How NB‑IoT Powers Smart Cow Collars to Revolutionize Dairy Farming

NB‑IoT Empowers the All‑Purpose “Little Shepherd”

Maybe you drink milk every day, but do you know the love lives of dairy cows? When do they mate, and under what conditions do they produce milk? Let’s follow a video to Yinchuan for answers.

My name is A‑Niu, and “Huahua” the cow is my good friend. I am 7 years old, she is 1, and we talk about everything. Today is my birthday, but my dad has to rush to the farm, checking whether Huahua is “in love.”

Cow “ladies” usually show estrus symptoms at night, so farmers often stay up all night to observe them and avoid missing the optimal breeding window, which can cost up to 2,000 CNY per missed cycle.

One day, a technician brought a small collar and placed it around Huahua’s neck. The collar can detect the cow’s physical condition, so the farmer no longer needs to stay overnight at the farm.

Since then, the collar reveals every “secret” of the cow, and by simply opening a phone, the farmer can know the best breeding time for each animal.

In February 2017, China Telecom, together with Huawei and Yinchuan Auto, launched the NB‑IoT‑based dairy IoT product “Little Shepherd,” dramatically improving traditional cow monitoring systems.

The smart collar’s communication method was switched from ZigBee to NB‑IoT. Collar data is transmitted directly via the NB‑IoT network to China Telecom’s IoT open platform, then to a dairy information management platform deployed on the Tianyi Cloud. Farm managers, caretakers, and veterinarians can access real‑time cow vital signs through a web page or mobile app.

Future applications of “Little Shepherd” are not limited to dairy farms. Other livestock such as beef cattle, donkeys, horses, sheep, and pigs also need technology to monitor health, reproductive cycles, and location, scientifically shortening inter‑birth intervals and boosting breeding efficiency. By 2020, an estimated 300‑500 million animals worldwide will be connected, with optimistic forecasts exceeding 1 billion.