A pilot project in Alberta is using an Australian system of GPS-enabled smart tags on livestock for the first time in North America, allowing researchers and producers to use low-orbit satellites to locate cattle.

Each tag can also monitor the activity level of cows using a built-in accelerometer, said livestock research scientist Susan Markus of Lakeland College. As well, they can measure the ambient air temperature with power provided by a small attached solar panel, she added.

“We’ve got 48 total tags that we purchased initially for this project this summer just to sort of see how the technology works; what we can get out of it for data.”

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