How Technology and Data Capturing Has Changed Feedlot Operations
Data capturing and analyzing has taken the field of agriculture by storm. No matter the industry, commodity, or agribusiness, data has become the decision-making factor for every single management decision. If I am ever wondering what hybrids to plant on what soil, I look at the yield map data from years past. If I need to know how much potassium I need to apply, soil tests can tell me exactly which part of the field needs more fertilizer than another. I look at USDA yield data, weather data, and production history to see if the corn market is moving up or down. This is true for every industry, and feeding cattle on feedlots has as many data points from which to pull from as any.
ABOUT CATTLE FEEDING
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Cattle feeding is an intense operation that has moving inputs and outputs daily, no matter how many cattle I feed. Housing costs, feed costs, vet costs, machinery costs all converge to form massive amounts of daily data to shift through, and to see what management points I need to change to ensure I am keeping my feedyard profitable.
MANAGING DATA ON OUR FEEDLOT
Twenty to twenty-five years ago, every data point was done by hand. Massive amounts of paper and notecards were used to track data for hundreds of thousands of head of cattle, which left room for human error. Technology changed everything, as usual. Every data point was transferred onto an app. Having real-time data at our fingertips helps our farm run efficiently and improves communication with others on the farm since everyone can see all of the same up-to-date information no matter where they are on the farm.
We use Redbook, an app that tracks our data on one pen of cattle in real-time. Every time we feed, it tracks the cost of the feed. Every time a vaccine is administered, it is entered into the app, which we can track who had vaccines and who could use medicine.
Using data points from the past, we can look in real-time at the cost efficiency of the herd, feed costs, and ration data, and can quickly spot any tweaks that need to be made.
Data is a valuable tool for all modern organizations, and a feedyard is no different. With the changes that we have seen in the cattle industry through the decades, we are looking forward to driving the next change that will bring efficiency to our industry.
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