Vodafone UK and partner Moocall are offering farmers in the U.K. and Ireland a way to decrease the high birth mortality rate of calves and cows. Moocall’s tail-mounted sensor linked to Vodafone’s IoT network helped around 150,000 calves in the U.K. and Ireland to be born safely.

Moocall’s sensor device sends an audible alert via Vodafone’s IoT network directly to a farmer’s mobile phone when a cow’s contractions reach a certain level of intensity, usually about an hour before calving. The palm-sized sensor accurately predicts the onset of calving by measuring specific movements of a cow’s tail that are triggered by labor contractions. This helps farmers prevent the birth complications which are linked to the death of more than 110,000 calves and around 50,000 cows every year in the U.K. Moocall predicts that the mortality rate of calves and cows during birth could be reduced by as much as 80 percent by the app.

Tarifica’s Take

As we have written previously, it has proved to be a savvy tactic for mobile operators to tailor value-added services to tightly-defined customer demographics. Detailed knowledge of the specific needs of these demographics leads to products that are strongly and consistently in demand and that reliably bring in revenue. The same can be said for IoT offerings, as the market for connected devices of all kinds expands.

With this offering, Vodafone has found a very appropriate company to partner with in order to bring to farmers an IoT product that answers a very important need, indeed a matter of life and death. While the idea of a tail-mounted, mobile-internet-connected sensor may seem far-fetched or humorous to some, we consider it to be an excellent example of just how wide a reach IoT technology can have, how diverse its applications are and how an operator that is attuned to the needs of customers and potential customers can benefit from it.