Data Collection and Beef Producers: Part 2

Question of the Week: Where’s your mind at?

In order to make progress and grow toward our true potential, our mindset needs to be in the right place.

So, where is yours at? Are you focusing on the negatives or positives? What about short-term results or long-term impact? Are you still holding on to pieces of the past or truly ready to work towards a better future?

Data Collection and Beef Producers – Part 2

Data. Data. Data. Are you tired of hearing about it? Well, it isn’t going away anytime soon. Truth be known, data collection is the solution to many challenges we face as cattlemen and women. Data collection has allowed beef cattle producers to improve the overall quality of the United States cattle herd and beef entering the food supply chain. Not only does it improve the experience for the consumer, but it also offers new marketing opportunities and makes herd management decisions more black and white.

Dr. Clint Rusk, Ray Williams and Wes Chism join the podcast for a second time to add onto last week’s conversation about the challenges faced by seedstock producers. This week the trio shares how data collection has become a fast and easy process, how to implement this technology as well as what is holding the industry back from adopting it. Did you miss last week? Read the article or listen to the podcast here.

How to Make Data Collection Simple

Data collection and technology can be overbearing to think about, but the truth is companies like Gallagher have made the implementation and analyzation process simple for cattle producers. It is not what it used to be.

“What's great is the scale technology today is much different than it used to be and much more intuitive and easier to run. You don't have to fuss with a lot of details other than just deciding what you want to know. Then the scales help us gather all that information and put it into the system. It used to be just weight and maybe average daily gain, but it's much more than that, now,” says Ray Williams, director of Technical Operations/Learning and Development at Gallagher North America.
 
Just like implementing any new technology, piece of equipment or process; take things step by step. Williams reminds beef producers to look at what your current system is and then think about what you really need from technology in order to solve your greatest challenges as an operation. One of the first steps is ensuring you have an ID system for your cattle that doesn’t create duplicate numbers and easily transfers over to a digital system. 
 
Scales, EID tags and wands all work together to identify the animal in the chute, record information about the animal and enter it into a software program that allows this data to be easily analyzed and sent to breed associations as needed. Compiling notes written on hands, feed sacks and paper is no longer necessary. The mess and chaos are eliminated along with a portion of the amount of labor you need to process cattle.

“You'll hear guys say, ‘Well, it used to take me three guys to process a set of incoming calves, because I had a guy reading tags and a guy writing tags, and a guy writing weights. Now we have an EID wand and a scale head. I'm running the chute, the scale head and the EID wand all by myself. I'm the one guy at the front of the chute now. I don't have all those extra hands running around,’” says Wes Chism, business development manager, Animal Performance & Traceability at Gallagher North America.

What’s the ROI of Technology

Return on investment 100% matters in any business and it especially matters in the cow-calf business where margins are already tight. There are two main ways to look at how technology, such as what Gallagher offers, will offer a return on the investment: time saved and ease of management decisions. As mentioned earlier, what used to take 2-4 people on processing days can now be done with 1-2. That is less people you must hire for the day and having all the information recorded into one area saves you and your office team time when it comes to analyzing the data, making management decisions from it and sending it to breed associations.

You might be wondering; how does this information make management decisions black and white? Think about it this way, you now have data to prove which cows and bulls are performing. Whether you are a seedstock or commercial producer, it is critical to know which cows are producing calves that will make you money and keep you in business. This suite of technology allows you to collect all the data you need efficiently and easily pull up the information from any device as it is all stored in the cloud. The information you need to make sound management decisions can be accessed from anywhere and in a format you understand.

Why aren’t More Beef Producers Using this Technology?

The trait that has kept family businesses operating throughout generations is simultaneously holding us back.

“One of the things that keeps us on the farm and on the ranch is being stubborn. I mean, we don't give up easily, right? Whether it's snow, rain, sleet, hail, cold, warm, or whatever; we're stubborn. And, we are also creatures of habit. We learn from our parents. We learn from our grandparents. If you happen to be on a farm, you've heard them talk about this is the way we do it. That's the way we've done it for three generations or six generations or whatever. Some of those mindsets are really hard to change when it comes to adopting new technology. Even with genomic-enhanced EPDs, we still have a number of really good cattle producers who just don't embrace this technology. They don't see the value to them or their customers. It appears to them as though somebody's come up with this new technology, this new genetic idea and they are expected to embrace it. Getting all generations to accept new technology is a challenge,” says Clint Rusk, executive vice president of the American-International Charolais Association.
 
The other aspect holding us back is that we act like everything is new and different. That’s not necessarily the case. “I mean, we act like all of a sudden, now this new technology is the only way to be successful. But it's a blend, right? I mean, it's a blend of the old and the new. And the bottom line is, ‘how do I stay competitive?’” Williams says.
 
At the end of the day, remember new technology is being created to help you and not hurt you. It is your decision as far as what you adopt and how you adopt it. There are teams like Gallagher to support you in this process, as well as fellow cattle producers who can offer advice as well.