Techion automates livestock parasite detection and improves farm productivity
Techion, a New Zealand-based agriculture technology firm, partnered with AI specialist Aware Group to address the pervasive challenge of parasite infections that affect livestock health and farm productivity. Traditionally, manual parasite detection was labor-intensive, slow, and expensive, leading to widespread preventative drenching of animals. This practice contributed to rising costs, inefficiency, and drench resistance, costing New Zealand farmers tens of millions of dollars annually.Techion developed the FECPAKG2 platform, which integrates portable digital microscopes (Micro-I) with cloud solutions and AI. The new system leverages Azure Machine Learning to analyze images of faecal egg count samples and provide rapid, automated, scalable diagnostics for parasites across various livestock.The platform's AI features, running on Microsoft Azure, allow farmers and veterinarians to receive accurate FEC results within seconds, enabling targeted and timely animal treatment instead of blanket medication. This not only boosts productivity and animal welfare but also mitigates the risk of overmedication and environmental harm.By scaling their diagnostic services globally and automating much of the manual analysis, Techion dramatically reduced the need for skilled human technicians and improved service delivery speed. The solution is now deployed for cattle, equine, pigs, and birds across regions including Australia, the UK, and more.Their approach exemplifies how cloud AI and local partnerships can create transferable digital diagnostics, with applications reaching beyond agriculture to broader animal, environmental, and human health issues. Future plans include building a global database of diagnostic images and forging additional partnerships to tackle complex health problems.