increase font size
Gemma Lowe.
Early detection of neonatal calf diarrhoea (NCD) is top of mind for the winner of the National Fieldays Sir Don Llewellyn Scholarship.
Waikato University doctoral student Gemma Lowe’s grant of $22,000 will go towards her research into the use of infrared thermography (IRT) for the early disease detection of NCD.
She says NCD typically affects calves in their first month, and the big challenge with NCD is that by the time it is diagnosed, based on clinical signs, much damage has already occurred to an animal’s intestines; in severe cases it’s often too late to save it.
IRT is a non-invasive method of detecting radiated heat, so by assessing the thermal responses of different anatomical regions in the calves in response to disease, Lowe will be investigating the suitability of IRT as a non-invasive, automated method for early disease detection.
“The aim of this research is to develop an automated system which incorporates IRT to monitor animal health and welfare to enable early detection of this disease, before clinical signs are evident,” Lowe says.
“A system like this would hugely benefit farmers, enabling diseased animals to be isolated to prevent NCD spread and enabling treatments to be administered sooner than is now possible based on clinical signs.”
Lowe is also investigating the suitability of other physiological and behavioural responses (lying, feeding and drinking behaviours, and respiration rate) for use in the automated system.
The Fieldays scholarship was founded to help University of Waikato students do research with a specific focus on the agricultural sector.
NZ National Fieldays Society president Peter Carr says they’re delighted to award Lowe the scholarship, whose work “shows a dedication to the advancement of agriculture and the welfare of animals and farmers battling such diseases”.
Lowe has so far done four different trials investigating the suitability of IRT and other physiological and behavioural responses as indicators for the early detection of NCD.
“I’m analysing a lot of video data collected during the trials. I’ve already published and presented two papers on my research, and will be presenting more data later this year in Canada at the 2018 Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE): Ethology for Health and Welfare.”
Lowe, long interested in animal welfare, did her bachelor degree study at Waikato, where she completed two student placements on research of animal behaviour and welfare. She joined InterAg, Hamilton, in 2015 to complete a BSc Honours, and there decided to enrol in the PhD studies.
Walking around the Fieldays this year, expected most of the conversations to be about machinery purchases and farm infrastructure upgrades. Instead, one topic seemed to keep cropping up more frequently with farmers – the price of PKE.
A new digital assistant is now helping Ballance Agri-Nutrients farmers speed up nutrient information and ordering.
OPINION: At Fieldays this year, one theme kept surfacing across the sector: global shocks are no longer something that happens “over there”. They are now translating quickly into local, farm-level impacts through increasingly complex and connected channels.
As the dust settles after Fieldays, we're once again reminded of the sheer volume of technology now available to New Zealand dairy farmers.
Kiwi built to suit Kiwi conditions, the Fieldays reveal of its new 3-point linkage mounted e-Spreader will add another string to Hamilton-based SAM Machinery’s already extensive portfolio of fertiliser spreading tools.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) and Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed new training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices are struggling to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Synlait has swung to second-half profit as operations stabilise, but the dairy processor still posted a $75.4m annual loss.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
