{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T17:32:36Z","timestamp":1778261556773,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,10]],"date-time":"2021-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1631232000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IDBR-1556370"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IDBR-1556370"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000199","name":"U.S. Department of Agriculture","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2020-67021-31964"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020-67021-31964"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000199","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Precision swine production can benefit from autonomous, noninvasive, and affordable devices that conduct frequent checks on the well-being status of pigs. Here, we present a remote monitoring tool for the objective measurement of some behavioral indicators that may help in assessing the health and welfare status\u2014namely, posture, gait, vocalization, and external temperature. The multiparameter electronic sensor board is characterized by laboratory measurements and by animal tests. Relevant behavioral health indicators are discussed for implementing machine learning algorithms and decision support tools to detect animal lameness, lethargy, pain, injury, and distress. The roadmap for technology adoption is also discussed, along with challenges and the path forward. The presented technology can potentially lead to efficient management of farm animals, targeted focus on sick animals, medical cost savings, and less use of antibiotics.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani11092665","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,10]],"date-time":"2021-09-10T10:31:34Z","timestamp":1631269894000},"page":"2665","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":62,"title":["Behavioral Monitoring Tool for Pig Farmers: Ear Tag Sensors, Machine Intelligence, and Technology Adoption Roadmap"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4577-8567","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Santosh","family":"Pandey","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA"}]},{"given":"Upender","family":"Kalwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA"}]},{"given":"Taejoon","family":"Kong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Defense Acquisition and Requirements Analysis, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, 37 Hoegi-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02455, Korea"}]},{"given":"Baoqing","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2540-8769","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Phillip C.","family":"Gauger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA"}]},{"given":"David J.","family":"Peters","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rural Sociology, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3969-7285","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kyoung-Jin","family":"Yoon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Benjamin, M., and Yik, S. (2019). Precision livestock farming in swine welfare: A review for swine practitioners. Animals, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/ani9040133"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s13756-020-00865-9","article-title":"Understanding antibiotic use for pig farming in Thailand: A qualitative study","volume":"10","author":"Lekagul","year":"2021","journal-title":"Antimicrob. Resist. Infect. Control"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2638","DOI":"10.1021\/acssensors.9b01031","article-title":"Adhesive Tape Microfluidics with an Autofocusing Module That Incorporates CRISPR Interference: Applications to Long-Term Bacterial Antibiotic Studies","volume":"4","author":"Kong","year":"2019","journal-title":"ACS Sens."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.3389\/fsufs.2021.611915","article-title":"Opportunities to Apply Precision Livestock Management on Rangelands","volume":"5","author":"Bailey","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. Sustain. Food Syst."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1016\/j.meatsci.2015.05.010","article-title":"Animal welfare towards sustainability in pork meat production","volume":"109","author":"Velarde","year":"2015","journal-title":"Meat Sci."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104530","DOI":"10.1016\/j.livsci.2021.104530","article-title":"An overview of the current trends in precision pig farming technologies","volume":"249","author":"Tzanidakis","year":"2021","journal-title":"Livest. Sci."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kapun, A., Adrion, F., and Gallmann, E. (2020). Case study on recording pigs\u2019 daily activity patterns with a uhf-rfid system. Agriculture, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/agriculture10110542"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Benos, L., Tagarakis, A.C., Dolias, G., Berruto, R., Kateris, D., and Bochtis, D. (2021). Machine Learning in Agriculture: A Comprehensive Updated Review. Sensors, 21.","DOI":"10.3390\/s21113758"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104884","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compag.2019.104884","article-title":"Real-time sow behavior detection based on deep learning","volume":"163","author":"Zhang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Comput. Electron. Agric."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2404","DOI":"10.1017\/S1751731120001391","article-title":"Digital technology adoption in livestock production with a special focus on ruminant farming","volume":"14","author":"Groher","year":"2020","journal-title":"Animal"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1563","DOI":"10.1094\/PHYTO-06-16-0224-R","article-title":"Chip technologies for screening chemical and biological agents against plant-parasitic nematodes","volume":"106","author":"Beeman","year":"2016","journal-title":"Phytopathology"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143701","DOI":"10.1063\/1.3570629","article-title":"Unidirectional, electrotactic-response valve for Caenorhabditis elegans in microfluidic devices","volume":"98","author":"Carr","year":"2011","journal-title":"Appl. Phys. Lett."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.4236\/abb.2011.26060","article-title":"Decision-making by nematodes in complex microfluidic mazes","volume":"2","author":"Pandey","year":"2011","journal-title":"Adv. Biosci. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3212","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-82261-w","article-title":"Robotic agricultural instrument for automated extraction of nematode cysts and eggs from soil to improve integrated pest management","volume":"11","author":"Legner","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"200","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sna.2019.07.020","article-title":"Sweat sensing in the smart wearables era: Towards integrative, multifunctional and body-compliant perspiration analysis","volume":"296","author":"Legner","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sens. Actuators A Phys."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1327","DOI":"10.1007\/s11119-020-09723-5","article-title":"Status quo of adoption of precision agriculture enabling technologies in Swiss plant production","volume":"21","author":"Groher","year":"2020","journal-title":"Precis. Agric."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104878","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compag.2019.104878","article-title":"Learning patterns from time-series data to discriminate predictions of tail-biting, fouling and diarrhoea in pigs","volume":"163","author":"Domun","year":"2019","journal-title":"Comput. Electron. Agric."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105386","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compag.2020.105386","article-title":"An adaptive pig face recognition approach using Convolutional Neural Networks","volume":"173","author":"Marsot","year":"2020","journal-title":"Comput. Electron. Agric."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Marunova, E., Dod, L., Witte, S., and Pfau, T. (2021). Smartphone-Based Pelvic Movement Asymmetry Measures for Clinical Decision Making in Equine Lameness Assessment. Animals, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/ani11061665"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kalwa, U., Legner, C., Kong, T., and Pandey, S. (2019). Skin cancer diagnostics with an all-inclusive smartphone application. Symmetry, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/sym11060790"},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"\u0160pinka, M. (2017). Advances in Pig Welfare, Elsevier Inc."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Friedrich, L., Krieter, J., Kemper, N., and Czycholl, I. (2020). Iceberg indicators for sow and piglet welfare. Sustainability, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/su12218967"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105826","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compag.2020.105826","article-title":"A systematic literature review on the use of machine learning in precision livestock farming","volume":"179","author":"Aguilar","year":"2020","journal-title":"Comput. Electron. Agric."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kalwa, U., Legner, C., Wlezien, E., Tylka, G., and Pandey, S. (2019). New methods of removing debris and highthroughput counting of cyst nematode eggs extracted from field soil. PLoS ONE, 14.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0223386"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Krugmann, K., Warnken, F., Krieter, J., and Czycholl, I. (2019). Are behavioral tests capable of measuring positive affective states in growing pigs?. Animals, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/ani9050274"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"447","DOI":"10.7120\/09627286.25.4.447","article-title":"Test-retest reliability of the Welfare Quality\u00ae animal welfare assessment protocol for Growing Pigs","volume":"25","author":"Czycholl","year":"2016","journal-title":"Anim. Welf."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1007\/s10806-005-4493-7","article-title":"Assessing the importance of natural behavior for animal welfare","volume":"19","author":"Bracke","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Agric. Environ. Ethics"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"165","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1009542714497","article-title":"A framework for the ethical analysis of novel foods: The ethical matrix","volume":"12","author":"Mepham","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Agric. Environ. Ethics"},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"Mepham, T.B. (1996). Ethical Analysis of Food Biotechnologies: An Evaluative Framework. Food Ethics, Routledge."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s40813-019-0135-8","article-title":"Irish pig farmer\u2019s perceptions and experiences of tail and ear biting","volume":"5","author":"Haigh","year":"2019","journal-title":"Porc. Health Manag."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"690","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodpol.2012.07.001","article-title":"EU animal welfare policy: Developing a comprehensive policy framework","volume":"37","author":"Ingenbleek","year":"2012","journal-title":"Food Policy"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Schukat, S., von Plettenberg, L., and Heise, H. (2020). Animal welfare programs in germany\u2014an empirical study on the attitudes of pig farmers. Agriculture, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/agriculture10120609"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"430","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodpol.2011.02.001","article-title":"On mandatory labeling of animal welfare attributes","volume":"36","author":"Tonsor","year":"2011","journal-title":"Food Policy"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1549-0831.2010.00044.x","article-title":"Public Concern with Farm-Animal Welfare: Religion, Politics, and Human Disadvantage in the Food Sector","volume":"76","author":"Deemer","year":"2011","journal-title":"Rural Sociol."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1111\/ruso.12026","article-title":"Where\u2019s the Farmer? Limiting Liability in Midwestern Industrial Hog Production","volume":"79","author":"Ashwood","year":"2014","journal-title":"Rural Sociol."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s13756-020-00834-2","article-title":"A decade of antimicrobial resistance research in social science fields: A scientometric review","volume":"9","author":"Lu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Antimicrob. Resist. Infect. Control"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.1057\/s41599-021-00852-4","article-title":"Antibiotics in pig meat production: Restrictions as the odd case and overuse as normality? Experiences from Sweden and Italy","volume":"8","author":"Waluszewski","year":"2021","journal-title":"Humanit. Soc. Sci. Commun."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Howard, P.H. (2016). Concentration and Power in the Food System: Who Controls What We Eat? Contemporary Food Studies: Economy, Culture and Politics, Bloomsbury Publishing.","DOI":"10.5040\/9781474264365"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"338","DOI":"10.1089\/vbz.2006.6.338","article-title":"Confined animal feeding operations as amplifiers of influenza","volume":"6","author":"Saenz","year":"2006","journal-title":"Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100246","DOI":"10.1016\/j.onehlt.2021.100246","article-title":"CAFOs, novel influenza, and the need for One Health approaches","volume":"13","author":"Moore","year":"2021","journal-title":"One Health"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"446","DOI":"10.1111\/jrh.12477","article-title":"Community Susceptibility and Resiliency to COVID-19 Across the Rural-Urban Continuum in the United States","volume":"36","author":"Peters","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Rural Health"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127712","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2021.127712","article-title":"Wearable Internet of Things enabled precision livestock farming in smart farms: A review of technical solutions for precise perception, biocompatibility, and sustainability monitoring","volume":"312","author":"Zhang","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4161","DOI":"10.2527\/jas.2013-7432","article-title":"Comparison of eight logger layouts for monitoring animal-level temperature and humidity during commercial feeder cattle transport","volume":"92","author":"Goldhawk","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Anim. Sci."}],"container-title":["Animals"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2615\/11\/9\/2665\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T07:00:31Z","timestamp":1760166031000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2615\/11\/9\/2665"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,10]]},"references-count":43,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9]]}},"alternative-id":["ani11092665"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ani11092665","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-2615"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-2615","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,10]]}}}