This Past Week, MSD / Merck Completed A Minority Investment In LeeO Precision Farming B.V. -- Securing Swine Traceability / Tech Distribution Rights.

Perhaps a smallish part of the overall Merck portfolio of businesses, but this whole area of RFC tags on livestock -- used both for tracking the herds, as well as for monitoring grazing and overall health patterns. . . is the wave of the future. It is greatly reducing the need for manual labor / farm hands, as well.

Merck has another investment in a UK company, if memory serves, that (using RFC) allows cows to come in and milk themselves, should they feel "full" -- and not on any specific ranch hand's schedule. Even the milking machines are. . . robotic. [In truth I cannot find the announcement on that right now, but the company involved was on NatGeo network in the UK, not that long ago.]

In any event, here's the latest though, on the porcine version of this tech -- which Merck will now sell in select geographies around the globe -- most likely Central and South America (though the presser doesn't say so -- likely through its Vallée relationship):

. . .LeeO, a privately held company located in Deventer, the Netherlands, provides a cloud-based, real-time digital swine traceability solution for farmers, producers and retailers to continuously track and analyze swine from birth throughout their lifecycle. The cloud-based technology platform provides users with the capability to record and track major life events in swine production, including genetics, insemination, birth registration, vaccination, age, weight, weaning, location and transportation. The platform is supported by an ecosystem of RFID-based hardware technology, such as ear tags, readers and weigh scales.

“Through this agreement, we are linking Merck Animal Health’s breadth and depth in animal health intelligence technology solutions with LeeO’s innovative digital swine traceability platform, which can help to change the way all phases of swine production interact and make decisions,” said Jeroen van de Ven, lead, Animal Health Intelligence, Merck Animal Health. “Our animal health solutions, including our identification, traceability and monitoring capabilities, and investment in LeeO will help accelerate this technology development and advance the health and well-being of animals. We look forward to our partnership with LeeO and to continue to build the future of livestock traceability solutions, which can further create a connected and integrated ecosystem for the global livestock market. . . .”

Now you know, with baby girls here tomorrow -- and our youngest son, in town, for a wedding -- next weekend! Woot!

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