Sigh of relief: new tool detects disease

May 15, 2018

A start-up company is developing a device to measure breathing rates in pigs

By Kaitlynn Anderson
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Pork producers could identify diseases in their herds more quickly, thanks to a team of two individuals from Mankato, Minnesota.

Kenny Strobel and Ryan Kruse, co-founders of Krobel Corp., designed a device to monitor the respiratory rates of individual hogs.

Producers will place the devices on their animals’ snouts. Then, from nursing through to finishing, the tools will track the animals’ breathing rates by measuring the air temperatures as they inhale and exhale, the Krobel Corp. website stated.

The devices will continuously collect and analyze data over a ten-day period to establish an expected range for each animal’s respiratory rate. If a pig’s rate leaves the pre-determined bounds for a prolonged period, then the tool will notify the producer.

Since a high respiratory rate can be a symptom of many diseases, the tool could allow producers to efficiently identify and treat sick animals.

“Currently, the standard way to determine a hog's health is to walk through the barn once or twice a day and look at each hog for visible symptoms,” the website states. “Building on this process, our device will limit human error, expand (on) the types of diseases that can be caught and provide (producers with an opportunity) for earlier (disease) identification.”

The team will participate in the Iowa AgriTech Accelerator’s start-up program to further develop and market their invention.

Through the program, which accepted five start-up companies into its 2018 cohort, the inventors will receive intensive mentoring and $40,000 in seed funding, an Accelerator release stated.

Farms.com has reached out to a co-founder of Krobel Corp. for further comment.

Evgeniy1/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo

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