iHerd has developed a system to remotely monitor grazing beef cows and transfer the information to the rancher's smartphone or computer. The system uses field collars mounted on each cow's neck that track the animal's activity 24/7 using an inertial sensor. Activity is classified as resting, grazing, or walking, and a daily summary is sent via satellite to a herd-management system (HMS).
The HMS uses algorithms to analyze the collected data at the level of both an individual cow and the whole herd. Using this information, the system can detect reproductive events as well as any issues involving health, nutrition, or wellbeing while also measuring changes in forage availability and quality.