SBIR Phase II: Technology for Stimulating the Herd Instinct of Livestock to Reduce Environmental Impact

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛影响是，通过刺激牲畜的羊群本能，帮助恢复草原生态系统，减少牲畜的温室气体净排放。美国西部的大多数牲畜都分散在大牧场上，被允许单独漫游，因此不能从大群动物的放牧中得到好处。该项目旨在开发和测试低成本的耳标，这种耳标使用音频和电刺激来增强个体动物在偏离群体时的自然羊群本能。高家畜密度/低持续时间放牧具有减少牲畜温室气体排放和将牧场变成净碳汇的潜力。更高的植被多样性，更多的水分吸收，减少侵蚀，更多的野生动物栖息地只是这项技术的其他一些预期的生态效益。这项技术还有助于提高牧场管理的效率和成本效益。牲畜被盗的风险将会降低，围栏的需求也会减少，因为牲畜的迁徙本能在更大的土地面积上表现得最好。土地、牲畜、野生动物、牧场主和全球社会都将受益于技术的发展，这种技术加强了放牧动物的自然羊群本能。这个SBIR第二期项目将开发和测试一种新的方法来刺激牲畜的群体本能，而不是在地理上限制它们。实现这种方法的关键是一种独特的低成本策略的创新，即使用带有低功耗射频收发器的耳标，从个体距离估计的累积中计算群体距离。这项技术将使用一个高度集成的系统，在兽群中的每头动物身上都贴上耳标。每个标签将使用低功率射频收发器定期向群中的其他标签发送简短信号。标签将使用信号强度测量来计算自己与其他标签的近似距离。然后，每个标签将使用一种算法来确定它是否在与其他群体的适当接近范围内。如果有动物开始偏离群体，标签会发出声音警报，随后可能会有电刺激，鼓励动物重新加入同伴的行列。在每英亩1万到100万磅的密度上饲养牛群的能力将是成功的关键指标。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to help restore grassland ecosystems and reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from livestock by stimulating their herd instinct. Most livestock in the western United States are scattered in large pastures and allowed to roam individually and hence do not derive benefits from grazing by large herds of animals. This project aims to develop and test low-cost ear tags that use audio and electrical stimulation to reinforce the natural herd instinct of individual animals when they stray from the herd. High stock density/low duration grazing has the potential of reducing livestock greenhouse emissions and turning rangelands into a net carbon sink. Higher vegetation diversity, more water absorption, reduced erosion, and more wildlife habitat are just some of the other expected ecological benefits of this technology. This technology would also facilitate more efficient and cost-effective ranch management. The risk of livestock theft will be reduced, and the need for fences will decrease since the migratory instincts of livestock work best on larger land areas. Land, livestock, wildlife, ranchers, and the global community would benefit from the development of technology that reinforces the natural herd instinct of grazing animals.This SBIR Phase II project will develop and test a novel approach to stimulating the herd instinct of livestock rather than geographically confining them. Key to implementing this approach is the additional innovation of a unique and low-cost strategy to use ear tags with low-power RF transceivers to calculate herd proximity from an accumulation of individual distance estimates. This technology will use a highly integrated system using an ear tag attached to each animal in the herd. Each tag will use a low-power RF transceiver to periodically send brief signals to the other tags in the herd. The tags will use signal strength measurements to calculate their own approximate distance to every other tag. Each tag will then use an algorithm to determine whether it is within an appropriate proximity to the rest of the herd. If an animal begins to stray from the herd, the tag will give an audio alert, potentially followed by electrical stimulation to encourage the animal to rejoin its peers. The capability of holding a herd at a density from 10,000 to 1,000,000 pounds per acre will be a key metric of success.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.