Tönnies: Start for ITW pigs with AI recognition
Starting in February, the slaughterhouse Tönnies will extend the €10 tail docking premium to all slaughter pigs from housing system 2, meaning pigs kept in barns participating in the Animal Welfare Initiative (ITW). Previously, the premium was only paid for slaughter pigs from higher housing systems. Tönnies is thus providing a financial incentive to make progress on the issue of phasing out tail docking.
Recognition using artificial intelligence (AI)
AI is now supporting processes in an increasing number of economic sectors. While we are also seeing its growing importance for management support and process control in pig farming, we are now seeing a new practical example in the slaughter industry. The company Tönnies has announced that the identification of piglets with intact tails on the slaughter line will be carried out at all Tönnies locations using an AI camera system capable of recognizing pigs with intact tails.
Prior registration of the ring-tailed animals is initially required
AI helps us automate this very time-consuming manual process. "However, at the start, we will manually check the AI camera system one more time to ensure that the AI-generated identification of the piglets is accurate ," explains Franziska Elmerhaus, project manager in the agricultural department at Tönnies. She elaborates: " Against this backdrop, and to ensure that all animals are properly recorded and the premium is calculated correctly, pre-registration of the piglets is mandatory. This pre-registration should be submitted directly to the marketing partner no later than one day before the planned slaughter."
As a system provider with a holistic approach, Weber has always stood for practical, efficient an...
Since the 1990s, emissions in the pig sector have already been reduced by more than half, thanks ...
Since taking over management of the leased area in October 2024, JBS Terminais has implemented a ...
