Technology - Gimmick or Game Changer?

Collecting data and knowing what to do with it can take an operation from good to great.

Whether it is using Optiweigh to monitor weight gains, to Australian Sheep Breeding Values, to worm egg counts using FecPak, genomics, weather stations, soil moisture probes or anything else, data and technology can be a game changer in your operation.

But ag tech is a growth industry, and it seems like there are just as many gimmicks as game changers - technology which is looking for a use rather than solving a problem.

At Kerin Agriculture we embrace technology but only if it gives us information with very little extra labour input.

When you look at grain growers, they are a case in point. They are not out there taking samples or measuring protein yield levels manually – it is all push button technology.

Look at all the data collection done in the grain growing world – all autonomous – and then look at all the technology in the sheep and cattle world, which basically just leads to more labour input and more work.

We run a livestock finishing operation and critical to its success is the collection of data about how those animals are performing.

In the past if we had wanted to know weight gains, we needed to muster the mob, get them into the yards, weigh them and take them back. That comes at a cost in terms of labour but also a cost in terms of weight gain as the stock are out of the paddock while the process is being done.

We found the in-paddock weighing system known as Optiweigh through Twitter and saw it as one of few advances in technology in the sheep and cattle game that reduces labour.

Optiweigh provides live, real-time data on sheep and cattle weights with no labour. What could be better than that?

Really, they should change the name of the weighing system to myth busters – we’ve monitored cattle weights on what looks like great fattening food, and the weight gains, or lack of weight gains, shows that pasture is all show and no go, and this usually is related back to soil fertility.

Optiweigh in with Angus Steers 10 day rolling mop average just over 1.4kgs a day.

The feedback we have got in terms of weight gains allows us to organise paddock moves when the weight gains tail-off, even if the paddock still looks like it has enough feed.

We have also learned which pasture mixes have the greatest yields and produce the greatest weight gains on differing soil types at different times of the year. While we know what our livestock are putting on, we are also getting feedback on growing pastures on soils that suit them.

And the biggest lesson is to not judge a book by its cover when it comes to weight gains. Pastures which we think look like crackers can be duds, and vice versa.

It is also giving us feedback on what is going on with fertilisers. We may not be able to see it visually, but Optiweigh will pick it up.

Optiweigh in with Ram Lambs rolling average daily gain passed 5 days 400 grams per day.

A case in point was where we spread urea last year. We only spread every second paddock. Visually, it was nearly impossible to tell which paddock had urea and which didn’t. Where it did become clear was when we looked at weight gains. The paddocks where urea had been spread produced 1.2kg/head/day while the paddock with no urea produced 0kg/head/day.

It was the nutrient density of the feed that was driving the improvement in weight gain.

And without real time data, we simply would not have known.

When that real time data comes through and we see it, we can make calculated management decisions, like moving cattle or sheep to the next paddock if their weight gain is tailing off.

There was another case of one ram buying client who had cattle on beautiful feed, but zero weight gain, and they had an Optiweigh too.

They did an egg count on cattle they brought in from a southern high rainfall area and found they had high worm burden in the cattle despite all the proper induction processes when entering the farm. That was something that Optiweigh picked up early, which otherwise might have slipped past the keeper and cost money in lost production.

Optiweigh can provide information about how your management is going but it is primarily about monitoring weight gains of cattle and sheep, which is essential for delivery into contracts at certain weights.

Optiweigh also tells you how you are tracking so you can forecast when you will be able to deliver into a feedlot or over-the-hooks at a certain weight and you can prepare for the next buy. It allows you to know when cattle or sheep are booked in and that they will be gone on a certain date at a certain weight.

At Kerin Agriculture, we have three Optiweigh systems – one for the sheep and two for our trading cattle operation.

Yes, they are $17,000 but put it in cropping terms, one Optiweigh is equivalent to a shuttle of Roundup and lasts a heck of a lot longer.

The three units cost us $51,000 which is less than the cost of a B-double of fertiliser. We know we can’t grow a crop without Roundup and fertiliser, and we know that we can’t run an effective finishing or breeding operation without this technology.

And the thing is the technology is not like a load of fertiliser or shuttle of Roundup. You have it for the rest of your life and if you don’t like it, you can sell it.

Say you have a mob of steers, and you are banking on them on gaining 1.2kg/day. At 620c/kg, times by the weight gain and the number of steers (1.2 x $6.20 x 200), that’s a gain in value of $1488 in weight gain for the mob each day or $10,416/week. You only have to have 12 days where your weight gain is zero and not 1.2kg, and you’ve paid for the Optiweigh.

This is something we wanted for literally decades but it’s a clear example of finding the technology that fits your operation and purpose.

There was another system, but it was too much work shifting it and I knew I would buy in and use it for a few months and then it would sit in the shed. I just didn’t want a piece of equipment that was a labour reliant.

There is technology coming up all the time, and we don’t just jump in and adopt it straight away.

Our criteria for assessment are:

1. Price never really comes into it but value for money does and asking the question does it reduce labour? 
2. Will it give you want you want, and is there more labour associated with that tech?
3. The biggest thing - will that information change the way you manage animals and landscape into the future?

If the tech fits those criteria and allows you to make changes to your business to make it better, then it must be a yes.

Tissue sampling unit for the collection of DNA.

A key thing to note is that you don’t have to be able to analyse any data sets produced by technology yourself and it can be really efficient to outsource that. Bring in a consultant – the cost of doing this can be so miniscule compared to the benefits you might get out of the trends or information you get from the data you have collected.

A case in point was we needed a worm consultant in the Kerin Agriculture business to manage our worms. Why? None of us had the expert skills and the last thing we wanted to do is take advice from someone who was trying to sell us drench.

We went to Dawbuts, an agricultural parasitology business, and bought a FecPak, which allows us to take worm samples on farm and then prepare the sample on farm, with the information sent straight away to the main laboratory near Sydney, NSW. Within an hour, we have the results back on the worm egg counts and can drench sheep or cattle while they are still in the yards. Interestingly, 50 per cent of the time, the recommendation is not to drench but the great news is we know straight away and we haven’t wasted time and money drenching them.

The big whizz bang machine which we could have bought was $24,000 which could have enabled us to do on the spot egg counts. The reason for baulking at this is technology is changing quickly and this may have quickly been outdated. What we decided we needed was the $1700 FecPak which sends the information to Dawbuts who then analyse it and give us advice still within an hour, without the big price tag.

It’s another piece of technology and it shows it doesn’t have to be big and expensive to make a difference.

Kerin Agriculture will always be looking for ways to run its business more efficiently and are happy to share what we know. We hope that visitors who come here will borrow ideas and bring them back even better.

And we will always be looking carefully at any technology before we take it on board.