriented activity, where the production of traceable and reliable animal products is a social and economic requirement. Collecting information from trusted sources using precision livestock farming (PLF) techniques is also feasible in this type of farming, providing significant added value for pig farmers and consumers.
One of the less studied areas of PLF applications in pig farming is pasture-based pig management systems, where pigs are on pasture all year round or at specific periods of the year, both during breeding and fattening periods. In this housing system, pigs have more opportunities to express their species-specific behaviors, improving animal welfare and allowing for sustainable pig production.
The Potential of RFID Technology in Outdoor Pig Farming
RFID technology is a powerful tool for tracking the location of objects in real-time. Identification is achieved using radio frequency waves, and the information is stored on a data carrier (electronic memory chip). The advantages of RFID technology include providing information over long distances (several meters) and ease and affordability of the way to identify, track, and monitor livestock, thus improving the traceability of animals along the supply chain and reading rates of more than 100 tags per second.
In our seven-month-long study, we tested the applicability of passive RFID technology in free-range pig housing conditions, collecting data on sows’ appearance and weather parameters at the wallow. The investigation was conducted on sows housed in an outdoor, pasture-based system on a private farm in Hungary between June 2020 and January 2021.
The RFID readers recorded the presence of sows 9070 times during the study. We added the weather parameters collected directly by the RFID readers to the data series on sows’ presence. The data collection period was divided into 10-minute time intervals, and a sow’s appearance was considered for the analysis if it spent at least this interval at the wallowing site.
Insights from the RFID-Powered Research
The environmental conditions during the study are summarized in Table 1. The highest THI value (71.7 ± 8.6) was measured in the summer period, while in the autumn, the THI’s average value was 53.8 ± 12.7. During the winter period, we had the lowest THI values (38.2 ± 6.66) due to the low temperatures.
The analysis of the RFID data revealed several interesting insights:
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Impact of Weather Parameters: The probability of sows’ appearance at the wallowing site decreases as air humidity increases. The effect of air pressure on the probability of sows’ appearance was less significant. Temperature had a significant correlation with the probability of sows’ appearance, with the probability reduced with increasing temperature.
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Daily Activity Patterns: The wallowing activity of each sow differed, with two or three daily activity peaks observed. The first activity peak was observed in the early morning, likely related to the feed distribution time. The second peak was observed in the afternoon (between 2 pm and 5 pm), except for one sow that returned to the observation area later in the evening.
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Individual Variability: We recorded high within-species variability in behavior, with some individuals being more active than others, even within the same day. This suggests the presence of personality traits in these three beetles.
Limitations and Future Directions
Our research confirmed that RFID technology is suitable for detecting the presence of pigs in pasture-based systems. However, the technology has several limitations that need to be considered:
- The presence of animals outside the operational range of the readers cannot be recorded.
- Extreme weather conditions can affect the continuous transmission of data.
- Tags placed in pigs’ ears can be lost or torn out during social interactions.
To address these limitations, future research should focus on:
- Expanding RFID Coverage: Installing RFID technology in other parts of the pasture area used by pigs, such as resting, watering, and feeding areas.
- Integrating Monitoring Technologies: Combining RFID with camera-based monitoring to provide more accurate information on the monitored sites.
- Associating Breeding and Husbandry Data: Linking the RFID identification of the sows with their breeding and management data to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their behavior and performance.
By addressing these limitations, RFID technology can become an even more powerful tool for monitoring and managing outdoor pig farming systems, providing valuable insights to support sustainable and profitable production.
