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AGRITECH BULLETIN
Agriculture Technology Monthly Newsletter

TECHNOLOGY REPACKAGING: MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

WRITTEN BY: GROUP 4
ISSUE OVERVIEW:

Livestock industry
background in Malaysia

The Challenges
of Livestock
Industry

MooCall Calving
Sensor What is
MooCall?

Features

BACKGROUND OF LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY User's Guide

IN MALAYSIA
Mechanism
Malaysia's livestock industry is
an important and integral part of the agricultural sector, Advantage &
Disadvantages
providing employment and providing valuable animal protein
to the population. Product Pricing
Based on a study conducted by the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2019, Malaysians consumed

18.9 kg of meat per capita, the highest consumer in East Asia and the 30th largest in
the world.

However, Malaysia will continue to face a shortage of local beef dependent on

imports, said Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and
Agro-based Industry. He said Malaysia was forced to import livestock products from
Thailand and Australia, as well as frozen meat from India, due to the shortage.
Malaysia has reportedly produced 52,000 tons of beef worth RM169 million and
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imported beef worth RM1.14 billion annually to meet local demand of approximately
191,000 tonnes.
 THE CHALLENGES OF LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY

SUPPLY VS DEMAND

In Malaysia, the consumption of

protein from livestock products
has more than tripled in the last
decade. In 2010, it was estimated
that Malaysians consumed only
5.45 kg per capita but continued to
increase to 18.9 kg per capita in
2019. Preference for meat products
has been a clear change in
Malaysia's food consumption
behaviour.
“The shortage is not only
The data collected from the Household
Expenditure Survey Report 2019 shows experienced during festive seasons
signs of convergence towards a Western such as Raya Aidiladha. Unless the
diet, showing a preference for red meat production is Increased, we will
(mutton and beef) over white meat
continue to import beef to meet the
(poultry and pork). Consumption of meat
as a whole and beef in particular, has demand” - Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul
increased. This could be due to an Rahman
increasing population and a growing
preference for meat as a source of protein,
with an increase in the real income of the population. The relatively slow growth in
local beef production compared to consumption has resulted in large quantities of
beef being imported in order to meet the growing demand for domestic
consumption.

This is demonstrated by the steady decline in the self-sufficiency rate (SSR) for beef in
Malaysia with only 24.0 per cent in 2015. SSR can be used to measure the extent to
which a country depends on its own production resources; the higher the ratio, the
greater a country's self-sufficiency. As mentioned earlier, higher consumption growth
compared to local beef production resulted in a shortage of beef supplies. The declining
SSR for beef also shows an increasing trend in the supply shortage of beef. This has led
to an increase in the volume of imported beef in order to meet local consumption

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THE CHALLENGES OF LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY

HIGH IN MORTALITY
High cow mortality is also an indication of an animal welfare
problem. Crowded barns, high levels of concentrated feed,
lack of training of dairy personnel and lack of experience in TRIVIA:
identifying early stages of disease and appropriate treatment
are all factors that contribute to the loss of farm animals. On-
farm dairy cow mortality is a growing problem in the dairy
Percentage of
sector and has a significant impact on the profitability of the calves death/
dairy farm. It can lead to economic losses due to reduced milk loss
production, loss of income from animal sales, treatment costs
during the pre-death illness period, increased replacement Digestive problem 14 %
costs, extra labour and the cost of disposing of dead animals.
Based on studies carried out by the U.S. Department of Respiratory problem 8.2 %
Agriculture National Animal Health Monitoring System
(NAHMS) of all calves born 6.4 per cent were either born dead Metabolic problem 0.1%
or died before weaning. Information from computerised dairy
record systems indicates that the mortality rate has steadily Injury 1.5 %
increased over the last 10 years. In some countries, adult cow
mortality is more than 10 percent per year. Birth-related 25.7%

Based on the trivia, the highest rate of death among calves

Unknown disease 0.5 %
in 2018 was birth-related problems with 25.7 percentage
followed by weather-related causes with 25.6 percentage.
Weather-related 25.6 %
High birth-related complications may be attributed to the risk
of increased abortion, difficult calving, milk fever, twin births,
Poisoning 0.1 %
ageing of the cow, premature birth, inflammation of the
placenta and various nutritional disorders. Calving trouble
Predator 4.7%
(dystocia) is a significant cause of calf death.

Other known causes 1

Prevention by effective heifer control and careful selection
of bulls is the best cure for calving difficulties. Also with
% Theft 0.1 %
the best management, though, a certain percentage of
young heifers will have difficulty to some degree, and even
Unknown causes 18.6 %
older heifers will often have difficulty. Perhaps the most
difficult part is trying to determine when and how to help
and whether or not professional attention is required.

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 MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

What is MooCall?

MooCall is a product that applies the Texting Cow concept. The idea for the
Moocall calving sensor came up when one of the Moocall founding team, Niall
Austin, lost a heifer and her calf due to difficult calving back in 2010. He had a
theory that a device to measure the movement of the tail might be able to predict
the onset of calving and bring the idea to the other Moocall founders, Michael
Stanley and Emmet Savage.

As they looked into the matter, it became clear that far too many cows and
calves were lost during the calving process. Bovine mortality rates are
comparable to those of men who gave birth unassisted centuries ago. It seemed
that this high mortality rate could be drastically reduced by using technology to
monitor labour and trigger alerts before calving occurs. Simply being present at
birth to assist, if appropriate, or calling the vet to help, if necessary, would have
a beneficial effect on the health and welfare of both cows and calves.

Moocall commercially launched the Moocall Calving Sensor in January 2015. Since
then, more than 25000 sensors have been sold worldwide and the general response
from customers has been tremendous.The Moocall Calving Sensor has been
nominated for many designs and product awards since launch.

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MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

Features
Unit System
Components To give information
that farmers need,
they use Smart Lists.
They divide your herd
into manageable
subsets, based on
what stage of the
breeding life cycle
that animal is at.
They split your herd
into :
In Calf
Cycling
In-Heat
Inseminated

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 MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

User's Guide
Step 1: Charging
Step 2:
Remove the waterproof cap
Activating the unit. Register at
as shown to access the charging port.
www.moocall.com/register to activate the unit

Install Breed Manager Apps into your

device

Do not force the USB cable To turn on the unit, press the button for 4
into the port of the unit. seconds.

Make sure to charge overnight

for first-time charge

Face the USB in the correct

way before inserting

Low battery warning will be texted
when the battery power is below 15%.
Blue blinking button every 5-6 seconds indicates
the unit is activated
Do not turn off the unit after calving (software
updates are sent automatically over the GSM
network and the sensor needs to be left
powered on to receive the same), only turn off
the unit when storing for long periods

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 MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

User's Guide
Step 3: Opening the Clasp
Step 5: Wait
Apply pressure and pinch the top &
Unit predicts when a calving is
bottom of the unit clip to open.
imminent, a SMS text will be sent
Lift the ratchet fully and apply pressure
to your phone.
to open the clasp.
The Light on the unit will change colour
from blue to red.

Step 4: Placing the unit

Place the unit on the tail of the
Step 6: Remove
pregnant cow opposite her
Removes the device when it is safe to
vulva.
do so.
Insert the toothed strap into
Pinch cover as shown and push clamp
the ratchet and slowly ratchet
away from the tail to unlock
until the unit is secure.
the ratchet and release strap.

Use supplied rubber insert

for
smaller tail
Do not overtighten the
clasp beyond the comfort.

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 MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

User's Guide
Step 7: Cleaning
Quick installation
Gently brush the unit under the
running water. review:
Charge
Activate the
unit
Open the clasp
Make sure to cleans the Place the unit
unit each time after
calving. Wait
Do not submerge the unit
in water. Remove
Do not clean without placing
the USB cover. the device

Step 8: Reset Cleaning

Press the button for 1 second to reset,
the device
the light will change from red to blue.
The unit is now ready for the next cow.
Reset the
device

To turn the unit off, press the button

for 10 seconds.
The unit will reset automatically
4hours after the calving event.

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 MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

MooCall’s Mechanism
How does the mechanism work?

The Moocall calving sensor is a tail-mounted motion

sensor that measures tail movement. When a cow gets Examples of
a contraction her tail will behave in a specific way. text messages
The algorithm detects this specific tail movement while
& app
being able to filter out any normal tail movement.
The length and intensity of these contractions are notification
measured. Approximately 600 pieces of data are alert
gathered every second.
Once they satisfy the algorithm and reach a certain
threshold the first high activity alert is triggered. If they
continue then the second high activity alert is sent.
These alerts come in the form of SMS, email and mobile
app notification.
The sensor tries to detect the shift from mid to late
labour so usually, you will get one hours notice.

However, we are dealing with nature and not all labours

are the same so sometimes you will get less notice (fast
labour) usually seen in older cows or experienced easy
calving dairy bred cows.
Other times you will get lots of advance warning (difficult
labour, complications, cow gives up labour etc) usually
seen in situations where a leg may be stuck or the calf is
presenting backwards.

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 MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

Advantages of the device

There are significant advantages offered by Moocall Calving Sensor:
I. It gives information through SMS text
when the cow is approaching calving

Knowing when a cow goes to the calve

will enhance the survival of the calf, as
assistance can be provided during a
difficult calving.
Using technology to recognize cows in
active labour will greatly reduce calf
mortality and can increase the total III. Handy size.
number of livestock hence bring higher
profit to the breeder. The size of the device is small and
lightweight so it is easy to be attached to
the cattle's tail.
II. The breeders might not even have to The weight and size also allows the
employ too many workers to an eye on device to be easily transported and
the cattle kept in storage.

This technology has been shown to IV. Louder alerts

have more than 95% accuracy
information than farm employees.
Moocall Calving Sensor will also ensure
the best start for the calf.
It should make sure that the calf is in a
good condition.
if the calf demands milk from the
mother, the device will be alerted and
notify the breeders directly.
The interesting part of this technology is
that if you save a cow, it pays for itself.
Calving alerts on the Moocall Calving
Sensor’s app prompt a loud, Moo-ing
ringtone when your phone isn’t on silent
mode.
If calving should be detected late at
night, this is more likely to wake the
breeder than an SMS notification. As
long as they’re connected to WiFi or
using mobile data they can get these
calls. So it’s a solid backup if they
happen to have a bad phone signal

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 MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

Disadvantages of the device

There are some disadvantage in Moocall calving sensor:
I.Requires a strong network coverage
III. The original data set can’t be changed.

To set up Moocall devices require good
coverage and internet line.
For example, one owner livestock
production wanted to use the devices to
monitor their livestock but the place
does not have good and strong coverage
of the internet so the devices won’t work
well or there must be a bit technical
problem in providing data or maybe the
data can’t be taken properly because of
the coverage.
The devices data set was separated into
a calibration data set and a validation
data set.
All the data was already set in
algorithms; it is only suitable for
taking the data only for bovines or
cows only and not suitable for any
other ruminant livestock.
IV. Price distribution

II. Need to be charged
The Moocall also does have a lasting
battery.
However, it can only be used for 60 days
and still need to be recharged.
For a big scale livestock owner to
monitor all the devices until they need to
be recharged in 60 days is a quite
challenging task because we could
imagine the devices are only for a small
group of livestock but there is a quite big
number of cattle.
If the breeder had bigger capital,
investing in extra device would be great.
The price per unit cost 299$ is quite high
to be introduced to the small scale
breeder and farmer because of the small
capital and lower source of income not
including services price per year.
So it is not suitable to be introduced to
the small scale farmer.
They will definitely find alternatives on
finding the cheap one.

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 MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

Product Pricing & Product Reach Out

The price was first introduced at a 329USD which includes 12 months of
service for the software and unlimited text notifications.

The first Moocall product, launched with the option to pre-order at the National
Ploughing Championships in September 2014. A huge amount of interest with
more than 500 units being pre-ordered and thousands of farmers registering
their interest in investing in the Moocall products.

In January 2015, Moocall launched the Moocall Calving sensor commercially. Over
25000 sensors have been sold worldwide and the general reactions from
customers have been phenomenal. Moocall is currently used for monitoring cows,
heifers and unborn calves in 40 different countries.

The farmer can get their products by directly going to the Moocall website and can
pre-ordered through online shipping. They do also provide social media pages to
book Moocall products.

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 MOOCALL CALVING SENSOR

Conclusion
In conclusion, Moocall specialised in providing world-class innovations for both the
dairy and beef industry since 2014. The company brings revolutionary solutions to
farmers in what is typically a very traditional sector. After closely studying specific
animal behavioural patterns, Moocall has designed patented technology which
utilises IoT connectivity platforms, providing life-changing, accurate and real-time
information to a farmer’s fingertips. Thus, Moocall not only creates better herd
management practices but empowers all farmers to do what they love most in a
more efficient and cost-effective way. Calving or breeding season can be the most
tiring and stressful time of the year. Moocall offers intuitive, easy to use products
that connect farmers to their animals like never before. Apart from that the
technology is also user-friendly as it is easy to apply and manage by most farmers.
Breeders need to follow the manual instructions and adjust the Moocall to ensure it
is comfortable for the cow.

As of June 2016, Moocall has over 12000 satisfied customers in 22 countries who
have successfully calved over 100000 calves using the technology. The company is
looking forward to helping and assisting more customers (farmers and breeders)
which aim to increase their farm capacity. The feedback gained from the customers
is proof that the Moocall is worth buying as an investment.

This question might be asked by most people however, despite various advantages
this friendly technology also consists of a few factors that make it more essential
for breeders and farmers. The brand new technology will reduce the risk of
complication during the birth of the cow. In fact, about 80% of all calves lost at
birth are anatomically normal. Most deaths are due to injuries or suffocation
resulting from calving or delayed calving. Thus, knowing when and how to assist
can make a big difference in the calf crop from year to year. The first step is
recognizing normal calving. With the presence of smart-timer technology, the
breeders can make early preparations to ensure the smooth birth of the new
cattle. The system will ensure the farmers can present in time which resulted in
higher successful birth rates. It is also provided for a more labour-friendly
environment as workers do not need to monitor or supervise the condition of the
livestock all the time.

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