Ashley Perepelkin says she was born and raised a city girl, never thinking sheSA国际影视传媒檇 sell fresh beef from cattle she raised on her own Alberta farm with the help of artificial intelligence.

SA国际影视传媒淚 met a boy, and this boy happened to be a farmer,SA国际影视传媒� she says.

Perepelkin, who spent most of her life in Red Deer, Alta., says she and her now-husband Andrew met in 2010, got married and began farming grain together.

When she decided to get cattle, it was a steep learning curve.

SA国际影视传媒淎 lot of things were learned, unfortunately, through trial and error,SA国际影视传媒� she says.

Perepelkin says she enrolled in a continuing education course through Olds College of Agriculture and Technology in Olds, Alta. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 when she saw a video about what AI could do for farmers, and became excited.

SA国际影视传媒淓mployees are expensive, especially SA国际影视传媒� when you donSA国际影视传媒檛 exactly know what youSA国际影视传媒檙e looking for at the beginning,SA国际影视传媒� she says.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 hard to train somebody.SA国际影视传媒�

The Perepelkins can monitor their cattleSA国际影视传媒檚 health, activity, nutrition and growth though cameras, thanks to facial recognition technology for animals called 360 Live ID, a platform developed by a startup called OneCup AI.

OneCup AI is the creator of Bovine Expert Tracking and Surveillance, or BETSY. CEO Mokah Shmigelsky says the technology has been on the market since 2022, and there are now 140 setups across Canada.

SA国际影视传媒淪o far our producers have been very excited about our system, and offering consistent feedback so that we can improve their user experience,SA国际影视传媒� she says.

Shmigelsky, who grew up near Calgary, says her extended family has been involved in ranching and farming for a long time.

She says the idea for BETSY came about when she and her husband were sitting around a campfire at a family reunion in Saskatchewan, discussing the SA国际影视传媒減ain pointsSA国际影视传媒� in the cattle industry.

She says a cousin talked about wanting to identify cows without having to use tags and asked if it could be done using computers and cameras.

ShmigelskySA国际影视传媒檚 husband, Geoff, who she says is the brains behind OneCup AI, responded that identifying cattle using AI would be no problem. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 when they developed the system and tested it on their relativesSA国际影视传媒� cattle.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen BETSY sees an animal thatSA国际影视传媒檚 calving, sheSA国际影视传媒檒l send a text message to the producer,SA国际影视传媒� she says.

Perepelkin says her herd of 100 donSA国际影视传媒檛 start calving until January or February. She brings the animals into a closer pen around the end of December.

SA国际影视传媒淎t that point, (the cameras) will visually see their bedding packs, where I put straw out for the cows to sleep.SA国际影视传媒�

Perepelkin says a maternity pen is equipped with another BETSY camera that oversees its entire area.

She says instead of getting up every three or four hours in the evening to check if her cows are calving, she receives text messages, and can view the cameras through her phone or computer. The cameras watch for signs such as contractions to determine if a cow is about to give birth.

Perepelkin says BETSY can distinguish between two cows having babies side-by-side.

SA国际影视传媒淚f the cows did switch babies, we can switch them back and rectify the problem.SA国际影视传媒�

In November, BETSY won OneCup AI the business of the year honour at the Animal AgTech Awards at the Canadian Western Agribition in Regina.

Perepelkin says a lot of what farmers and ranchers do comes down to experience and time.

SA国际影视传媒淎s everybody knows, time costs money, right?SA国际影视传媒�

Perepelkin says she knew her farm could be better if she only had an extra set of hands when calving out cows and detecting if one is injured or sick.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 a little hard to explain if youSA国际影视传媒檙e not familiar yourself with cows and how they show some signs and symptoms of things.SA国际影视传媒�

Perepelkin says cows make a certain shape to their tail when they are contracting, but itSA国际影视传媒檚 similar to when theySA国际影视传媒檙e urinating or defecating.

SA国际影视传媒淭hat has probably been the hardest jump for (OneCup AI) to get past, is to identify the difference from to the other,SA国际影视传媒� she says.

Shmigelsky says dairy farmers are not only interested in calving alerts, but alerts when cows are in heat and are ready to breed.

SA国际影视传媒淵ou want to get those animals bred in an optimal window, essentially.SA国际影视传媒�

She says there should be enough camera coverage for where the animals are located, and that most places have four to six cameras depending on how many animals and pens they own.

Perepelkin says she also started selling meat right from the SA国际影视传媒渇arm to tableSA国际影视传媒� about five years ago.

SA国际影视传媒淚t absolutely blew the grocery store out of the park,SA国际影视传媒� she says.

She says she began providing meat to her urban friends and relatives.

SA国际影视传媒淕rowing up in the city, they never got to experience the farm-fresh beef.SA国际影视传媒�

The business has expanded into pepperoni, ground beef, smokies, sausages, steaks and roasts, and the Perepelkins hope to make a storefront on their property someday soon.