Farm Health Guardian of Guelph has developed a facial-recognition system called Protocol that can guard the barn and farm premises from unwanted visitors.
Chief executive officer Rob Hannam said it’s good at lowering the risk of disease.
It has been used in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and now Is entering markets in Europe and the United Kingdom.
It has won awards from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and from the Tesco supermarket chain in the United Kingdom.
“With Protocol, there is never a question of who is entering your barn or if they have met your biosecurity requirements,” said Hannam.
It can be tailored to individual needs such as when a barn is shut down during a disease, health status and other biosecurity policies. It can also ensure that workers who were in one barn can’t accidentally or purposely go to another one if the first barn has a compromised health status.
The system is adaptable to roll-up doors and fumigation rooms to ensure that deliveries are biosecure.
Hannam says the new product fits well with a livestock sector that seeks more specialization among input suppliers.
“More and more, as our sector gets more integrated, these people (visitors to a barn) go to other farms and other locations before they arrive at this location,” he said.
“If we can help make it easier to follow the biosecurity protocols … that’s saving lots of livestock, lots of dollars, and making it better for the workers on the farms.”