Researchers with the University of Missouri created Thermal Aid.
The app gives producers access to temperature and humidity index readings.
It also allows them to calculate their animal's breathing rates.
The app provides a stopwatch feature which helps count the number of breaths for an animal over a short period.
"The producers can go in and detect which animals are more heat stressed in a particular setting and go to additional means to reduce the level of heat stress in those animals," explains Don Spiers, professor of animal science at MU.
Researchers hope to develop a database that will allow them to make better predictions about how animals respond to heat stress.
(story contributed by KODE, Joplin, MO)
