New sensors to monitor swine welfare and trailer disinfection expected by 2020

A new sensor designed to track parameters related to animal welfare during swine transport and monitor the trailer temperatures during disinfection are expected to be ready for use by 2020.

 

Transport Genie is one of the partners in a Swine Innovation Porc initiative intended to improve the efficiency of washing and disinfecting swine transport trailers.

 

Sensors, originally designed by Transport Genie to monitor parameters related to animal welfare are being modified to track temperatures achieved during the baking or disinfection of those trailers.

 

Transport Genie President and CEO Joel Sotomayer says, in terms of the disinfection of these trailers, it’s important be sure the temperatures required to kill pathogens are reached.

 

In terms of the SIP project, as you know there is a need to find out if every compartment of that trailer is actually reaching the temperature that is required to be considered clean. So by putting our sensors in various parts of the container we can validate it to make sure that that section of that trailer actually got to the temperature that was required.

 

Presently we can record the GPS coordinates that the driver is using in terms of how they get from point A to point B and we also measure accelerometer. In the event that there is an event where braking had to be done in a manner that may have caused some of the payload or animals to be hurt, because there was a hard breaking event, we would also have the ability to record when that happened and, in the near future, have cameras installed and then view what actually happened during that incident.

 

~ Joel Sotomayer, Transport Genie

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.