Precision Livestock Farming Conference will be May 21-24, 2023

Mar 06, 2023


Livestock producers are encouraged to learn first-hand about advances in precision livestock farming (PLF) by attending the second U.S. Precision Livestock Conference. Hosted by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA), the conference will be held in Knoxville and the agenda includes seminars, demonstrations, interaction with PLF providers, and site tours.

PLF involves the real-time monitoring of images, sounds, and other biological, physiological, and environmental parameters to assess and improve individual animal health and well-being within herd or flock production systems.
The conference will be May 21-24, 2023, at the UT Conference Center in Knoxville. The event will occur in-person, but participants may also choose to attend virtually.

In-person attendees will be treated to an optional tour of UTIA’s Johnson Research and Teaching Unit (JRTU) and the UT East Tennessee AgResearch Little River Animal and Environmental Unit. Participants will tour the animal research facility that houses an active poultry PLF research program. This tour will exhibit ongoing precision poultry research focused on animal management, environmental control, and housing.  At “Little River,” participants will visit UT’s new, state-of-the-art dairy farm, nestled in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The Little River unit is home to UT’s new Lely robotic milking systems. These systems run in parallel with conventional milkers, stimulating a wide range of research that can directly assess the value of PLF systems.
Attendees of the 2023 U.S. Precision Livestock Conference will exchange research discoveries, and the conference will foster collaboration among engineers, animal scientists, veterinarians, ethologists, and other professionals as well as producers. UT AgResearch has formalized a PLF initiative to positively impact livestock and poultry production in Tennessee, the U.S., and beyond. UT PLF Program Coordinator Robert Burns, professor of biosystems engineering, is serving as the conference chair. Yang Zhao, assistant professor of animal science, is the conference proceedings chair, and Tami Brown-Brandl, professor of biological systems engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is the program chair.

Topics to be discussed include:
  • Sensors and Sensing in PLF 
  • Data Management and Algorithm Development  
  • Measuring, Modeling, and Managing Dynamic Responses 
  • Societal Impacts of PLF
Commercial PLF systems and field application experiences will also be shared.

An opportunity for vendors to interact with attendees is also on the agenda. The opportunity to interact with PLF providers will continue throughout the event in the main meeting foyer where breaks and receptions will be held.
For more information about the conference, including registration, please visit plf.tennessee.wedu/usplf2023/. Information about sponsorships and participating as a PLF vendor can be found online or by contacting Robert Burns at rburns@utk.edu.

The first U.S. Precision Livestock Conference was held in 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska.

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