Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) is one of the most costly health challenges in calf rearing, accounting for an estimated £80 million in annual losses across the UK dairy and beef sectors. Because BRD often develops before outward clinical signs appear, early detection has remained a major obstacle to effective health management. To address this, an Innovate UK–funded programme—now in its final year—is developing a fully automated, non-invasive system that identifies the earliest indicators of BRD in real time.

The system is designed to integrate directly with robotic milk feeders, collecting a calf’s breath as it feeds and analysing volatile organic compounds associated with the onset of respiratory infection. Using proprietary sensors and advanced machine-learning models, it interprets breath profiles and issues automatic alerts when early changes linked to BRD are detected.