TBD content, but I’d like to propose that we use this space to inventory the GOAT box, track items and travel, and link to the revelant spreadsheets so no one has to hunt 
Drive folder here to start: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1u6YvEd6RJqBIkDRvrqIXOBmS7OG3l8A0
Given that the cardboard box is busted, does anybody have a suggestion for a longer-term solution?
How about a reusable tub or suitcase of some sort?! Wheels might be nice.
I have some spare large rolly suitcases (#immigrantlife) that I’m happy to donate if you want to me to transition to that the next time we send it?
Hey yall, quick audit as the Summer looms over us – who’s got the (two?) GOAT box(es) currently? Last I saw we left the Eastern one in @gbathree 's trusty hands after Pasa in February – do you still have it? How about the western one-- @julietnpn ?
I have the Western box contents.
Hello folks!
We will be bringing the traveling GOAT box to several events happening in early 2026 and so we hope you’ll contribute or renew your materials so we can spread the word on your product/ project/ community of practice.
We’d especially love to see material contributions from folks who are newer to the forum or folks who haven’t contributed previously. Here is a quick list of folks who may be interested (based on 2025-2025 forum engagement):
@jacobs_Farm - CowCatcherAI
@Mitra - Frugal IOT
@ngunner - ORBITIST
@nathan-raft - RAFT Foundation
@jgaehring - Runrig
@jesustorres - Entidad
@farmgencoopdani - GrownBy
@tibetsprague - Hylo
@GOATforMikeD - FarmSpark
@ElizabethVaughan - CAFF
Others that I can’t find an affiliated user on the forum for include:
Farm Hack
Fibershed
Market.Organic
When contributing your materials we ask that you contribute a write up explaining your target audience, what your project/ product / community offers or does, and, if applicable, a link to a demo version: About GOAT Tools - Google Docs
We also ask that you contribute what you can to the GOAT Traveling Conference Box funding page at an amount that your organization can afford. Our goal is to raise $7k to fund the GOAT conference booth for one year. While some events provide us with free or reduced exhibitor prices, we need to support travel, shipping of the box, and still several high-impact events are $2k-$3k to attend. While this is not currently a requirement for contributing materials to the GOAT BOX, it will help us reach more places and wider audiences and offset the financial burden of the few orgs that have routinely sponsored the GOAT box for the last 4 years: Gathering for Open Agricultural Technology - General Contribution to GOAT Booth - Open Collective
Hey, I’m Jacob. I am newer to this forum as a contributor; previously, I was more of a reader.
I am a dairy farmer and I started with other farmers an open-source project called CowCatcher AI. In short: CowCatcher AI is an open-source computer vision system designed to monitor your herd 24/7. By analyzing live footage from your barn cameras, it automatically detects “mounting” behavior—the primary sign of estrus (heat)—and instantly sends a photo notification to your smartphone via Telegram, or you can combine it with your Home Assistant setup.
With a simple setup using a standard computer and a “cheap” IP camera in your barn (cubicle or free stall, it doesn’t matter), you are notified if a cow mounts another cow. We send the picture and a short video to you, so you can recognize the cow and decide if you are going to inseminate or, for example, just log that a steer fertilized a cow. There is a very broad way of how it can be used.
The project started in March 2025 as an idea. What started with the idea to detecting only for young heifers for their first insemination 13 to 15 months, became fast for the whole barn. Within 3 months, we already had a simple, cheap, and effective solution, the first calf’s detected with cowcatcher are now getting born, and farmers are getting good results, I find it performing more accurate with the time than the activity collars I already had; I now solely rely on CowCatcher and just use those as a backup. The advantage is you can see the heat in progress, first you see the cow in heat mount other cows after couple hours, he gets mounted and becuase of the first mount you can count 16 to 24 hours to inseminate on the perfect time. What activity cant pinpoint as accurate.
Currently, we are effectively working with 2 or 3 other dairy farmers on the codebase. I hope to have an “easy to install” web app with all the bells and whistles ready by March. We already have a production-ready program that is running on 20+ farms in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France to my knowledge. It has been downloaded over 100 times, so it’s already bigger than I thought.
We hope to grow the community with users. Through close communication between users and us developers, we can turn ideas and feedback into something truly beautiful. It’s quite a process with mistakes and solutions that we thought would work but didn’t, but it’s getting better and better.
Question feel free to ask or want to start with Cowcatcher AI yourself and need help mail to [email protected]
Github: https://github.com/CowCatcherAI/CowCatcherAI Video (in Dutch, but you get the idea): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Cmz12qZJ0
THIS IS SOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!
Can you write something up that I can print and share, if you want? It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it’s nice to hand people things. I’m going to MOFGA and Pasa in a week and would love to have it.
Also, include (if possible) an easy way to demo this. I can share the video, that can work also. But I definitely want to talk this up, very very cool.
That would be amazing, i will make a easy flyer, and a better video on only the cowcatcher ai, the interface program is not yet ready, but maybe i can make an out of the box working / demo setup version