Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Aeronext has announced the successful delivery of fertilized cow eggs in an experiment which aims to make drones integral to the raising of livestock in Japan.
The experiments are taking place in Kamishihoro town, Hokkaido, one of the first bases for the firm’s Next Delivery drone transportation service.
In this instance, fertilized cow eggs collected at the JA Zenno Embryo Transfer Research Institute were delivered smoothly and safely via drone to a farm.
The AirTruck delivery drone is being used in these experiments, which Aeronext codeveloped with domestic drone-maker ACSL. It is designed to carry and deliver fragile payloads, and therefore it is believed that AirTruck may be an appropriate vehicle for the eggs.
Fertilized cow eggs have higher rate of conception if there is no need for them to be frozen and if transportation is speedy and smooth.
Shigetoshi Ogura, president of JA Kamishihoro Town, commented, “The shorter the transportation time and the less vibration, the higher the conception rate. I would like to track the results of these experiments and observe the quality of the wagyu beef and the meat of the fertilized eggs transported in this way.”
Hajime Kumagai, the owner of the ranch where the first fertilized eggs were delivered, added, “Right now, it takes more than fifteen minutes each way to pick up fertilized eggs from the local facility. Drone delivery enables fast and safe transportation.”
Aeronext speculates that drone delivery will also be helpful in addressing issues related to manpower shortages in Japanese rural areas as the nation faces demographic crisis.
Kamishihoro town has a population of about 5,000 people and an administrative area of about 700 square kilometers, which is larger than the 23 wards of Tokyo.
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