Artificial calf weaning strategies and the role of machine learning: A review

Abstract

Research in Machine Learning has increased dramatically over the past couple of decades, with applications greatly benefitting industry. These applications vary widely in the fields of space exploration technologies, transportation, robotics, agriculture, animal husbandry, medicine and finance. However, the agricultural and animal husbandry related applications are relatively few when compared to other fields. This paper reviews the past and present calf weaning strategies mainly focussing on the incorporation of Machine Learning techniques in classifying the behavioural responses in cattle and makes an attempt to extend the scope of machine learning classification applications related to calf weaning. This review further discusses the integration of relevant sensors (sensor fusion), deep learning and the improvement of prediction accuracy.