U.S.-based beef cattle operations face unique challenges ranging from labor and time shortages to water source and feeding management issues. More than ever, technology is confronting these obstacles.
Ranchbot Monitoring Solutions
Andrew Coppin, co-founder and CEO of Ranchbot Monitoring Solutions, began his water management agribusiness seven years ago in Australia under the name Farmbot. After test-driving his technology’s capabilities on approximately 4,000 ranches serving 10 million cattle and 6 million sheep, he brought his tech’s American counterpart, Ranchbot, to Fort Worth, Texas.
“Like so many ranchers, I grew up spending time driving around checking water that didn’t need checking,” he says. “This built-in phenomenon of wasteful monitoring isn’t generally acknowledged as a problem. Rather, it’s hidden in the job description, with people believing it’s just part of ranching.”
Coppin sees the challenges in the U.S. as shortages of experienced and knowledgeable labor, a lack of time and huge expenses of motor vehicle maintenance costs and gasoline. Typically, water-related equipment works fine until tanks leak or overflow, hoses break and pumps quit working.
“Producers need to know they have a problem exactly when it occurs,” Coppin says. “Especially in extremely hot weather, if 10,000 gallons of water disappear, it’s an immediate crisis.”
Since cattle operations aren’t always continuous land holdings, water sources might be 50 or 100 miles apart. When these assets rely solely on physical checks, animals could be without water for days, losing body condition or even dying.
Ranchbot began strictly as a water monitoring company, addressing wasteful time, energy, gasoline and motor vehicle costs. It’s since grown its capabilities into monitoring pressure and flow, and remotely starting and stopping pumps. Computer algorithms use machine learning to monitor water in near real-time, alerting clients of potential issues. Alerts are customizable and programmable.
“Ranchers can literally take it out of the box, install it, turn it on, and it’s working in five minutes,” Coppin says. “The device learns the water ecosystem and gets smarter over time, identifying problems and pinpointing them when they occur.”
All devices connect via some of the world’s leading satellite providers to work anywhere in the U.S., 365 days a year. Titanium pressure sensors measure the true weight of water. Coppin has determined them to be the most accurate and least environmentally impacted by dust storms, rain, fire, birds or wild animals.
The Ranchbot equipment is designed to operate in extreme weather and has been tested in temperatures ranging from minus 20ºF and over 150ºF.
Coppin hopes to release updated versions to monitor tank and trough water heaters, electrical power and drilled well equipment. Remote cameras to observe and photograph cattle and infrastructure, as well as alerts on soil moisture and temperature impacting pasture growth, are also longer-term possibilities.
“We want to be good custodians of soil, water and biodiversity,” Coppin says. “I firmly believe ranchers will eventually be rewarded for being the planet’s solution, not the problem. To make this a reality, we must prove and verify data to help ease pressure and build productivity.”
Precision Livestock Technologies
In the feedlot sector, Precision Livestock Technologies (PLT) is addressing challenges to help optimize feeding decisions.
“Without technology, feeding decisions are difficult, as they’re largely based on learned experience and observation rather than systems-based data,” says Andrew McKenzie, CEO of PLT. “Feedlot managers must hire experienced and diligent workers. They’re extremely hard to find, train and retain. Our technology is helping overcome this difficulty at a simple level.”
McKenzie explains feedlots often practice reactive rather than proactive feeding decisions.
“We use AI (artificial intelligence) to predict tomorrow’s feed intakes instead of reacting to unexpected situations,” he says. “Too often, feed callers are stranded in this reactive mode leading to cut and recovery cycles, which we’re all trying to avoid.”
PLT uses solar-powered cameras to take images of feedbunks and surrounding concrete pads. These images are analyzed in the cloud by machine vision and AI algorithms, and the data is delivered via a web-based interface. Wi-Fi and an internet connection must be available.
Feeding behavior and aggression, bunk levels, weather and days on feed – comprising thousands of data points – are fed into their algorithms to create predictions for better management decisions.
“Predictions are recommendations such as 'Reduce this pen by half-a-pound a day' or 'Increase this group by a quarter-pound a day,'” McKenzie says. “This can be used continuously on every pen, every day.”
Averaged aggression indicators are a large part of predictions, as they’re one of the leading indicators of intake.
“The algorithm proactively comes into play,” he says. “Rather than physically monitoring bunks, it’s looking at the weather, total days on feed, environmental factors, plus other data specific to the pen.”
McKenzie says feedlots gain a related advantage in two distinct ways:
- First, by clearly identifying cattle and pens going off programs defined by the yard and the nutritionist. This is largely based on goals for specific pens, like hitting night slicks at a specific time or having a desired amount of feed left over.
- Second, predictions are reliable, as they indicate when the feeding system is ahead of the cattle so cuts and recoveries aren’t required.
“When we cut and bring back animals, it costs dollars of intake,” he says. “We say, ‘Let’s reduce these big cuts by not increasing too much or making a small reduction preemptively.’ It’s hard to do, but if we’re using the data correctly to inform feeding decisions, we’ll achieve higher average intakes.”
McKenzie stresses the need for clear producer-specific goals balanced with defined problems. This needs to be confirmed as consultants deal with the tricky change management of production environments.
“It requires clear direction and alignment from everyone involved, including the nutritionist, feed caller, manager and owner,” McKenzie says. “We’re not a surveillance system; we’re a system helping achieve realistic goals. Often, people think technology will fix things, but people fix things. Technology is a tool to help.”
PLT is currently working on future developments of performance and health management technology offshoots.
Many aspects of cow-calf and feedlot operations are still sweat- and energy-based, but more than ever before, technology is helping to balance applied inputs with performance and productivity.
