Precision livestock farming

Also known as PLF

Precision livestock farming uses sensors, cameras and software to monitor individual farm animals, for example to flag heat, illness or milking readiness. Heat-detection collars have device-level validation studies, but one review finds the claimed welfare benefits of wider monitoring largely unproven. A feed additive used to cut dairy methane is under a new EU safety review.

CommercialDemonstratedReviewed 21 Oct 2026
AI illustration · Illustrative scene, not a photograph of the specific device or experiment.

In plain language

Precision livestock farming means watching each animal rather than the herd as a whole. A cow might wear a collar that records her movement and rumination, or a camera or sensor may track her as she moves through a milking robot. Software turns those signals into alerts, such as a cow in heat or an early sign of illness, so the farmer can act sooner.

Automatic milking systems let cows be milked in a robotic stall without a person present for each cow. Bovaer is a feed additive that reduces the methane dairy cows release when they digest food. It is approved in the EU and Great Britain. In 2026, Danish authorities reported digestive and metabolic disorders on dairy farms using it, and the European Commission asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for a new safety opinion.

Technical explanation

Heat-detection collars use accelerometers to measure activity, and some also record rumination. Algorithms turn changes in activity into an oestrus alert, which must then be checked against a reference, usually ultrasonography. In a 2025 study of 47 Holstein cows on one farm, a RUMI neck collar gave 90.9% sensitivity (30 of 33 cows in heat) and 100% specificity (14 of 14 cows not in heat) against ultrasound checks. The authors note that 12-hourly ultrasound checks may introduce an error of about 6 hours in ovulation timing for some cows, and that each monitoring device should be carefully validated. Wider health monitoring has a weaker evidence base. Tuyttens and colleagues (2022) report that only 14% of commercially available dairy welfare PLF systems had external validation trials, and they list poor external validation of algorithms as one of 12 threats to animal welfare.

Bovaer (3-nitrooxypropanol, or 3-NOP) is a feed additive for dairy cows. EFSA's 2021 opinion concluded that Bovaer 10 has a potential to be efficacious in reducing enteric methane production in dairy cows under the proposed conditions of use. It judged Bovaer 10 safe for dairy cows at the maximum recommended level of 100 mg 3-NOP per kg dry matter. It could not establish a margin of safety for other animal categories, and it noted that 3-NOP may be harmful if inhaled. The UK Food Standards Agency says the additive is metabolised by the cow and was not found in milk in the trials presented to it.

Welfare and data governance are contested. Tuyttens and colleagues argue that claimed welfare benefits of PLF remain largely unproven. They list 12 potential threats, including over-reliance on PLF by end-users, end-users spending less quality time with animals, and loss of animal-oriented husbandry skills. On data, the EU Code of Conduct on agricultural data sharing by contractual agreement (2018) is a non-binding document. It states that the farmer remains at the heart of the collection, processing and management of agricultural data. The code does not settle who owns farm data.

What the evidence says

Each statement is typed by the strength of its evidence and linked to the source that supports it.

Demonstrated Shown in a published experiment, test or shipping product.

EFSA concluded in 2021 that Bovaer 10 is safe for dairy cows at the maximum recommended level of 100 mg 3-NOP per kg dry matter, but could not establish a margin of safety for other animal categories.

Sources: [1] · Abstract and conditions of use

EFSA concluded in 2021 that Bovaer 10 has a potential to be efficacious in reducing enteric methane production in dairy cows under the proposed conditions of use.

Sources: [1] · Abstract · medium confidence

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/565, adopted on 7 April 2022, authorises a 3-nitrooxypropanol preparation for dairy cows and cows for reproduction, with DSM Nutritional Products Ltd as the holder.

Sources: [2] · medium confidence

The UK Food Standards Agency states that Bovaer is approved for use in Great Britain, that cows metabolise 3-NOP so it does not pass into milk, and that 3-NOP was not found in milk in the trials presented to it.

Sources: [3] · medium confidence

In a 2025 study of 47 Holstein cows, a neck-mounted RUMI collar detected oestrus against ultrasound checks with 90.9% sensitivity (30 of 33 cows in heat) and 100% specificity (14 of 14 cows not in heat).

Sources: [5] · Results · medium confidence

The authors of the 2025 collar study note that 12-hourly ultrasound checks may introduce an error of about 6 hours in ovulation timing for some cows, and that each monitoring device should be carefully validated.

Sources: [5] · Discussion · medium confidence

The EU Code of Conduct on agricultural data sharing by contractual agreement (2018) is a non-binding document, and states that the farmer remains at the heart of the collection, processing and management of agricultural data. The page reviewed does not set out who owns farm data.

Sources: [7]

Reported, unverified Stated by a company or team but not independently confirmed.

In early 2026, Danish authorities reported clinical signs of digestive and metabolic disorders on roughly a quarter of the 1,600 dairy farms that began using Bovaer since December 2025, and the European Commission asked EFSA for a new safety opinion. EFSA's call for data had a deadline of 31 March 2026; no new opinion was found in the sources reviewed.

Sources: [4] · medium confidence

Disputed Contested by other credible sources.

Tuyttens and colleagues (2022) argue that claimed welfare benefits of precision livestock farming remain largely unproven, report that only 14% of commercially available dairy welfare PLF systems had external validation trials, and list 12 potential welfare threats, including over-reliance on PLF by end-users and loss of animal-oriented husbandry skills.

Sources: [6] · medium confidence

Limitations and open problems

  • EFSA's 2021 safety conclusion for Bovaer covers dairy cows at the maximum recommended dose. EFSA could not conclude on other animal categories, and it flagged that 3-NOP may be harmful if inhaled.
  • Danish reports of digestive and metabolic disorders in 2026 are the subject of a Commission request for a new EFSA opinion. The sources reviewed for this profile do not give an outcome, and the Danish figures come from one trade news article that does not reconcile its own dates.
  • Collar validation studies are small and device-specific. The 2025 RUMI study used 47 cows on one farm, and two of its authors work for the company that makes the device.
  • Only 14% of commercially available dairy welfare PLF systems had external validation trials (Tuyttens and colleagues, 2022).
  • The sources reviewed did not give a current, sourced count of farms using automatic milking systems, so this profile gives no national farm totals.
  • The EU data-sharing code is non-binding, so it does not give farmers an enforceable right to their data.

Possible future uses

Speculative

Ideas, not predictions. None of these has been demonstrated.

  • A combined alert that uses activity, rumination and milk data to flag metabolic disease earlier. The field has not yet shown this reliably.
  • On-farm methane measurement to check that feed additives are used as labelled, for reporting or payments under future schemes.
  • Welfare scoring of individual animals from sensor data as a condition of farm assurance schemes, once validated welfare indicators are agreed.

Timeline

  1. 19 Nov 2021EFSA Journal publishes its scientific opinion finding Bovaer 10 safe for dairy cows at the maximum recommended level. Sources: [1]
  2. 8 Apr 2022Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/565, adopted on 7 April 2022, is published in the Official Journal, authorising the 3-NOP preparation for dairy cows and cows for reproduction. Sources: [2]
  3. Mar 2023The UK Food Standards Agency publishes its safety assessment for 3-NOP. Sources: [3]
  4. 23 Aug 2025Sensors journal publishes a validation study of a neck-mounted accelerometer collar for oestrus detection in 47 Holstein cows. Sources: [5]
  5. 17 Feb 2026Reports emerge that the European Commission has asked EFSA for a new scientific opinion on Bovaer after Danish reports of digestive and metabolic disorders. Sources: [4]
  6. 31 Mar 2026Deadline for submissions to EFSA's public call for data on Bovaer. Sources: [4]

Futures this could help bring about

AI illustration
How far away?

Every farm animal monitored by sensors

Pilots · 3 of 8 steps done

Glossary

Oestrus
The fertile phase of a female mammal's reproductive cycle when she is ready to be mated. Often called 'heat'.
Sensitivity and specificity
Sensitivity is the share of true events that an alert catches. Specificity is the share of non-events that are correctly left unflagged.
3-NOP (3-nitrooxypropanol)
A feed additive, sold as Bovaer, that reduces the methane dairy cows produce during digestion.
Enteric methane
Methane released by ruminant animals, mainly from fermentation in their digestive system.

Sources

  1. government report
    Safety and efficacy of a feed additive consisting of 3-nitrooxypropanol (Bovaer 10) for ruminants for milk production and reproduction (DSM Nutritional Products Ltd)
    EFSA Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP). EFSA Journal, 19 Nov 2021. DOI: 10.2903/j.efsa.2021.6905. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  2. other
    Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/565 of 7 April 2022 authorising a 3-nitrooxypropanol preparation as a feed additive for dairy cows and cows for reproduction
    Official Journal of the European Union, 8 Apr 2022. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  3. government report
    Bovaer cow feed additive explained
    Food Standards Agency, 5 Dec 2024. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  4. news
    European Food Safety Authority reviewing Bovaer data
    Aisling O'Brien. Agriland, 17 Feb 2026. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  5. peer reviewed paper
    Estrus Detection and Optimal Insemination Timing in Holstein Cattle Using a Neck-Mounted Accelerometer Sensor System
    Jacobo Álvarez, Antía Acción, Elio López et al.. Sensors, 23 Aug 2025. DOI: 10.3390/s25175245. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  6. review article
    Twelve Threats of Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) for Animal Welfare
    Frank A. M. Tuyttens, Carla F. M. Molento, Said Benaissa. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 27 May 2022. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.889623. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.
  7. other
    EU Code of Conduct on agricultural data sharing by contractual agreement
    CEMA, 2018. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.

Revision history

3 changes since this profile was created.

Changes on 21 Oct 2026
Published on owner instruction (content loop iteration 58)b546b28
Sources and claims re-checked against originalsfbb434c
Initial profile drafted from primary sources7e66249