An early prototype of FlockMate, set up in a yard setting at Chiswick Research Station. Photos: CSIRO
New CSIRO tech could let sheep farmers track live weight and fleece weight in real time. No yards, no handling required.
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The system, called FlockMate, is a two-year research project backed by CSIRO, Meat and Livestock Australia and Australian Wool Innovation, designed to capture measurements as sheep move naturally through their paddocks.
Live weight is the combined weight of an animal and its fleece, and is a key indicator of feed availability, animal health and readiness for production stages like lambing and sale.
Getting consistent readings across a whole flock has long been a challenge, with current methods often reliant on manual handling or sheep voluntarily engaging with weighing equipment.
This leads to gaps in the data.
CSIRO principal research scientist Dr Sabrina Greenwood said FlockMate was designed to remove those barriers and enable more regular monitoring throughout the growth cycle.
“Keeping track of live weight can tell producers a lot about what’s happening to their sheep, whether that’s how the flock is responding to seasonal conditions or how they’re tracking through production stages,” Dr Greenwood said.
CSIRO quantitative imaging team leader Dr Xun Li said the technology relied on a multimodal sensor system that captured high-resolution 3D images of each animal as it passes by.
“Advanced AI and computer vision algorithms then analyse this data to generate accurate estimates of body volume, live weight and fleece weight,” Dr Li said.
“Each measurement is automatically associated with the animal’s RFID tag.”
Prototypes are currently being trialled at CSIRO’s 1500-hectare Chiswick Research Station in NSW, home to around 2700 Merino breeding ewes.
More than 20 producers have contributed feedback to shape the system’s design, which Dr Greenwood said had been vital in ensuring it’s practical for real farm conditions.
While the current focus is sheep, researchers say the technology could eventually extend to cattle and other livestock.
Footage captured by the sensors, which is then converted to 3D images, in which AI can accurately measure the animal’s liveweight.
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