Cattle production 4.0

Abstract

Nowadays, livestock farming is highly representative of the Brazilian economy. Brazilian beef occupies the second place in production and export worldwide. However export has much opportunity for increase if there are enhancements in meat quality and cattle performance to reach the external market standards. For the other hand, dairy farming in Brazil is not as advanced as beef cattle, with low demand for exports, low prices paid to producers, and dairy imports that have been occurring in recent years. The dairy activity needs to improve its productivity in order to conquer the domestic market in the country and be attractive to the processing industries and therefore start reducing the import of dairy products. To improve and increase productivity, there are technological resources that are currently being studied and developed, such as specific sensors (biosensors) and integrated systems to aid in the improvement of zootechnical indexes and to help the producer in making strategic decisions within the production system. Advances in biomaterials engineering research, coupled with the declining costs of electronic technologies, have provided the ever-increasing implementation of "detection solutions" and intelligent computing technologies that include Internet-based and cloud-based connectivity. This technology, if feasible, could be a promising tool for greater control and ease of cattle management, resulting in increased productivity and consequently greater profitability. (AU)