Federated Farmers Push to Cut Costly Vet Drug Waste on Dairy Farms
Animal welfare improvements as well as reduced costs for dairy farmers are at the heart of a new move which could help cut back on the waste of unused vet drugs.
Its FECPAK product offers an on-farm and in-lab parasite management system that processes FEC tests for sheep, cattle, horses, goats and camelids, providing results within minutes.
Its original, portable digital microscope – the Micro- I 100 – takes photos of faecal samples and immediately sends the images via the internet to the FECPAK cloud platform for analysis by AI and/or trained technicians. The FEC results help farmers and their veterinary advisors understand which animals are at risk and which paddocks are parasite hot spots.
As farming is a 24/7 operation, Techion has announced the release of its groundbreaking Instant Faecal Egg Count (FEC) results, powered by a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) software model.
That means no matter the day or time when a FEC test is processed and submitted using the FECPAK unit, the test result is emailed to users within a few minutes, with no delays for holidays and weekends. This positions the FECPAK platform as the fastest and most efficient FEC test solution on the global market.
The AI software was developed and trained using more than 120,000 FEC tests, analysed by technicians from samples submitted by FECPAK customers over recent years. Over the past three months, the FECPAK AI software has been validated on more than 22,000 samples, giving results with up to 96% accuracy, exceeding that of many human interpretations.
Technicians will continue to review tests over the coming few months to ensure the AI model is meeting performance standards and providing a reliable service.
Founder and managing director Greg Mirams says, “Instant FEC results will significantly enhance productivity by allowing timely, real-time decision making onfarm. Farmers can quickly determine whether to bring their stock into the yards for treatment, optimising their management practices, saving time and ensuring healthier livestock”.
Mirams explains that Instant Results for FEC testing is the first in a suite of new products that will be released this year. These include a new digital microscope - the Micro-1 300 - with enhanced imaging capability that will enable a new range of tests including cattle coccidia; sheep coccidia, cattle parasite speciation, sheep parasite speciation, facial eczema and pasture spore counts.
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