Researchers turn to AI in battle against bovine TB
17 December 2020 |
Mid-infrared (MIR) spectral data can now be analysed ten times faster, screening more cows for bTB
Agricultural researchers have teamed up with one of the world s leading artificial intelligence companies to help fight the battle against bovine TB.
The partnership, between Scotland s Rural College (SRUC) and NVIDIA, will accelerate the use of AI and machine learning to battle some of the industry s biggest issues.
Researchers are currently utilising an NVIDIA DGX Station in the fight against bTB, which affected around 37,000 animals this year and costs the country around £176m per year.
Mountain hares in Scotland that rely on camouflage to escape predators are becoming increasing mismatched to their surroundings due to less snowy winters, a new study shows.
Mountain hares are one of several species that molt from a dark coat in summer to a white coat in winter to maintain camouflage against snowy landscapes. But due to climate change, the duration of snow cover is decreasing creating a “mismatch” in seasonal camouflage that could expose the hares to predators.
“If we want species to persist in a rapidly changing world, we need to understand their responses to climate change.”
“Organisms have important life events that are timed to seasonal changes in the environment, like bird migration or hares molting to a white coat in winter,” says Sean Giery, postdoctoral research fellow at Penn State at an author of the paper.
A CALF enjoying some rest WITH RESPIRATORY disease a common issue on farms in winter, views are being sought from industry on methods to measure the quality of life in cattle, particularly calves. Not only can respiratory disease affect the functioning of the animal, but it also has a major impact on its quality of life, or its psychological experience of life. Health-related quality-of-life tools have been developed for other species to capture how the disease ‘feels’ to the animal. Now a team at Scotland’s Rural College is involved in a project which is developing a similar tool to assess the quality of life of calves with bovine respiratory disease.
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Neglected or overlooked local food crops could well be making a comeback into markets in Africa thanks to the work of a consortium of scientists.
‘Orphan’ crops, which include a range of neglected or overlooked plants producing fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains and roots, are often very nutritious and can suit current agricultural systems. They also have extensive, although reducing, genetic diversity. As their name suggests, orphan crops have mostly rarely been researched. However, scientists, governments and agricultural development agencies have been re-thinking the importance of orphan crops because of the risk of growing only nutritionally limited and resource-intensive crops, as most of the world does now.