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Agriculture/
Specialized fields/
Livestock and dairyLivestock and dairy, with the herd’s conditions on record.
Healthy animals need clean air, water, feed and a climate they can bear. Barn gas and climate sensors, water meters, cameras and pasture water points report to one record the farmer, the vet and the inspector can all read, and the emissions record follows from the same measurements.
Plan a deploymentHow it worksStation Builder- Industry
- Agriculture
- Measurements
- 6
- Sources cited
- 6
Agriculture · Livestock and dairy
The herd cannot tell you
Animals in a house depend on fans, water lines and heaters that can fail in the night. A broken drinker or a stalled fan is noticed late, and illness shows first as a change in how much the animals drink. Measuring the air, the climate and the water in every house catches these early.
What is measured
Air, climate, water and the animals
Gas sensors read ammonia and carbon dioxide at animal height; climate sensors read temperature and humidity inside and out; meters count water on every supply and level sensors watch pasture troughs. Cameras let the farmer check the animals the moment an alarm sounds.
- Instruments
- Gas sensors · Climate sensors · Water meters · Trough levels · Cameras
The base node
A farm node that keeps watch
An industrial gateway reads the barn sensors and the ventilation controllers over their own buses and hands them to the farm node, which signs every value. The node raises ventilation, heat stress and water alarms at once and keeps the camera clip around each alarm.
Radio and links
Barn wireless, paddock LoRaWAN
Inside, the farm’s wireless network carries cameras and gateways without trenching through concrete. Out in the paddocks, LoRaWAN carries trough levels from places with no power. The farm reaches the office, the vet and the processor over cellular, with a buffer for outages.
- Links
- Wi-Fi · LoRaWAN · Public cellular
How it works
From a dry drinker to a call
A water meter on a house supply stops counting. The gateway passes the reading to the farm node, which sees the flow fall against the herd’s normal pattern, raises the alarm with a camera clip and calls the stockperson. The record keeps the reading, the alarm and the repair.
From order to operation · Order
Scope the houses, the herd and the permit
The scope reads the farm layout, the herd, the ventilation and water systems, the welfare duties and any emissions permit. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the point plan by house and paddock, the network design, the integration with herd software and a price per house and per service.
Plan a deploymentFrom order to operation · Survey
Walk the barns with the stockperson
Crews walk every house with the stockperson to find representative points at animal height, away from direct airflow and out of reach of the animals. They check wireless coverage in the barns, LoRaWAN coverage to paddock water points, and where cameras can see pens without blind corners.
From order to operation · Permits
Biosecurity, privacy and permits
Crews follow the farm’s biosecurity rules on every visit. Cameras that see staff are covered by a written notice and a data policy. For permitted pig and poultry units, the measurement plan is agreed with the permit holder so it matches what the permit requires.
From order to operation · Build
Build for dust and ammonia
Gas, climate and water sensors are chosen for corrosive, dusty air, built into sealed enclosures and tested with the gateway and node. Each is enrolled with its identity, configured for its house and alarm limits from the farm’s welfare plan. Every part is labelled for quick replacement.
Open the Station BuilderFrom order to operation · Install
Install between batches
Where possible, installation happens between batches when houses are empty and clean. Sensors are mounted at animal height, water meters fitted on each supply, cameras aimed over pens and alleys, and pasture water points mounted on troughs. Every point is photographed for the record.
From order to operation · Commission
Test every alarm
Each device proves its identity. Gas sensors are checked with a reference gas, climate sensors against a reference, water meters against a measured volume. Ventilation, heat stress and water failure alarms are triggered on purpose and reach the farmer and, where agreed, the vet.
From order to operation · Operate
Care for the herd on evidence
The farmer sees air, climate and water in every house and paddock, with alarms when something fails and camera clips to check animals at once. Water use and climate trends flag illness early, and the emissions record follows from the same measurements, ready for inventories and permits.
From order to operation · Maintain
Clean, check and replace
Gas sensors are checked with reference gas on schedule and replaced at the end of their life, enclosures are cleaned during house washing, and water meters are checked yearly. Every change is recorded against the point, so welfare and emissions series stay consistent.
Book field servicesData products
For farmers, vets and inspectors
Farmers receive house dashboards and alarms; vets receive early health signals and clips; processors and sustainability teams receive emissions inventories; inspectors and permit authorities receive welfare and emissions records. Each product carries the measurements, the calibration and the siting behind it.
See the data productsEvidence
Welfare and emissions on one record
Every reading, alarm, response and calibration is signed and kept with its time and place. Welfare duties follow the protection of farm animals rules and animal health codes, emissions follow IPCC inventory methods and, for permitted units, the best available techniques, so any inspector can check them.
- Drawn against
- Directive 98/58/EC · WOAH Terrestrial Code · IPCC 2019 AFOLU · Directive 2010/75/EU
What you get
Agricultural field observatories
Soil moisture profiles, micro-weather and evapotranspiration with irrigation thresholds per field. Delivered as managed service and data licence, for growers, agribusiness, irrigation districts, crop insurers. Scale: Farm to region. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.
Talk to salesNext step
Plan livestock and dairy with us
Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for livestock and dairy. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.
Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio
01The place and its hazards
Where it runs, and what can go wrong.
Operating contextDairy, beef, pig, poultry and sheep farms keep animals housed, on pasture or both. Welfare rules set duties for air, water, feed and care; large pig and poultry units hold environmental permits with ammonia limits; and herd health depends on catching heat stress, water failures and illness early. Barns are dusty, humid and corrosive for electronics.
Hazards
- Ammonia and dust in housed livestock
- Heat stress in hot, humid weather
- Water supply failures in barns and on pasture
- Disease spreading before it is noticed
- Corrosive, dusty air that shortens sensor life
02What must be measured
What, where, how often, and under which rules.
Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.
| Measurement | Where | Cadence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ammonia and carbon dioxide | Barn air at animal height and at ventilation outlets | Continuous | 12 |
| Temperature and humidity | Inside each house and outside for heat stress | Continuous | 23 |
| Water use | Meters on each house supply and pasture water points | Continuous, totalled daily | 2 |
| Animal welfare by camera | Pens, alleys and water points | On schedule and on alarm | 4 |
| Enteric and manure emissions estimates | Per herd, from activity data and measured conditions | Monthly and yearly inventories | 5 |
| Emissions to permit | Housing and manure storage of permitted pig and poultry units | As the permit sets | 61 |
03The observation stack
From one base unit to a network.
The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.
- 01
Base unit
A house point: gas, climate and water sensors on an industrial gateway, read with the camera by a farm node that signs every value.
Build a station → - 02
Site
A farm: every house and pasture water point, LoRaWAN for the paddocks and a cellular link to the office and the vet.
Plan a site → - 03
Fleet
Every farm of an integrator or cooperative run as one fleet, with one welfare and emissions process.
Managed offers → - 04
Network
Farms, vets, processors and inspectors exchange welfare and emissions records through open standards.
The open protocol →
- 01Gas detector (industrial)
- 02Flow meter
- 03Fixed camera
- 04Water level gauge
- 05LPWAN endpoint
- 06OT gateway (OPC UA, Modbus)
- 07LoRaWAN gateway
- 08Edge node (Wedge)
- 09Cellular modem/router
- 10Solar array
Radio and links
Wi-Fi
Inside barns, the farm’s own wireless network carries cameras and gateways without trenching.
Radio and links
LoRaWAN
Pasture water points and remote troughs report from paddocks far from power, on batteries.
Radio and links
Public cellular
The farm’s path to the office, the vet and the processor, with a buffer for outages.
Edge computeThe farm node watches gas, climate and water in every house, raises alarms for ventilation, heat stress or a water failure at once, and keeps camera clips around each alarm for the record.
PowerBarn sensors and the node run on farm mains with a battery for outages; pasture water points run on small solar panels.
04How it works
From the instrument to the product.
One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.
Livestock and dairy: data path
– of 08
01 Instruments Measurement with sensor identity andcalibration 02 Field radio 03 Gateway 04 Node – Wrap in an observation envelope with timequality– Measure quality and uncertainty, attachquality flags– Buffer locally (store-and-forward when thelink drops) 05 Backhaul Commit with transactional outbox andpublish, delivered at least once 06 Site Consumer inbox deduplicates and applieseach record once into governed data 07 Data store Governed product through API, map orexport, correction-aware 08 Products OGC SensorThings APIOPC UAModbus 09 Power and structure Supplies 12 V DC, 24 V DC, 48 V DC to thefield equipment 01 Gas detector (industrial) Analogue I/O · RS-485 · Ethernet 02 Flow meter SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 03 Fixed camera Ethernet 04 Water level gauge SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 05 LPWAN endpoint Analogue I/O · SDI-12 · RS-485 06 OT gateway (OPC UA, Modbus) Ethernet · RS-485 · CAN · AnalogueI/O 07 LoRaWAN gateway Ethernet · RF · GNSS antenna 08 Edge node (Wedge) Ethernet · Fibre · USB · RS-485 ·BMC 09 Cellular modem/router Ethernet · USB · RS-232 Site MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B Governed data store Versioned, correction-aware House air, climate and waterdashboards Welfare alarms with camera clips Early health signals from water andclimate Emissions inventories and permitreports 10 Solar array RS-485 RS-485 · Modbus RS-485 · Modbus Ethernet · RTSP/ONVIF SDI-12 LoRaWAN Ethernet · opc-ua Ethernet Ethernet LTE/NR| Item | Equipment | Data ports | Protocols | Power in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Gas detector (industrial)Fixed detector for flammable or toxic gas in industrial areas, with alarm outputs. | Analogue I/ORS-485Ethernet | Modbus, OPC UA, MQTT 5 | 24 V DC |
| 02 | Flow meterOpen-channel or pipe flow meter (Doppler, ultrasonic, electromagnetic). | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC |
| 03 | Fixed cameraFixed visible-light camera for site security, scene monitoring and machine vision. | Ethernet | RTSP with ONVIF profiles, MQTT 5 | PoE |
| 04 | Water level gaugeRadar, pressure or float gauge for river, lake, reservoir or tide level. | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC |
| 05 | LPWAN endpointBattery-powered endpoint on LoRaWAN, NB-IoT or LTE-M that carries one or more sensors. | Analogue I/OSDI-12RS-485 | LoRaWAN, OMA LwM2M, CoAP | Internal battery, Energy harvesting |
| 06 | OT gateway (OPC UA, Modbus)Read-only bridge from industrial fieldbuses and controllers (Modbus, OPC UA, DNP3, IEC 61850, CAN) to the site network, behind a security boundary. | EthernetRS-485CANAnalogue I/O | OPC UA, Modbus, DNP3 (IEEE 1815), IEC 61850 (MMS, GOOSE), MQTT 5 | 24 V DC |
| 07 | LoRaWAN gatewayMulti-channel LoRaWAN gateway that forwards uplinks to a network server and schedules downlinks within duty limits. | EthernetRFGNSS antenna | LoRaWAN, MQTT 5 | PoE, 12 V DC |
| 08 | Edge node (Wedge)Rugged edge node that boots from signed media, attests itself and establishes a site cell from little or no infrastructure. | EthernetFibreUSBRS-485BMC | MQTT 5, DMTF Redfish, IEEE 1588 PTP, NTP with NTS, OPC UA | 12 V DC, 24 V DC, 48 V DC, AC mains |
| 09 | Cellular modem/routerLTE or NR modem or router that uses a public carrier or private network as backhaul. | EthernetUSBRS-232 | 3GPP E-UTRA air interface, 3GPP NR air interface, OMA LwM2M | 12 V DC, PoE |
| 10 | Solar arrayPV modules with charge controller sized to the site’s load and climate. | RS-485 | Modbus | — |
How it scales
01 Instruments Arbitrary qualified sensors and instruments whosemeasurements are ingested with calibration, units,geometry, time, custody and uncertainty. ×n 02 Node The minimum useful deployable unit: server, ruggedappliance, radio node, sensor gateway, satelliteterminal, AI, scientific, vehicle or virtual node. Node Node agent 03 Site The minimum independently operable localgovernance and failure domain: one or more nodesplus local network, identity, policy, evidence,storage, products and operator surfaces.SITE
Node Node Node ×n 04 Cluster An optional scale or specialisation domain forscheduling, shared storage, accelerators or datalocality.CLUSTER
×n 05 Fleet Coordinates plans, acknowledgements,convergence evidence, update campaigns andcorrection propagation across nodes and sites.FLEET
Fleet controller ×n 06 Federation An exchange of products, capabilities, events orwork across approved, independently administeredtrust domains, using explicit trust, policy,data-locality, version and correction contracts.TRUST DOMAIN
TRUST DOMAIN
TRUST DOMAIN
×n Verifier Applications Data in the field Telemetry Control Data upstream Control Data upstream Control Exchange Evidence Events Exchange- Data in the field
- MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B; connectors for LoRaWAN, OPC UA and instrument buses.
- Telemetry
- OpenTelemetry OTLP.
- Control
- TLS 1.3 with mutual authentication; protobuf messages over gRPC or HTTP/2.
- Data upstream
- At-least-once publication with repeat-safe keys over the control channel or NATS JetStream; QUIC MAY be used on lossy links.
- Evidence
- DSSE-signed in-toto statements; SLSA provenance; SCITT transparency receipts.
- Events
- Event envelopes mapped to CloudEvents 1.0; channels described in AsyncAPI 3.
- Exchange
- OpenAPI 3.1; the OGC API family; SensorThings; STAC; WIS 2.0.
05From order to operation
Every step, from the first call to a running site.
The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.
- 01 Order
Scope the houses, the herd and the permit
The scope reads the farm layout, the herd, the ventilation and water systems, the welfare duties and any emissions permit. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the point plan by house and paddock, the network design, the integration with herd software and a price per house and per service. 26
- 02 Survey
Walk the barns with the stockperson
Crews walk every house with the stockperson to find representative points at animal height, away from direct airflow and out of reach of the animals. They check wireless coverage in the barns, LoRaWAN coverage to paddock water points, and where cameras can see pens without blind corners.
- 03 Permits
Biosecurity, privacy and permits
Crews follow the farm’s biosecurity rules on every visit. Cameras that see staff are covered by a written notice and a data policy. For permitted pig and poultry units, the measurement plan is agreed with the permit holder so it matches what the permit requires.
- 04 Build
Build for dust and ammonia
Gas, climate and water sensors are chosen for corrosive, dusty air, built into sealed enclosures and tested with the gateway and node. Each is enrolled with its identity, configured for its house and alarm limits from the farm’s welfare plan. Every part is labelled for quick replacement.
- 05 Install
Install between batches
Where possible, installation happens between batches when houses are empty and clean. Sensors are mounted at animal height, water meters fitted on each supply, cameras aimed over pens and alleys, and pasture water points mounted on troughs. Every point is photographed for the record.
- 06 Commission
Test every alarm
Each device proves its identity. Gas sensors are checked with a reference gas, climate sensors against a reference, water meters against a measured volume. Ventilation, heat stress and water failure alarms are triggered on purpose and reach the farmer and, where agreed, the vet. 2
- 07 Operate
Care for the herd on evidence
The farmer sees air, climate and water in every house and paddock, with alarms when something fails and camera clips to check animals at once. Water use and climate trends flag illness early, and the emissions record follows from the same measurements, ready for inventories and permits. 51
- 08 Maintain
Clean, check and replace
Gas sensors are checked with reference gas on schedule and replaced at the end of their life, enclosures are cleaned during house washing, and water meters are checked yearly. Every change is recorded against the point, so welfare and emissions series stay consistent.
06Data products and integration
What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.
Data products
- House air, climate and water dashboardsFarmers and stockpersons
- Welfare alarms with camera clipsFarmers and vets
- Early health signals from water and climateVets and herd managers
- Emissions inventories and permit reportsFarm managers, processors and regulators
Integration
- Herd management softwareWater, climate and alarms join the herd record through the software’s own interfaces or OGC SensorThings.
- Ventilation and climate controllersReadings are taken from controllers over Modbus or OPC UA; control stays with the controller.
- Emissions and sustainability reportingInventories follow IPCC methods with the measured conditions behind them.
Exchanged through OGC SensorThings API, OPC UA, Modbus.
07Questions buyers ask
Before you scope it.
Do sensors survive barn air?
They are chosen for ammonia and dust, sealed, cleaned during house washing and replaced on plan.
Will the system control our ventilation?
No. It reads the controller and raises alarms; the controller and the farmer stay in charge.
Who sees the cameras?
The farm decides. Staff are told in writing, and footage is kept only around alarms unless the farm chooses otherwise.
Does this help with our emissions permit?
It measures what the permit asks for and keeps the record; the permit holder reports it.
08Resources
The sources behind this page.
Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.
- 1Best available techniques conclusions for the intensive rearing of poultry or pigs (Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/302)European Commission · 2017
- 2Council Directive 98/58/EC concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposesEuropean Union · 1998
- 3Guide to Instruments and Methods of Observation (WMO-No. 8)World Meteorological Organization
- 4Terrestrial Animal Health CodeWorld Organisation for Animal Health
- 52019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 4: Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land UseIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change · 2019
- 6Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (intensive rearing of poultry or pigs)European Union · 2010
09Related
Use cases and solutions.
SolutionAgricultural field observatories
Soil moisture profiles, micro-weather and evapotranspiration with irrigation thresholds per field.Solutions for agriculture →SolutionEnvironmental and permit monitoring
Emissions, water quality, noise and dust monitoring for permit conditions, with traceable calibration and evidence bundles.Solutions for agriculture →SolutionSensing as a Service
Observation networks designed, installed, operated and maintained for a monthly fee: weather, hydromet, air, seismic and environmental stations, with data delivered under a licence.Solutions for agriculture →10Agriculture: specialized fields
Other fields of this industry.
Specialized fieldRow crops and grain
Soil moisture and temperature by zone, field weather for spraying and disease, evapotranspiration for irrigation and satellite crop vigour, on LoRaWAN across the farm and cellular back to the office.The full field →Specialized fieldOrchards and vineyards
Frost watch at dawn, leaf wetness and disease risk, soil water for deficit irrigation and canopy cameras, on LoRaWAN across the blocks with alerts that wake the grower in time.The full field →Specialized fieldGreenhouses and controlled environment
Climate, carbon dioxide, substrate water and nutrient dosing, energy and outside weather for greenhouses and vertical farms, on the site network beside the climate computer, never in its way.The full field →Specialized fieldIrrigation districts and canals
Canal levels and flows, offtake deliveries, water quality, district weather and crop demand, on LoRaWAN along the canals and microwave to the district office, for fair and accountable sharing of water.The full field →Specialized fieldForestry and plantations
Fire watch from towers, forest weather and fire danger, sound for illegal logging, growth and carbon plots and satellite change, on LoRaWAN, microwave and satellite across the estate.The full field →Specialized fieldAquaculture
Dissolved oxygen, temperature and salinity at the pens, met-ocean conditions, feeding cameras and harmful algae watch for fish and shellfish farms, on cellular and satellite from the water.The full field →Specialized fieldRangeland and pastoralism
Rain, pasture growth, water points and herd movement across open range, with satellite forage maps and drought early warning, on LoRaWAN and satellite where no network reaches.The full field →Bring us the site.
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