"Precision livestock farming ’07 contains the latest scientific results from worldwide research, field studies and practical applications. The peer-reviewed papers were presented at the 3rd European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming. The major topics in this book are: - Feed quality management - Sensor technology in animal husbandry - Environmental effects of precision livestock farming - Automation in livestock farming - Implementation, education and training The wide range of research topics reported will be a valuable resource for researchers, advisors, teachers and professionals in agriculture long after the conference has finished. Peer-reviewed papers from the 6th European Conference on Precision Agriculture are presented in a companion publication, Precision agriculture ’07."

"Precision livestock farming '07 contains the latest scientific results from worldwide research, field studies and practical applications. The peer-reviewed papers were presented at the 3rd European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming. The major topics in this book are: - Feed quality management - Sensor technology in animal husbandry - Environmental effects of precision livestock farming - Automation in livestock farming - Implementation, education and training The wide range of research topics reported will be a valuable resource for researchers, advisors, teachers and professionals in agriculture long after the conference has finished. Peer-reviewed papers from the 6th European Conference on Precision Agriculture are presented in a companion publication, Precision agriculture '07."

"With ever-increasing pressures on world agriculture in both economic and environmental terms, application of the concept of precision agriculture is one way of enabling farmers and producers to cope. ‘Doing arable agriculture and horticulture more precisely’ means that the use of inputs is optimised, crop yield and quality are maximised and leakage of agro-chemicals and fertilisers to the environment is minimised. This publication contains papers presented at the 6th European Conference on Precision Agriculture. The papers reflect the wide range of disciplines encompassed by precision agriculture, including: soil physics, crop physiology, agronomy, IT, agricultural technology, sensor technology, remote sensing, geostatistics and environmental science. The wide range of research topics reported will be a valuable resource for researchers, advisors, teachers and professionals in agriculture long after the conference has finished. Peer-reviewed papers from the 3rd European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming are presented in a companion proceedings, Precision livestock farming ’07."

"Precision Livestock presents the latest scientific results from worldwide research, field studies and practical application. The book contains peer-reviewed papers that were presented at the 1st European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming. The papers focus on physiological identification and monitoring of animals, on farm and in transit, and on the operation of automatic milking systems. Major objectives are secure methods of animal identification for traceability; animal welfare and hygiene. The economic and health effects of implementing precision livestock husbandry are featured in many of them. This first conference was held in parallel with the 4th European Conference on Precision Agriculture - the links between both technologies were drawn and the possible interactions between them were shown for the first time. The potential is to integrate both technologies to encompass the whole farm. Peer-reviewed papers from the Precision Agriculture conference are presented in a companion proceedings, Precision Agriculture."

"Precision Livestock Farming presents the latest scientific results from worldwide research, field studies and practical application. The book contains peer-reviewed papers that were presented at the 2nd European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming.The major topics in the book are animal welfare; food quality (including traceability of origin) and environmental pollution (including treatment of animal waste). The wide range of research topics reported will be a valuable resource for researchers, advisors, teachers and professionals in agriculture long after the conference has finished."

Precision livestock farming is becoming ever more relevant as the agricultural industry struggles to come to terms with aspects such as animal welfare, animal disease, the environment, economics, traceability, robots and livestock management. Whilst some benefits have proved elusive, others contribute positively to today's agriculture. Research continues to be necessary and needs to be reported and disseminated to a wide audience. These proceedings contain the reviewed papers from the 4th European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming. The papers reflect the wide range of disciplines that impinge upon precision livestock farming including feeding dairy, data quality, poultry and pig applications, livestock environment, wireless sensing, dairy fertility and calving management, animal identification, mastitis detection and locomotion. The broad range of research topics reported are a valuable resource for researchers, advisors, teachers and professionals in agriculture. Also note that the reviewed papers from the 7th European Conference on Precision Agriculture are presented in a companion publication.

Precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies have been heavily promoted in the past, but the implementation of these technologies is not easy. Numerous technical challenges need to be solved before PLF technologies will supply the desired information in a reliable and consistent way. Farm implementations regularly encounter difficulties. The practical experience associated with these technologies do not always match their theoretical potential. 93 authors from 16 countries were asked to report on the actual practical experiences technology developers and users had under farm conditions to try and understand this difference between practice and theory. This book aims to eliminate the 'mystery' behind the 'Smart' PLF tools, and presents the hard facts reported by individuals that have practical experience using these technologies. The book also explores various aspects of PLF, including the (1) challenges associated with developing and using various technologies, (2) the importance of training and ethical aspects of PLF tools, and (3) the difficulties related to commercialisation of PLF systems. We hope that the honest presentation of the pros and cons of PLF management tools will help the supporters of precision farming to better use and interact with modern technologies, and thus sustain viable livestock production worldwide.