‘Remote controlled cows’ in new artificial intelligence application
AI has had a bumpy ride in places where hands-on hard work by humans has been the norm for centuries but a new remote control ‘cowgorithm’ could change farming forever – here’s how it works
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
The use of artificial intelligence* continues to moo-ve at an astonishing speed.
Farmers around the world have more or less done things the same way for centuries – but agriculture is the latest industry to be transformed by AI, with the introduction of a “cowgorithm*” that improves efficiency in unexpected ways.
New Zealand-based company Halter has put “smart collars” on cows that allow farmers to control cattle movement via an app.
In a development sure to have cattle dogs chasing their tails, the solar-powered collars not only record health information like digestion* and fertility cycles* but also deliver sound and vibration signals direct to the animal.
The herd can be called in for milking at the tap of a button and fences are replaced by digitally-created boundaries, restricting the livestock* to certain parts of a paddock to control land use.
Halter was founded in 2016 but recently made waves on social media over reports that world-famous entrepreneur* and investor Peter Thiel – who was famously the first outside investor in Facebook in 2004 – was stepping up financing efforts for the company.
Thiel is one of the high profile “bunker billionaires*” to have chosen New Zealand as his backup plan. He has held New Zealand citizenship since 2011, owns land in Queenstown and has invested in several local start-ups.
Bloomberg and other media agencies reported last weekend that the new funding round led by Thiel’s venture capital* firm Founders Fund, would double Halter’s valuation* to more than $2 billion USD.
Halter has begun expanding into Australia after reportedly overcoming animal welfare concerns. The collars do deliver electric pulses, but at a fraction of the strength of an electric fence, for example.
But most of the expected demand for the collar is in the US.
American beef prices have soared as the US cattle herd shrinks to its smallest size in 75 years.
The decline has been driven by years of drought, rising costs and an ageing ranching workforce.
Experts have suggested rebuilding herds would take years, meaning beef prices were likely to remain high.
According to US Department of Agriculture data, the average price of beef in American supermarkets climbed from about $19 per kilogram in February 2025 to $22.31 per kilogram a year later.
The increase has in turn driven up beef prices in Australia, because of the better return* on exported* meat.
Halter’s stated goal was straightforward — fewer workers, lower costs and more efficient land use.
The company’s strategy was part of a broader push toward “precision agriculture”, where technology is used to modernise farming.
But the sector has struggled in recent years, with a wave of start-ups* collapsing and investors pulling back the reins amid high costs and slow take up.
If the latest round closes as expected, it would signal renewed confidence that AI can succeed in farming — an industry where many tech bets have so far fallen short.
– original report with Fox News
POLL
GLOSSARY
- artificial intelligence: AI, a computer system with some of the same qualities as a human brain
- cowgorithm: a play on words between cow and algorithm, the latter being a set of mathematical instructions or rules that, when given to a computer system, help to calculate solutions to a problem
- livestock: cattle, horses, poultry, and similar animals kept on a farm or ranch but not as pets
- digestion: process by which the body of an animal processes food
- fertility cycles: periods when a female animal is able to become pregnant and is willing to mate
- entrepreneur: a person who tries to make money by starting a new company or by operating alone in the business world, especially when it involves taking risks
- bunker billionaires: so-called “doomsday planning” has seen multiple billionaires including Thiel, filmmaker James Cameron and the late “father of hedge funds” Julian Robertson pick New Zealand as a safe bet to build luxury Plan B retreats should societal or environmental disaster ever strike for real
- venture capital: money invested or is available for investment in a new company, especially one that involves risk
- valuation: process of deciding how much money something is worth
- return: in finance, the return refers to the profit or loss from investments or savings
- exported: having sent goods to another country for sale
- start-ups: small businesses that are just getting started
EXTRA READING
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Pill to cut methane emissions from farting cows
QUICK QUIZ
- What do the smart collars do?
- What did Halter have to overcome in order to expand into Australia?
- Halter’s valuation was expected to grow to what after the new funding round?
- Why has Australian beef become more expensive here because of a US beef price spike?
- What is Halter’s stated goal for the smart collar product?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Digitising farming practices
Using artificial intelligence with ag technology might be a game changer for farming practices that often take a lot of time and resources.
What other farming practices can you think of where artificial intelligence could be used to streamline processes and result in a more efficient way of doing things to help farmers reduce costs and workload?
Write a paragraph on your ideas.
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Digital Technologies, Design and Technologies, Science, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
Do you think we need to advocate for the welfare of the animals with these new practices?
Do you agree small shocks won’t harm them?
What other ways do you suggest they could move or communicate with the animals in a non-harmful way?
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Animal alliterations
With a partner, choose one of the pictures from the gallery.
Make a list of nouns you could use to name the animal in the picture. For example, instead of a tiger, you could also say cat, or feline.
Pick your favourite noun and identify its initial sound — what sound it starts with, not necessarily what letter.
Now, using the initial sound, make a list of adjectives to describe the animal. Try to be specific. Don’t just look at the animal as a whole, look at their different features as well.
Build on these same sound words, and add any verbs and adverbs you could use to describe the animal and their movements.
Try to put it all together and use as many same sound words in a sentence, to create an alliteration about the animal in the picture. For example: the terrifying tiger, tiptoed through tangled trees chasing his prey.