ViehFinder ensures 24/7 live Tracking of Cattle in Alpine Pastures
Nov 3, 2022
Every summer, in the European Alps, around 500,000 cattle, countless sheep, goats, and other livestock graze in high alpine pastures. The management of these alpine pastures is fulfilling but often also very demanding and time-consuming!
ViehFinder solves this problem with a complete animal tracking solution to save farmers time, resources, and money.
The Challenge
The alpine pastures are the ideal recreation area for the cattle, it gives the young cattle the necessary time for development in the fresh mountain air as well as increases their resistance against possible diseases in further life.
But checking the cattle on the mountain pasture is often time-consuming. The areas are wide, and the gapless fencing usually makes it even more impractical. You often spend hours or whole days trying to locate the herd or, even more difficult, individual animals.
The work on the mountain pasture could be so idyllic, but the reality is often different – isn’t there a way to make this easier by using technology?
The Solution
ViehFinder is a position tracker on the neckband of the animal and supports herd management on alpine pastures and in harsh environments. Location and other sensor data are transferred via the IoT radio standard LoRa©. LoRa© technology is optimized for long ranges with low energy consumption.
ViehFinder is using an alternative way of energy supply with a smart and sustainable design. By using a small solar panel on the device and a rechargeable battery for rainy days, ViehFinder devices are saving on environmentally harmful battery replacements or other tedious maintenance activities.
Typically, a few hours of direct sunlight per week are enough to keep the transmitters running smoothly throughout the season.
As an IoT platform, we chose TagoIO, which offers the best flexibility for data integration and storage as well as the best performance in user interaction and visualization features. With the TagoRUN App, we can offer our customers and end users complete platform independence as they are able to interact with the location and chart data on Android, iOS, as well as any PC or Mac.
The wide range of possibilities in our TagoRUN App allows the farmer to get a deeper understanding of the current location of the herd and the status of the ViehFinder devices. As an additional feature, it is possible for the farmers to get historical information about the preferred grazing areas of their cattle and herd activity over a range of days, weeks or months.
This complete solution allows the transmission of location data every few minutes over the entire grazing season onto the smartphone of the farmer, an evolution from devices currently available on the market for livestock, which can send the cattle position only once or twice a day due to battery constraints.
Save time, money, and resources – with ViehFinder.
With ViehFinder, it is now possible to monitor grazing livestock around the clock. TagoIO provides the user interface and enables the display of data. The advantages are obvious: Data such as the current position of the individual animals as well as the entire herd can be evaluated, including the altitude of the animals, battery charge, signal strength and activity data.
Through long-term storage, it will also be possible in the future to evaluate long-term reports and trends on grazing livestock. The ViehFinder software is available for any internet-enabled device, such as a smartphone or PC, and allows the determination of position and activity data. This means that you immediately have the most important information at hand.
With live tracking, farmers no longer need to go to the mountain pasture every few days to look for and count the animals. That time can now be used for more urgent and important things… or to enjoy a relaxed day in the mountains!
As an additional feature, it is possible for the farmers to get historical information about the preferred grazing areas of their cattle and herd activity over a range of days, weeks, or months.
Every summer, in the European Alps, around 500,000 cattle, countless sheep, goats, and other livestock graze in high alpine pastures. The management of these alpine pastures is fulfilling but often also very demanding and time-consuming!
ViehFinder solves this problem with a complete animal tracking solution to save farmers time, resources, and money.
The Challenge
The alpine pastures are the ideal recreation area for the cattle, it gives the young cattle the necessary time for development in the fresh mountain air as well as increases their resistance against possible diseases in further life.
But checking the cattle on the mountain pasture is often time-consuming. The areas are wide, and the gapless fencing usually makes it even more impractical. You often spend hours or whole days trying to locate the herd or, even more difficult, individual animals.
The work on the mountain pasture could be so idyllic, but the reality is often different – isn’t there a way to make this easier by using technology?
The Solution
ViehFinder is a position tracker on the neckband of the animal and supports herd management on alpine pastures and in harsh environments. Location and other sensor data are transferred via the IoT radio standard LoRa©. LoRa© technology is optimized for long ranges with low energy consumption.
ViehFinder is using an alternative way of energy supply with a smart and sustainable design. By using a small solar panel on the device and a rechargeable battery for rainy days, ViehFinder devices are saving on environmentally harmful battery replacements or other tedious maintenance activities.
Typically, a few hours of direct sunlight per week are enough to keep the transmitters running smoothly throughout the season.
As an IoT platform, we chose TagoIO, which offers the best flexibility for data integration and storage as well as the best performance in user interaction and visualization features. With the TagoRUN App, we can offer our customers and end users complete platform independence as they are able to interact with the location and chart data on Android, iOS, as well as any PC or Mac.
The wide range of possibilities in our TagoRUN App allows the farmer to get a deeper understanding of the current location of the herd and the status of the ViehFinder devices. As an additional feature, it is possible for the farmers to get historical information about the preferred grazing areas of their cattle and herd activity over a range of days, weeks or months.
This complete solution allows the transmission of location data every few minutes over the entire grazing season onto the smartphone of the farmer, an evolution from devices currently available on the market for livestock, which can send the cattle position only once or twice a day due to battery constraints.
Save time, money, and resources – with ViehFinder.
With ViehFinder, it is now possible to monitor grazing livestock around the clock. TagoIO provides the user interface and enables the display of data. The advantages are obvious: Data such as the current position of the individual animals as well as the entire herd can be evaluated, including the altitude of the animals, battery charge, signal strength and activity data.
Through long-term storage, it will also be possible in the future to evaluate long-term reports and trends on grazing livestock. The ViehFinder software is available for any internet-enabled device, such as a smartphone or PC, and allows the determination of position and activity data. This means that you immediately have the most important information at hand.
With live tracking, farmers no longer need to go to the mountain pasture every few days to look for and count the animals. That time can now be used for more urgent and important things… or to enjoy a relaxed day in the mountains!
As an additional feature, it is possible for the farmers to get historical information about the preferred grazing areas of their cattle and herd activity over a range of days, weeks, or months.
