Ep 25: Livestock Diagnostics with AgScent

EPISODE 25:

We’re joined by AgScent founder Bronwyn Darlington to tell us about their two products. The first, AgScent Breath, is a device that can breathalyse a cow to see if it is pregnant or not. While their second product, AgScent Air, measures methane emissions.

Bronwyn tells us about how they developed AgScent Breath using cutting edge technology from NASA and we also talk about the huge impact the device could have on the livestock industry, especially from a biosecurity perspective if the technology’s applied to livestock disease diagnostics.

We also talk to Simone Barakat from Number 8 Bio, a company developing feed additives to reduce methane emissions. They’ve been using AgScent Air to measure methane reduction during their trials.

FEATURING:

PROFESSOR DAVID LAMB

Dave is a physicist and has worked in precision agriculture for more than 25 years. In this time, he has led more than 40 R&D projects and championed the concept of smart farming. He led the launch of Australia’s first SMART Farm at the University of New England and, more recently, the Global Digital Farm at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, NSW.

In addition to his role as Chief Scientist at Food Agility, David took on the additional role of Deputy CEO on 1 November 2023. He also holds adjunct and visiting Professor appointments at University of New England, Charles Sturt University and the University of Technology Sydney.

DR BRONWYN DARLINGTON

Dr Darlington is the founder of AgScent, an Australian company bringing breath diagnostic technologies to the market.  Bronwyn is a serial entrepreneur and inventor and has a long history in various business sectors. She holds a position at Sydney University leading the Global Executive MBA Program’s Finding Opportunity in Disruptive Technologies program held in the United States each year. She has a PhD in Behavioual Economics. Bronwyn lives on the 5000 acre family farm in the Southern Tablelands of NSW where Agscent was born – bringing the world of commercial cattle and sheep farming and NASA Space technology together.

SIMONE BARAKAT

Simone Barakat works for Number 8 Bio, a startup dedicated to tackling agricultural greenhouse gas emissions while improving animal productivity. They produce sustainable feed additives that limit enteric methane in the most affordable and scalable way.