Why practical agri-tech matters more than ever for livestock farmers

The Scottish Farmer featured iLivestock among the businesses providing livestock weighing and auto-weighing technology, highlighting the value of better information in monitoring animal performance, health and welfare.

Published in July 2025, the article explored how agri-tech could help Scottish farmers improve productivity, efficiency and environmental performance. Although it was written in the context of Scotland’s Future Farming Investment Scheme, many of the questions it raised remain relevant today.

Turning livestock information into better decisions

For sheep and cattle farmers, regular weight data can provide a clearer view of what is happening across a flock or herd. Instead of relying only on visual assessment or occasional manual checks, farmers can use individual-animal records to monitor growth, identify underperforming animals and review progress over time.

When weighing, EID and livestock records are connected, information becomes easier to capture and more useful in day-to-day management. This can support decisions around:

• growth and finishing performance;
• selection and breeding;
• health and welfare interventions;
• grouping and feeding; and
• the timing of sales or other management actions.

The value is not simply in collecting more data. It is in making that information practical and accessible when decisions are being made.

Technology should solve a real farm problem

The 2025 article also focused on return on investment. For any new equipment or system, farmers need to consider whether it reduces labour, saves time, improves accuracy or helps the business use inputs more effectively.

The most useful agri-tech is often not the most complex. It is technology that fits naturally into existing farm routines and makes an everyday task simpler. For livestock businesses, that may mean reducing repeated data entry, capturing weights more consistently or having clearer animal records available when they are needed.

A continuing direction across Britain

While the original article focused on Scotland, similar priorities can be seen in agricultural support elsewhere in Britain.

In England, the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund includes eligible categories for livestock weighing, EID recording and related handling equipment. Alongside Small Grants – Efficiency in Wales and Scotland’s Future Farming Investment Scheme, it reflects a wider interest in technology that can improve farm productivity, efficiency and resilience.

Some iLivestock equipment packages align with eligible categories within these schemes, including livestock weighing and EID-related equipment. As each programme has its own specifications, deadlines and purchasing conditions, farmers should refer to the current guidance for their nation before making an investment decision.

The wider opportunity for livestock farming

The relevance of the Scottish Farmer article goes beyond the funding scheme that prompted it.

It reflects a broader shift towards livestock systems that combine practical husbandry with better individual-animal information. For many farmers, this is not about replacing experience. It is about supporting that experience with clearer records, stronger evidence and more timely information.

As livestock businesses continue to manage cost pressures, labour demands and changing environmental expectations, technology that improves visibility and simplifies decision-making remains an important part of the conversation.

We are pleased that iLivestock was included in that 2025 discussion about the future of livestock farming. Read the original article in The Scottish Farmer. Further information on livestock equipment packages linked to current grant schemes is available on the iLivestock grants campaign page.