Unique early warning system for calf diseases wins innovation award

Start-up Futuro Farming receives Silver Medal and Animal Welfare Award of the EuroTier Fair

Regensburg, 2020/12/18

• The start-up Futuro Farming has developed an early warning system for calf diseases
• The system wins the Silver Medal and the Animal Welfare Award at the Innovation Awards of EuroTier 2021, the world's largest exhibition for animal husbandry
• From now on orders are accepted

In October 2018, six young men set up their own business with the start-up company Futuro Farming. The idea: an early warning system for calf diseases. The starting point was the acute problem that many young animals fall ill in the first weeks of their lives. The behavior of the animals is monitored by sensors attached to the calf hutches. Finally, these data are evaluated and made available to the farmer via an app. The patented solution has now been awarded the Silver Medal and the Animal Welfare Award at the EuroTier 2021 Innovation Awards.

Patrick Zimmer, who grew up in a Bavarian village and had early contact with calves, became aware of this problem. A school friend told him about the problem that especially in the first weeks of life many animals fall ill. Diarrhea and lung diseases, but also umbilical inflammations occur particularly often. It is then important to act quickly and correctly. For example, every hour counts for diarrheal diseases.

This is exactly where the Futuro Farming team comes in. They have developed a system that monitors the calves around the clock and sounds the alarm in case of behavioral problems. To do this, the start-up relies on novel technologies: a sensor, i.e. the measuring device that looks like a black box, is attached to the housing of the individual calves. This collects data and recognizes the behavior of the animal, for example whether it lies down, drinks, sleeps or plays. These data are evaluated by so-called neural networks and made available to the farmer via an app. There, the risk of the animals becoming ill is displayed in a simple traffic light system.

"During product development, we not only looked at calves, but also worked intensively with farmers on a wide variety of farms. It is important to us that the product provides them with a clear benefit and that it fits in perfectly with their demanding everyday work," reports Alexander Zacharuk, one of the managing directors of Futuro Farming. Not only has the option been integrated to allow calves to be automatically registered and unregistered by the system, but attention has also been paid to easy installation and durability. A sensor can be attached in just three minutes and reliably monitor up to 35 generations.

After more than two years of development, the patented process was turned into a certified product and has now been awarded the Silver Medal at the Innovation Awards of EuroTier, the world's largest trade fair for animal husbandry. The system was able to convince the expert jury of its innovative power and usefulness. It was also awarded the Animal Welfare Award for increased animal welfare. This special prize has been awarded since 2018 by the DLG (German Agricultural Society) together with the bpt (Federal Association of Practicing Veterinarians). A great success, says CEO Jens Eckberg happily: "These awards honour us very much and are of course also a nice sign for the team, which has invested a lot of heart and soul into the development.

Interested farmers can now contact Futuro Farming via sales@futurofarming.com and order the system.

Alexander Zacharuk
Founder and Managing Director
+49 172 7329412
az@futurofarming.com
www.futurofarming.com

The start-up Futuro Farming has developed an early warning system for calf diseases. Using a sensor on the calf hutches, diseases can be predicted up to three days in advance. An app keeps the farmer informed at all times about the health status of the animals and can initiate treatments directly if necessary.

This release was published on openPR.