Better Pork - December 2006

Eye On Europe

Photo-based pig weight assessment offers accurate checks on weight gain

In a few test farms in Germany, a camera and computer are now assessing weight and conformation of slaughter-ready hogs -- and getting more accurate results than the conventional weighing crate.

These farms are trying out the new Opticom system, which uses photograph-based weight assessment software. It features a single digital camera which can be moved from pen to pen or, with larger farms, fitted onto overhead rails over pens. This takes pictures of free-moving hogs from above.

The images are immediately transmitted to a computer for analysis by software so precise that weight assessment is guaranteed to be accurate within 1.5 kilograms. If the hog photographed is ready for slaughter, or for moving into another pen, the system automatically sprays the hog in question with marker paint through a nozzle mounted on the camera.

“The system offers continuous accurate checks on weight gain performance without the need for railings, weighing crates, extra labour and also without stressing the animals,” explains Jan Bernd Diekhaus-Röttger, marketing manager with Weda, one of three companies involved in the camera and software development.
He adds that its extreme accuracy means that hogs selected for slaughter are always within the margin required by the slaughterhouse.

“In Germany and the Netherlands, we reckon that as many as 25 per cent of hogs being sent to slaughter are penalized in price because they are outside this margin.  Conventional weighing before selecting for slaughter does not take place on most farms and assessing weight by eye alone often leads to poor selection.”

Weda reckons that the almost 100 per cent accuracy of slaughterweight offered by Opticom would mean farmers earning around the equivalent of $6.50 Cdn per pig place every year through avoidance of over- or under-weight penalties. As well as computer and livestock equipment company Weda, software specialist IMIX and feed producer Hendrix URD are all involved in the development of the new system. BP