The SenseHub Feedlot system has transformed day-to-day management and production outcomes at Harper Feeders by streamlining health detection and care.
“It’s been a game changer,” says Catherine Harper, a fourth-generation feeder. “Just having that peace of mind, and especially with the labor situation. It just kind of takes that guesswork out of it.”
Started in 1977, Harper Feeders is a family-managed feedlot near Greeley, Colo. The lot’s capacity is about 65,000 sheep and 3,000 cattle. The cattle side began in 2006 to diversify the business, but the Harper family had to adapt as the airborne malignant catarrhal fever from the nearby sheep limited their ability to feed high-risk calves.
Through the years the family has invested heavily in efficiency — upgraded feed systems, handling facilities and data integration — while maintaining a strong focus on low-stress livestock handling and a close-knit, family-centered culture.
Harper explains they installed the SenseHub system in 2024 when they started feeding Kuro cattle — Wagyu × Jersey crosses — for the Meyer Natural program. They bring the Kuro calves in at 500 lb., feed them for 450 to 500 days to a finish weight of 1,400 lb. to 1,500 lb.
“That was what sparked our interest in the SenseHub deal,” she explains. “They’re going to be on feed for a longer period of time, and we wanted to protect ourselves.”
She summarizes SenseHub was a transformative tool for their feedlot, improving health monitoring and operational efficiency.
“It’s catching sickness two to three days sooner than the human eye,” Harper says. “It changed our death loss drastically. Our rates have been way down in comparison to what we’ve had previously.”
From Startup to Large Scale Adoption
Austin Woltemath, Merck Animal Health beef monitoring sales, says SenseHub Feedlot originated as the brainchild of a startup called Quantified Ag. The system was conceptualized to address the practical needs of feedlot management by leveraging animal data for early disease detection and enhanced operational consistency.
He explains it took several years and multiple tag versions before landing on the just-right formula for scalability and usability in commercial feedlots. The final technology, now available commercially for approximately five years, focuses on continuous, data-driven monitoring of cattle through inner ear canal temperature and activity tracking.
While SenseHub Feedlot can help producers significantly reduce mortality and improve outcomes where it fits, it is not universally suited for all production scenarios, he explains. The system relies on trust in its behavior analysis and machine learning backbone — a predictive technology that leverages vast previous data sets to guide pulling recommendations.
“This enables a direct comparison of each animal’s current health metrics against both their own past performance and those of their pen mates over rolling one- to five-day windows,” he explains.
SenseHub Feedlot had matured into a robust operational tool, widely adopted from small 300-head lots to very large, several-thousand-head feedlots across the U.S. Woltemath emphasizes its particular importance during the first 60 to 100 days of the feeding process — the period of highest risk for animal health challenges.
During this critical window, the system’s daily pull list and integrated pen/animal tracking improve the speed and accuracy of identifying and pulling sick cattle for appropriate treatments, directly correlating to better animal welfare and producer profitability.
Implementing the System
The implementation process of SenseHub Feedlot is designed for flexibility and assurance. Interest typically originates from word-of-mouth recommendations or online resources, and Woltemath’s team conducts personalized meetings to clarify process details and suitability.
He says once a mutual fit is determined, a technical team is dispatched to install hardware and test tag coverage, while a customer success team provides hands-on training.
The Merck team provides ongoing support and troubleshooting.
Stop Sickness: Early, Easy Pulls
Harper says SenseHub alleviates staff workload, especially during peak periods on the sheep side.
“We get so focused on the sheep side,” she explains. “The SenseHub system helps alleviate having to send someone through the cattle pens every day. It just sends us a pull list every morning telling us exactly which lot, which animal, everything based on their tag.”
An illuminated, flashing ear tag makes it easy for pen riders to find and sort animals that need attention, without disrupting the rest of the pen.
Harper says the system integrates with their animal management software.
Woltemath points out built-in treatment protocols within the system.
“Veterinarians can tailor the pull and treatment intervals per animal, ensuring compliance with recommended intervention gaps and reducing the risk of over-pulling or unnecessary treatments,” he explains. “These parameters are customizable and shield animals from repeated inclusion on the pull list based on established guidelines.”
Question No. 1: Return on Investment
Woltemath says one of the persistent concerns among feedlot owners is the return on investment (ROI). He acknowledges quantifying ROI is complicated since every group of cattle is different, and some require more intensive health monitoring than others.
There’s a minimum tag order of 300. Pricing hovers around $15 per head, with exact costs determined by group size and hardware needs. Woltemath stresses this is an estimate, with certain equipment outlays harder to distill on a per-head basis.
Limitations and Opportunities for Improvement
Harper says the system does have a limitation related to long-term tracking and data visibility.
“After 180 days, that tag basically cuts in half in terms of the data it’s reporting,” she explains. “So, on these longer-fed animals, we’ll go for a while without a pull list, and it kind of gets alarming, like maybe your system is offline. That’s been the biggest challenge.”
The tags have a default one-year warranty, though heavy use of the identification light may reduce battery life. Most producers, Woltemath notes, can expect up to two years of reliable use if the light is used conservatively.
Woltemath says the daily pull list also includes tag issue reports and integrates warning alerts about failing or missing tags, empowering producers to address problems with minimal disruption.
Research-Proven Results
Clinical research at an Oklahoma feedyard shows through 60 days on feed and at closeout, the group of animals under the SenseHub Feedlot (SHF) system displayed a significant reduction in mortality and chronic disease compared to the pen-rider (PR) group.
These outcomes led to a significant decrease in cattle falling out of production due to a combination of mortality and chronic disease at either time point in the SHF group, thereby increasing total sellable pounds compared to the PR group. Additionally, the SHF system improved cattle monitoring efficiency compared to the PR group.
Harper summarizes the system is easy to use, adding: “SenseHub is a practical, proven solution that improves health outcomes, increases management efficiency and brings invaluable reassurance to busy feedlot operators.”
