Digital image analyses were used to measure livestock. In this study we determine
the accuracy of beef carcass measurements obtained from digital images analysed using a
mobile phone application. We photographed 100 cross-bred beef carcasses using a mobile
phone camera and analysed the images using Adobe Photoshop® CS6 computer software and
ImageMeter® mobile application. Both methods were used to measure ribeye area and backfat
thickness and the results were compared using a paired t-test. Ribeye area and backfat
thickness measurements were not significantly different (p > 0.05) between the two methods.
The correlation between beef carcass images of the ribeye area and backfat thickness analysed
using the two methods were very high (concordance correlation coefficients of 0.9997 and
0.9926 respectively). The results of this study suggest that measurements of the beef carcass’s
ribeye area and backfat thickness can be easily and accurately obtained in the field using
ImageMeter® on a mobile device.
Keywords
ribeye area, backfat thickness, beef carcass, digital image, mobile phone
MAEJO INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY