NC State tackles livestock feed costs with AI, advanced sensors

Healthy, affordable feed is key to the vitality of North Carolina’s $14 billion livestock and poultry production industry. At North Carolina State University, researchers have embarked on a new project designed to help feed mills lower costs while optimizing nutrition.

With seed funding from the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative, an interdisciplinary team is studying ways to use low-cost, real-time sensors paired with artificial intelligence to make feed milling more precise.

Producing high-quality animal feed relies on effectively sourcing, processing and mixing of plant-based ingredients to meet animals’ nutritional needs for amino acids, energy, protein, lipids and minerals. Currently, many of North Carolina’s 130-plus feed mills rely on historical data about the ingredients, adjusting mixtures from week to week or every two weeks.