Mark Clements, Editor in Chief, Poultry: I'm Mark Clements, Editor in Chief, Poultry, with WATT Global Media and today we're going to talk about a new biosecurity tool that keeps wild birds away from the farm.
Disease can be transmitted to poultry flocks both through direct and indirect contact with wild birds, so you need to keep them away, not only from the poultry house, but also areas nearby that they may find attractive. For example, silos or other storage areas.
I've been fortunate enough to see a new way of doing just that, the LazerTrac LZT1000, designed by AgriProTech and described as an 'autonomous and intelligent scarer'.
AgriProTech operates out of Brittany, one of France's major poultry producing regions. LTZ1000 won two stars in the 2024 in of Innov'Space Awards, held at agricultural trade show SPACE, where I was lucky to first learn about it from Marketing Manager with AgriProTech, Mélina Gourvennec, and I'm delighted to have Mélina here with us today.
So hello, Mélina, thank you for joining us. Perhaps we could start, could you tell me, LazerTrac LZT1000, what exactly is it, and how was it developed?
Mélina Gourvennec, Marketing Manager with AgriProTech: The LazerTrac LZT1000 is a smart bird repellent system. It has been developed, as you say, by the company AgriProTech and we have been actually working with laser technology for, for many years, and, at first, we bought laser repellers from other companies, and at some point, we wanted to be able to develop our own laser system, because we really trust that technology, the laser technology, we have found that it is very highly efficient as a bird repeller. And the great advantage is that there is no habituation effect on the birds, or very low habituation effect, and it is completely silent. So we have decided to design and create our own laser repeller to be sure that we can control quality. And we've been working quite hard on this LZT1000 LazerTrac for several years now.
Clements: When I saw LazerTrac at SPACE, the laser is green. Why would you have a green laser?
Gourvennec: Green color has been chosen because it is the most effective color at deterring birds, because it is the brightest light in the visible light spectrum. So the green dot is very important in the repelling effect, because this is the vision of the green dot that scares the birds away. So it has to be highly visible from the birds, and this is the brightest color.
Clements: So the device is autonomous. Once a producer has it installed, what would he or she need to do to make it work?
Gourvennec: After the installation of the system, a member of the team of AgriProTech comes to carry out the initial commissioning. This means that the system is being programmed, and we brief the operator to use it safely. We explain him how to use it, how to use it, and how, which security measure he has to take. And after this initial step, AgriProTech can remotely control the laser if it is required.
Clements: So you can combine the laser, I think, with an acoustic scarer, if I remember our conversation from from earlier, is that right?
Gourvennec: Yes, absolutely, with some of our solutions, it's possible to combine both light and acoustic repellants, because for some bird species are very sensitive to scaring, to scaring signals, for example, corvids, such as crows, ravens and jackdaws, some birds of prey, as well and starlings. Those species are are sensitive to scaring signals, but some of them are not. For example, sparrows, they are not sensitive to that. So in some situations, we will use both acoustic signals and laser, and in some we don't, we only only use laser or acoustic.
Clements: So there are a number of bird scarers already on the market. What would be the advantages of a laser over, let's say, simply using an acoustic bird frightener?
Gourvennec: Firstly, our laser repellers are designed to protect from bird damage all year round. Acoustic solution, it is really adapted to seasonal problems, because, at some point, birds can get used to the acoustic signal. So the laser solution is more dynamic, and birds cannot predict it, because the path that the green dot will follow is too complex for the birds to be predictable. So the first advantage is that they will not get used to it, so it is really good for all year long bird situation or bird problems. And the other big advantage is that it is completely silent, so it does not create any kind of noise pollution. You cannot use, for example, acoustic repellers near habitations or residential areas. And this is a major issue, because agricultural land tends to be closer and closer to houses, so we have more and more wildlife and residential area proximity.
Clements: You make a very interesting point about being closer to urbanization. You can program LazerTrac to cover a broad or a restricted area or specific areas on a farm or much further afield. Could you tell us a little about a little about those options.
Gourvennec: As the LazerTrac LTZ1000 is quite powerful, it must be using in accordance with local safety regulation. The typical area in which can be installed would be a private area where we will install warning signs to indicate that the area is currently protected by a laser, and also people entering the area must wear safety glasses when the device is activated. And as the beam range is quite long, it can reach up to 400 meters, it is really suitable for large areas.
Clements: It actually has, the product actually has, quite a broad application, I believe, it's not simply for poultry. Is that correct?
Gourvennec: Yes, it is very versatile, and it can be employed in various applications. For example, we use it to protect livestock and storage buildings. We also can protect field crops when it is a private area. We use it on market gardens, on vineyards as well. We can also protect the fishponds and, finally, open air poultry runs. The laser system will prevent contact between wild birds and domesticated poultry to stop spread of diseases. It also helps reduce the number of losses due to raptors or corvids. You know you can have attacks from crows or ravens on poultry. Finally, we also have other applications, for example, photovoltaic installation.
Clements: I read that you're working on a version that uses artificial intelligence that will be capable of detecting bird incursions.
Gourvennec: Yes, that's correct. We, um, this version of LTZ1000 that you have seen at the SPACE is like the first version of the system. In the future, it will be able to identify the presence of birds on the perimeter we have defined. And the idea is to activate the laser only when there are birds in the area, and to be able to immediately stop the operation of the laser when it detects for a human, or a bicycle, or any object that is not a bird, or classified as a bird by the laser. This innovation will help to optimize the life of the laser and also, of course, improve safety. We hope that this intelligent LazerTrac will be available in the next few years.
Clements: Mélina, thank you so much for joining us today and explaining how laser technology can give producers an extra tool to boost their biosecurity programs. Thank you.
Gourvennec: Thank you, Mark.
Clements: Thank you everyone for listening. Do look out for future editions of the Future of Poultry podcast. Goodbye.
https://www.agriprotech.fr/en/
https://www.wattagnet.com/podcasts/podcast/15710516/vr-in-australias-egg-industry-aids-biosecurity-and-more-podcast
