North Wyke and the Farm Platform as a Test-Bed For Advances in Sensor Technologies

In addition to the IoT network of water flow and water quality sensors installed throughout the Farm Platform, we are testing a variety of sensor and sensor communication technologies.  Some that provide data at a local data collection level and those that can be fully integrated using various communication approaches such as Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking using the LoRaWAN protocol or Narrow Band. Some examples of current sensor deployments are given below, and 

For further details or enquiries on using North Wyke and the Farm Platform to test sensors, please contact Paul Harris (paul.harris@rothamsted.ac.uk) or Jane Hawkins (jane.hawkins@rothamsted.ac.uk).

 

 

 

 

 

Enteric methane (CH4) emissions from freely-grazing animals are measured using a harmless tracer gas technique. The well-established method relies on a known source of the synthetic inert tracer, sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), that is inserted into the rumen as a bolus. The SF6 tracer technique works on the basis that excretions of two gases sourced from the rumen disperse identically into the animal’s environment, and thus have identical probability of interception by a simple ‘breath’ sampler located near the nasal cavity and fitted to a halter. The samples of breath are analysed in the laboratory. This technique is enabling the unknown release rate of CH4 to be estimated. 

 

 

SDS Water Infrastructure Systems are interested in using smart technology to control the release and retention of water principally with an interest to alleviate flooding.  They use models and weather forecasts to predict future rain events, prior to them occurring, and their technology is designed to release stored water, thereby creating increased water storage capacity.  This storage can then be utilised to retain water during the high fall event to reduce risks of downstream or sewer flooding.

Currently and as part of another ERDF Impact Lab project, SDS are using shed roof rainwater sited at the Farm Platform livestock buildings as a test bed for their new IoT-based technology.  Rainwater falling on the Rowden and Whiddon Down livestock buildings flows into harvesting tanks, and release of the water is remotely controlled in order to optimise water use (say, through efficient use of water for field spraying).

Further work is planned, where SDS will use the roof rainwater lagoon at Rowden Buildings as a test bed for their new technology.  Currently rainwater falling on the Rowden buildings currently flows into one small lagoon, from the lagoon its release is controlled using a traditional ‘non-smart’ hydro brake vortex flow control.  SDS would like to replace the hydro brake with their own technology which will allow them to vary the speed water is released or retained within the lagoon.

 

Cattle movement and activity using GPS and pedometers are used to further our understanding of a range of aspects of pasture-based beef production systems including behaviour, welfare, performance, and emissions. With these devices we can map where the animals have been grazing and overlay this information on a range of different measured variables such as pasture quality, livestock performance, dung and urine deposits, and gaseous emissions such as methane.  Data form the animals can be automatically collected whilst they are in the field or in housing. For example, we are monitoring step count, standing time, lying time, standing bouts and lying bouts using a mobile, trailer mounted CowAlert system provided by IceRobotics Ltd to capture and download data from leg-mounted IceQube pedometers in-situ from grazing dairy x beef cattle to examine the impact of differing grazing management on animal behaviour and activity. 

 

Using LoRaWAN enabled water meters, we can measure and compare water usage in a rotational cell grazing system  uses very small, mobile drinking troughs with a conventional set-stocked/continuous grazing system which uses typical large, static water troughs. Photo would be nice

 

Understanding changes in rumen temperature using a temperature bolus enables us to understand how life events may influence cattle health, welfare and productivity. Commonly used within the dairy industry, the temperature bolus is administered orally and stays in the rumen throughout the life of the animal.  As an example of this methodology, we are using LoRaWAN enabled temperature sensors to monitor the temperature of drinking water in differing grazing management systems in combination with rumen temperature boluses to investigate whether grazing management/drinking trough design effects drinking behaviour of cattle.

 

Currently, North Wyke has limited remote sensing capability but is eager to enhance this part of its research. Aims are to capture remotely sensed data from a range of scales from the platform’s forage harvester (a CIEL funded project - https://www.cielivestock.co.uk/) to drones (we currently have two devices with licence holders and links to the GrassCheckGB project - www.grasscheckgb.co.uk ) to satellite platforms in order to monitor biomass dynamics according field grass/crop cover type and also field livestock type.

This can be combined with drone-based SfM photogrammetry and airborne LiDAR for sward characterisation and the system’s Carbon assessment. Drone sensing approaches exploiting fine-grained thermal imaging systems can be used to map fam platform sub-catchment hydrology and alongside targeted fine-grained multispectral drone surveys can be used to map urine patches that drive greenhouse gas emissions such as N2O. All such data can in turn, inform nutrient content, quality and loss, and livestock performance.