Herdwatch Launches in Texas with Exclusive Tools for Cattle Ranchers

Herdwatch, the leading livestock management app trusted by over 22,000 ranchers worldwide, is set to make a big impression at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Trade Show next week. Marking their official launch in Texas, Herdwatch is ready to empower ranchers across the Lone Star State with cutting-edge solutions designed to save time and improve efficiency.

New Pasture Management Solution: ‘Pasture by Herdwatch’

One of the most anticipated highlights of Herdwatch’s presence at NCBA is the introduction of their innovative new feature, Pasture by Herdwatch. This groundbreaking tool allows ranchers to:

  • Manage pastures more effectively
  • Track herd location with ease
  • Plan and optimize grazing strategies

Designed with the specific needs of ranchers in mind, Pasture by Herdwatch simplifies pasture management, enabling better decisions for herd health, land usage, and productivity.

“Texas ranchers face unique challenges, and our new Pasture solution is built to help them tackle these head-on,” said Meghan Bochanski, North American Growth Manager at Herdwatch. “Whether you’re tracking herd movements or planning grazing rotations, Herdwatch makes it all easier so you can focus on running your ranch.”

Revolutionizing Cattle Management

In addition to the new Pasture feature, Herdwatch offers a suite of tools tailored for cattle producers. Ranchers can:

  • Record calving events and monitor breeding performance
  • Track weights, health treatments, and medicine inventory
  • Digitally log all key information from the calving book, saving time and ensuring accuracy
  • Maintain accurate herd performance data

“For generations, cattle ranchers have relied on calving books for record-keeping, but Herdwatch takes it to the next level,” said Meghan Bochanski. “With digital calving records and automated data tracking, we’re bringing ranchers into the future while preserving what’s most important: cattle performance and profitability.”

Exclusive NCBA Offer: Free Herdwatch Starter Pack

To celebrate the Texas launch, Herdwatch is offering all new members who sign up during NCBA or online before the 28th of February a complimentary Herdwatch Starter Pack. This includes:

  • A stylish “Eat Beef” t-shirt
  • A Herdwatch-branded trucker cap
  • A Herdwatch pen

These exclusive goodies are Herdwatch’s way of welcoming ranchers into the family and celebrating the hardworking cattlemen and cattlewomen who keep the beef industry thriving.

Visit Herdwatch at NCBA

NCBA attendees can find Herdwatch at Booth 2969, where live demonstrations of the app’s features will be available, including the newly launched Pasture by Herdwatch. Visitors can see firsthand how Herdwatch simplifies day-to-day tasks like record-keeping, decision-making, and pasture management.

Why Choose Herdwatch?

Herdwatch has been revolutionizing ranch management across the globe, helping producers reduce paperwork, ensure herd performance, and improve profitability. From its ease of use to its powerful functionality, Herdwatch is tailor-made for today’s ranchers.

“We’re excited to introduce Herdwatch to the Texas ranching community and help them take their operations to the next level,” said Meghan Bochanski. “With features designed specifically for cattle management, Herdwatch is the app every rancher needs.”

About Herdwatch

Herdwatch is the number-one livestock management app in the world, trusted by over 22,000 ranchers to simplify herd and land management. With innovative features like the digital calving book, breeding records, and pasture management, Herdwatch is transforming how producers manage their operations, one click at a time.

Weighing Success

On any working ranch or farm, producers depend on powerful performance measurement tools to evaluate the health and wellbeing of their herd. Key measurement tools need to be dependable and rugged, including weigh scales, which provide ranchers with an assessment of calves’ weight gain. This allows them to receive accurate treatment dosages and proper nutrition as well as a glimpse into the animal’s health and performance.  

Rice Lake Weighing Systems has been building and perfecting livestock scales since 2011. Originally founded in 1946 in Rice Lake, WI, as Thomas & Johnson Scale Service, the company provided pivots and bearings for mechanical scales used on dairy farms in the area. Eventually, the company changed its name to Rice Lake Weighing Systems and has been making an impact on the weighing and measurement industry ever since. 

By utilizing advanced manufactured processes and state-of-the-art technology, the company has become a global leader in livestock scales. 

“Our company vision is ‘Take care of the customer and the rest of the business will take care of itself” and ‘To be the best by every measure.’ We do our very best to take care of the customer and make sure our products are of very high quality,” says Sam Solie, product manager for livestock scales at Rice Lake. “Our staff works hard to make sure we are here for our customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. Over the years, we have expanded our company and added new products.”

Indeed, Rice Lake offers a wide variety of products to help satisfy customers and the needs of their applications. The company’s stationary livestock scale has been updated and is one of the most popular models. Specifically, the MAS-LM stationary mechanical animal scale provides reliable, accurate weighing for ranchers and processors that prefer a mechanical pipe lever weighing system.

“We offer this scale in many different sizes and have the opportunity to do customs to help satisfy customer needs,” Solie says. “The stationary scales are very robust and built to last.” 

Rice Lake’s stationary weighing models comes in a variety of sizes and boast various flooring options. In addition, the main weighbridge on stationary models is built with heavy-duty steel to stand up to the toughest jobs. Rice Lake also understands that the layout and functionality of each ranch and farm is different, so there are many different style customs to fit in sale barns, ranches, feedlots and county fairs.

“Our mobile animal scale is another popular model that customers use to be able to go out and weigh their animals in the field instead of needing to bring them on-site. Currently, we are working on updates to our mobile scale, with updated features customers are requesting,” Solie says. The current model of the MAS-M mobile livestock scale features a low-profile weighing platform to allow for faster and easier multi-site livestock weighing. 

“On our mobile scale, we offer a very easy-to-use scale with instrumentation. The indicator on the side of the scale helps simplify weighing and allows producers to keep track of animals the customer is shipping out,” Solie adds. 

Thorough Evaluation

While Rice Lake has developed some of the most durable scales to meet the specific needs of farmers and ranchers alike, there is not a “one size fits all” weighing solution. The company strives to provide custom products that are perfectly suited to every application. 

When looking for a livestock scale, Solie advises producers to consider some key factors – namely, scales need to be accurate, durable and easy to use. As Solie explains, having an accurate scale to weigh livestock on-site is a huge benefit that lowers costs by avoiding shrink. To help calculate the potential savings when investing in a Rice Lake livestock scale, the company provides a simple livestock shrink calculator on its website. 

“When evaluating weighing systems, the scales need to be durable in order to withstand the job of moving and weighing animals. Making sure the scale and instrumentation is simple to use is another big item,” Solie says. “When you are out weighing your animals, you want to make sure it is easy to weigh them without having to do hours of set up each time. Once you are done weighing the animals, it is also imperative that the scale and instrumentation is easy to close down.”

In addition, when purchasing a livestock scale, customers need to evaluate their herd size and if they need the scale on-site permanently or require a mobile unit for different locations. 

“Shrink is a big factor that needs to be considered when you own livestock. If you send your cattle to a sale barn to be weighed, the stress they go through during the travel process makes them lose a good amount in shrink,” Solie says. “The benefits of weighing the animals on-site is that you are able to weigh them before shipping – saving money that you would typically lose in shrink.”

Continuous Evolution

Since its inception nearly 80 years ago, Rice Lake has continued to enhance and improve its product offerings, expanding into a myriad of industries. Because of the company’s focus on continuous improvement, the Rice Lake team is well-versed in incorporating technological advancements and state-of-the-art instrumentation into its product offerings. 

Looking ahead, Solie says data will continue to be “king” within the livestock weighing industry. 

“The more data we can provide from the scale to a rancher’s database or herd management software drives overall process efficiency gain,” Solie says. 

In addition, producers have come to rely on technology that provides continuous feedback on the status of their livestock. That’s why communication, specifically being able to connect wirelessly between the scale and software, is paramount for today’s producers. As such, Rice Lake will be offering even more communication options to keep producers “in the know.” 

“We will also see scales with self-reporting diagnostics and self-healing capabilities,” Solie says. “The scale’s uptime is critical for ranch operations, being down costs time and money. We are working towards scales that monitor their health and report errors and potential concerns. The next step is to create scale systems that can automatically adapt to error conditions and allow scales to continue to work at critical times.”

To learn more about Rice Lake Weighing Systems and its complete line of livestock weighing systems, visit www.ricelake.com.

Here’s What Cover Crops You Should Plant This Spring

By Katrina Huffstutler

 Sponsored By:

Your context and goals will dictate the warm-season mix you need on your regenerative ranch.

Will this cover crop mix grow on my ranch?

If a crop won’t thrive in its environment, it’s not going to do you any good.

Johnson says that’s why your soil type and climate should determine which cover crop mixes you consider.

For example, he explains that sunflowers are good scavengers for water, and their taproots can break compacted soil layers. Sorghum species are drought- and heat-tolerant, and they are excellent nutrient scavengers. Flax adapts to a wide range of environments and is tolerant of temperatures slightly below freezing. Soybeans seem more prone to attack by insect pests and are not as drought-tolerant as other warm-season legumes.

“Doing your research to determine which cover crops will be most successful will allow you to narrow your search,” Johnson says.

How do I know which cover crop mix will help me achieve my goals?

While all cover crop mixes are just that — a mix of different species and varieties — your goals will influence how much of each type of seed will be in the blend, Johnson says.

Some general suggestions are:

•If you need more carbon, you might plant sorghum-sudangrass and sudangrass.

•If you want to increase organic matter, diversity is key.

•If you’re worried about compaction, you might plant strong-rooted crops like chicory.

•If nutrient cycling is the goal, you will need different rooting architectures to tap into as many different soil layers as possible.

•If you need to suppress weeds, you’ll want to plant taller, denser crops.

•If supplemental grazing is the goal, you’ll want to plant crops that cattle, sheep or goats — whatever you’re running — like to eat.

•If wildlife habitat is the goal, plant mixes preferred by your targeted species.

But perhaps more important than the exact amount of any one component, Johnson says, is how diverse the blend is. “Having as much diversity as possible represented by as many species as possible is probably a lot more important than the precise pounds of sunflower or chicory in the bag. However, there are ranges of what would be realistic for each one based on seeding rates for a full stand for that crop in your area,” he adds.

Not only that, but it makes it simpler for beginners to just start by focusing on overall diversity.

Of course, sometimes it’s hard to predict with certainty what will work best, and so Johnson encourages producers to ask around about what others in their area have seen success with — and to just experiment, too.

“It may take a few years to figure out precisely what grows best and meets your goals,” he says. “Don’t be afraid to try different things.”

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