Connected Yaks in China give farmers a reason to celebrate

A tough gig

The caring for and breeding of animals is a huge part of China’s agricultural industry. Indeed, livestock farming is the main source of income for 80 million people in the country. But it is a job fraught with challenges. Cattle can frequently go missing or get stolen and the long hours and demands of the work frequently result in farmers not getting to spend enough time with their families.

Anti-social hours

It isn't just smaller, more traditional farms that face challenges. Ningxia Shangling Ranch in Yuanbang is one of the largest farms in China, with a total of 20,000 cows. Here, the difficulty is not being able to accurately detect when the cows are in oestrus and ready to mate because 65% of the time this occurs between the hours of 9pm and 4am.

The good shepherd

With the help of technology, mobile operator China Telecom devised an innovative solution to these issues with their mobile application ‘The Shepherd Boy’. All livestock are fitted with a connected smart collar that allows the farmer to monitor the animal’s movement and health, including oestrus status, in real time with updates sent to the farmer’s mobile phone.

Smart farming

Join #CaseForChange in China to find out how ‘The Shepherd Boy’ is impacting the lives of some of the thousands of farmers who, until now, had relied on more traditional farming techniques. Discover how intelligent solutions like ‘The Shepherd Boy’ have the power to transform China’s whole approach to animal husbandry, enormously benefitting the farmers, their families and the country as a whole.