Precision agriculture has been a part of the farm for several years already. Yet, precision ranching and the use of technology have been slow to develop to assist producers with cost savings. Travis Mulliniks, range cow production system Extension specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), told WLJ the barriers are the inability to use technology due to a lack of connectivity to get a cellular signal and the lack of adoption.
To illustrate his point, Travis said the adoption rate for using implants and reproductive technology, such as AI, is 20%. Travis continued that while the cattle sector is a very traditional business, it has adopted technologies. However, he noted unlike the dairy industry, where a change in feeding rations is almost instantaneous, a change in the beef industry will most likely only impact an operation the following year.
Travis said at UNL and the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory in North Platte, NE, they are working with companies on newer technologies focused on the cow-calf industry and seeing how they would or would not fit into production.
Travis believes the industry is moving into an era where technology will be a big part of how ranchers conduct their business.
“If you look at our cost of production in the last 20-30 years, it has steadily increased,” Travis said. “If you look at our outputs, weaning weight outputs and pregnancy rate outputs in the last 20-30 years in the U.S., they haven’t changed—they’ve flatlined.”
“I think this is where technology comes in and can really help us to be more efficient with our resources and help decrease the cost of production and manage our costs. And it may even increase our ability to increase outputs of weaning weights, increase the number of calves sold or total pounds weaned.”
Travis said the research they are working on is simpler with cost savings, such as camera-based technologies that can measure body weights at a very accurate rate. This technology would enable the producer to take proactive measures and intervene earlier. Another technology is an electronic individual animal feeding system. The technology allows a producer to feed their cattle a uniform amount of feed, thereby reducing costs and preventing one animal from eating more than their ration amount. Travis calls the system “a creep feeder on steroids,” where an animal wears an EID tag programmed to provide a set amount of feed.
Travis said they are also working with virtual fencing technology and whether it is cost-effective. Travis noted the technology is not new and has been used for pets for several years. Cattle wear a GPS-type collar, and when an animal gets near the boundary set by the producer, the collar makes a noise. If the animal reaches the perimeter, the collar produces a slight shock to the animal.
Travis said with the GPS collar, producers can also obtain a lot of behavioral data, such as whether or not the animal is sick or when a cow is cycling and ready to be bred, if the producer is using reproductive technology. Travis also said the GPS technology could tell a producer when a cow is calving, reducing the need to constantly check on them or be there if a problem with calving should arise.
“There’s a lot of technology associated with GPS, whether it is an ear tag or a collar, that is predictive in nature that will help with proactively managing cows,” Travis said.
Travis said virtual fence technology is available now, with some companies located in the U.S. and some products becoming available here from Australia and New Zealand, where the technology has been available for several years.
Travis said he has received the most interest from producers in the early detection of sickness and water site monitoring. A big challenge for large operations is monitoring water levels, and there are some technologies for monitoring to save on labor and time. Travis noted while drones could assist with water monitoring, there are limitations on the distance and terrain a drone can fly. Travis is hesitant about drone usage for large operations because of that factor but noted there is the rangeland analysis platform, a satellite-based system that predicts biomass on a larger scale.
Travis said the challenge of adopting technology will look different for each producer and their needs. While companies have adapted their technology to the cow-calf industry, the products are in their infancy stage, and as a result, the costs are relatively high. Travis continued that with new technologies, there are always new products coming out shortly thereafter, thus the prices will decrease. Travis said sometimes it pays to be patient and know exactly why they want to invest in a particular product or technology.
“I always tell producers they have to do their homework,” Travis said. “Why do you want this technology? What’s the benefit of this technology for your operation? Make sure there’s nothing new coming out and sometimes it’s hard.”
Travis said one way to research new technologies and how they could fit into their operation is to become part of UNL’s Beef Watch listserv or visit their website at beef.unl.edu. UNL also publishes a monthly newsletter and has a podcast at beef.unl.edu — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
