The role of interoperable data standards in precision livestock farming in extensive livestock systems: A review

© 2018 Livestock industries are increasingly embracing precision farming and decision support tools. As a result, sensors, weather stations, individual animal tracking, feed monitoring and other sources create large data volumes, much of which is used only for a single purpose. There are unrealised potential benefits of making on farm data interoperable and accessible and federating it with public data sources. We reviewed recent literature on precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies in relation to the use of public data, open standards and interoperability. Livestock farms produce rising volumes of disparate private datasets, reflecting a variety of information needs and technological opportunities, but typically lacking interoperable formats and metadata. These as well as large amounts of accessible public datasets are currently underutilised in decision support tools. Tools that demonstrate the use of interoperable standards and bring together public and private data for decision support can enhance the value proposition and help lower barriers to the sharing and re-use of data. This review of interoperable standards in extensive livestock farming systems concludes that there is a need for not only a new type of decision support tool, but also a consensus on data exchange standards to prove the value of shared data at farm scale (commercial benefit) and a regional scale (public good).