Did you know that humans stopped being able to beat computers at games in 2019? Or that artificial intelligence (AI) use in medical imaging is more accurate and 30% faster than a human eye?
“AI isn’t coming, it’s already here,” Ben Allen, chief executive officer of BinSentry, said during a presentation on what’s new in barn technology and automation at the Midwest Pork Conference.
Early adopters have an operating advantage that shows up in their profit and loss statement, he explained. Lower costs create higher profits. Higher profits create more room for investment. Higher investments create more operating advantage.
“Those that have an operating advantage, a lower cost structure, will eat those that don’t. Then the buyers will add their technical advantage to their new assets and increase their valuations,” Allen said.
When it comes to the feed business, Allen believes AI will run animal feed supply chains (for leading companies) by 2026.
“Sensors will monitor feed consumption, allowing AI programs to create feed orders. AI programs will use sensor data to set mill production schedules and order ingredients. AI programs will also set delivery schedules based on real-time inventories in the field and at the mill,” he shared with the crowd.
He discussed the results of a year-long study that tracked out-of-feed events at 100 HANOR hog barns using BinSentry’s 3D optical sensors and AI-powered software technology. The study uncovered the majority of feed outages were due to bin slide management mistakes — where the slide on a full bin wasn’t opened after another bin was emptied.
Sites experiencing the most out-of-feed events saw feed conversion ratios (FCRs) 7 basis points higher.
“Before now, the industry was unable to identify a direct correlation between feed outages and FCR — we knew it must exist, but we just couldn’t find it,” Allen said. “It turns out we were missing 80% of the problem because we didn’t have any reliable way to see what was going on inside the feed bins. Now we do.”
This is just one of many ways that AI is like a rifle, Allen explained.
“It can be used to harm, or it can be used to feed your family. It’s up to you, but that’s how powerful this is,” he says. “You’ve got to decide if you want to pick it up and use it.”
Read the full story on BinSentry and Hanor’s study here.
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