Technology in your pasture

[CravinGrazin]

I spent some time in the ID business and you can already get ear tags and portable antenna systems that can let you know exactly where your cattle are even in a big remote pasture. Works with true GPS. Course the tags are over ten bucks a headbutt I bet they'll be under five bucks in a couple of years.

Even now there are systems almost perfected that'll tell you which animal hasn't had a drink or come to the bank within a certain period of time so a feedlot can identify animals that are likely off feed and need a look. It can be a helpful clue but still can't replace the cowboy who looks

Can't find a good use for it on the ranch though, except for big outfits who could hang antennas on either side of a gate and get a good count as the cattle walk through the gate. That and big desert outfits like the chance to put an antenna over their tanks to find out who's missing or in the area when they go to gsther

 

[Dave]

Robotic dairies will probably be on the horizon probably at least 50 years before the public figures out that the color of the hair doesn't have anything to do with meat quality.

They already are. Not just automilkers but full robotics. From the cow walking into the milking station, cleaning the udder to finding the teat and applying the inflations to coming off and the cow walking out. Pretty amazing stuff

There is one just down the road from me. It is pretty interesting. But the gates between the milk parlor, bedding area, and feed bunk which are all computer controlled and regulated are really neat. They can look at their computer and tell which cow has been where and for how long.

 

[lavacarancher]

http://moocall.com/

I am intrigued with the Moocall Calving Sensor, primarily for calving out heifers. But Murphy's Law; I'd place it on the heifer I thought was going to calve & naturally it would be the wrong one. Probably just easier & less expensive to set my alarm every couple hours & haul my a$$ down to the barn in the middle of the night or bed-down with 'em

Why? I haven't lost a calf or cow during birth in several years.

 

[cow pollinater]

I know of a couple of dairies here that tried robotic milking. They've all hated it and went back to hiring milkers.
I think feed efficiency will be the next big push in both the dairy and cow calf side of things. I'm toying with adding in a growsafe system myself.

 

[Rafter S]

Your ear tags will probably be chipped and you will be able to see where all your cattle are off your phone. ;-)

I can see that being useful for finding a cow that's off in the woods having a calf, or in the neighbor's pasture.

 

[Brute 23]

... and I do think quality of things you purchase will get better. With the enet and things like forums you can see thousands of reviews for a product in seconds. At the end of the day that equals accountability.

Online reviews are really pretty useless. If you read 100 reviews for a product there will be about the same percentage that says it's the greatest and it's crap. It's the small percentage in the midfdle, probably around 10% or less that are actually meaningful.

Its just like any other tool... you have to know how to use it.

 

[Brute 23]

Your ear tags will probably be chipped and you will be able to see where all your cattle are off your phone. ;-)

I can see that being useful for finding a cow that's off in the woods having a calf, or in the neighbor's pasture.

Definitely. The tracking technology is awesome. When I first started hunting with dogs there was no tracking them. You tried to stay with them and if you couldn't find them you threw a jacket down and came back in the am. Then we got trackers that were like metal detectors. You spun in circle and the beep would get louder and more frequent in the general direction. Now we watch a line on a Google earth map on our Ipad and you can see ever step the dog makes. If its barking, treed, sitting, ect.

Cattle will be there soon when the battery technology is there.

 

[True Grit Farms]

They've been tracking deer with collars for years. And know exactly where they are at all times.

 

[Brute 23]

They've been tracking deer with collars for years. And know exactly where they are at all times.

That's true. Forgot about that. Guess its more of just an economics issues.

 

[TCRanch]

http://moocall.com/

I am intrigued with the Moocall Calving Sensor, primarily for calving out heifers. But Murphy's Law; I'd place it on the heifer I thought was going to calve & naturally it would be the wrong one. Probably just easier & less expensive to set my alarm every couple hours & haul my a$$ down to the barn in the middle of the night or bed-down with 'em

Why? I haven't lost a calf or cow during birth in several years.

We had a haaaard pull on a heifer last year, compliments of the neighbors bull, and another heifer prolapsed in the middle of the night (went down to check & it had just happened, vet was there 30 minutes later). Year before that we had a mal-placed calf (again, in the middle of the night). We're due for no drama this year

 

[Cabo]

Weather forecasting is an area that technology plays a part in and better long range forecasting and disseminating the info could assist a lot.
Ken

In hay season,if they could figure out what it is going to do tomorrow would be a major improvement.

 

[Nesikep]

Your ear tags will probably be chipped and you will be able to see where all your cattle are off your phone. ;-)

I can see that being useful for finding a cow that's off in the woods having a calf, or in the neighbor's pasture.

Definitely. The tracking technology is awesome. When I first started hunting with dogs there was no tracking them. You tried to stay with them and if you couldn't find them you threw a jacket down and came back in the am. Then we got trackers that were like metal detectors. You spun in circle and the beep would get louder and more frequent in the general direction. Now we watch a line on a Google earth map on our Ipad and you can see ever step the dog makes. If its barking, treed, sitting, ect.

Cattle will be there soon when the battery technology is there.

Never seen a dog get treed


wbvs58, yes, weather is a big one, and there have been improvements in the last 5-10 years... the app on my phone forecasts for 6 weeks.. I don't bet on that, I find the weather (good or bad) usually arrives a little earlier than they predict, but 2 years ago it worked perfectly... On my first cut, I cut the whole place at once where I saw a 1 week clear opening in early June... I got everything in, and the whole rest of the month was crap.. had I chosen to hay in sections like we usually did, I'd have had a whole lot of over ripe grass and lost production. Last year I didn't really need it.. we had 38C (100F) or more for all of june, july, and most of august, and hardly an inch of rain through the entire growing season

 

[hillbillyhammer]

In the future we can set at home and check cows with a drone. I am going to get the 1 ton model with a bale spike attachment and fly in a round bale at feeding time :cowboy:

 

[JMJ Farms]

In the future we can set at home and check cows with a drone. I am going to get the 1 ton model with a bale spike attachment and fly in a round bale at feeding time :cowboy:

Me too. Reckon we can get a volume discount for buying more than one? :lol2:

 

[M-5]

http://www.agriculture.com/livestock/cattle/technology

 

[TexasBred]

In the future we can set at home and check cows with a drone. I am going to get the 1 ton model with a bale spike attachment and fly in a round bale at feeding time :cowboy:

Don't forget to order it with the Samurai sword on it for cutting string or wrap. ;-)

 

[hillbillyhammer]

[/quote]

In the future we can set at home and check cows with a drone. I am going to get the 1 ton model with a bale spike attachment and fly in a round bale at feeding time :cowboy:

Me too. Reckon we can get a volume discount for buying more than one? :lol2:

JMJ, I bet so. We are getting in so early I think we could start our own dealerships.

 

[hillbillyhammer]

In the future we can set at home and check cows with a drone. I am going to get the 1 ton model with a bale spike attachment and fly in a round bale at feeding time :cowboy:

Don't forget to order it with the Samurai sword on it for cutting string or wrap. ;-)

TB, good point I hadn't thought that far ahead yet. But would that be considered an armed aircraft? Might get shot down.