Tag: scale

“No Scale Attached” Advancement For Weighing Cattle

Posted on by Amy Wold

“No Scale Attached” Advancement For Weighing Cattle

Article and photography by Elizabeth Parks, ABAC Agricultural Communication student Contributor: Dr. Deidre Martin

One visit to a water tank unlocks a wealth of information for the Beef Unit at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia.

In an age in which technology develops at an increasingly rapid pace, ClicRweight Bovine Solution is a vital tool in assisting ranchers as they adapt and evolve to ensure their operation maximizes profit potential.

New Features

With a range of special features to enhance any cattle operation, ClicRweight’s remote sensing technology begins when the animal comes to the water tank. After entering the stall, the animal’s RFID chip is scanned. The system takes hundreds of pictures and uses an algorithm to record the weight of the animal. The data is uploaded to the database in the cloud where ranchers have access to valuable information that aids in real-time decision-making.

“ClicRweight is about the future. In today’s world in agriculture, you must embrace technology or get left behind. Our approach to technology is dynamic and allows us to constantly improve,” said Joey Spicola, Chairman and CEO of ClicRtechnologies.“The feedback we are receiving from our partnership with ABAC has been very valuable and is allowing us to be better and stronger.”

What it offers

The daily photos offer producers a visual representation of their herd’s progression over time. “When looking at the online portal, seeing photos of the animal makes the data seem more tangible,” said Doug Hicks, ABAC Beef Unit Manager. “Producers are more willing to incorporate a technology when they can see the direct benefit of the technology to their operation. ClicRweight opens the door to all kinds of possibilities for the future.”

A continuous stream of data allows for daily updates—specific to each animal. Having data on weight that is updated daily allows ranchers to increase the effectiveness of their management decisions. With information on average daily gain (ADG) of the cattle, ranchers can adjust water availability, target specific issues, and adjust feed consumption to correspond to the goals of the operation and have solid information on possible underlying health issues.

“Speaking from a veterinarian’s standpoint, the biggest advantage to me is seeing that cattle are drinking and keeping their water intake up. Decreased feed and water intake are often the first indicators of a health issue that is developing. Because weas their health care experts are not standing there 24 hours a day, we miss that critical signal that something is in its early stages of ‘not normal’ with the cattle,” said Dr. Mary Ellen Hicks, ABAC Professor of Animal Science. “If I can have early detection on subclinical problems in our developing heifers, I can work with those heifers to correct health problems earlier which keeps them on track with their weight gain.”

The Uses of ClicRWeight

ClicRweight’s special features are not limited to weighing alone. “I can see the advantages of using the system to administer external parasite control sprays for horn fly and face fly control,” said Dr. Hicks. She added that ranchers can potentially set up a spraying schedule with regulations for how much and how often cattle are sprayed.

Access to more data points is a plus in the production process but understanding how to use it to improve operations is equally important.

“We are able to take a big step forward as an industry any time that we can get technology successfully used on a farm or ranch. However, technology can be a scary thing for many producers. They can see it as new, unreliable, and they just don’t have time to invest in learning how it works or how to fix it,” said Dr. Erin Porter, ABAC Associate Professor of Agricultural Engineering. “The best thing about the ClicR system is the frequency of data collection. Ranchers are able to get multiple data points on each individual animal to really track how that animal is progressing.

”To ensure producers can keep years of cataloged data, industry leaders like ClicRtechnologies must steadily develop effective ways to interface with the data. “An exciting addition currently being developed is adding in the ancestry of the cattle to include a wide range of data points from weights, purchase and selling price, and vaccine history,” said Richard Ledbetter, Information Technology Manager at ClicRtechnologies. “Weare also working with our customers to make sure their other systems for tracking and financial data will interface with the ClicR system.”

Summary

The possibilities are limitless going forward, according to Dr. Porter. “I can definitely see this system having the potential to expand using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques to diagnose medical issues in livestock. The system is already capturing thousands of pictures of the animals,” she said. “This is all fantastic data that can be used to train the machine on how to spot issues that are abnormal. With the right algorithms, we could diagnose medical conditions that present themselves physically (pinkeye, swelling, abscesses, etc.) quickly and efficiently to get the animal the care it needs with the least amount of stress.”

Accumulation of data is key to technology’s effectiveness. Gathered data can then be turned into applicable practices. “Nature is messy and provides producers with a ton of uncontrollable variables. Using technology to minimize these variables or to measure the response to these variables helps producers to know how to manage their systems more effectively,” said Dr. Porter.

The ClicRweight Bovine Solution allows ranchers to integrate twenty-first-century technology into an industry that is as old as the earth itself. As a result, bBy the year 2050, projections are that farmers and ranchers will need to produce 70% more food to meet the demands of the world’s growing population. Precision agriculture such as ClicRweight will be a driving force to meet this demand “Til the cows come home.”

This article is the third in a series of six articles discussing the implementation of ClicRweight technology at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. The Following editions include a focus on animal health, agribusiness applications, and a final reflection on the project.

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Success through Weighing Cattle

Posted on by Weicks-Webmaster

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. 

Using What you Can

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 receives updates 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.

Multiple Sizes

“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.”

Deciding Whether or Not to Grow

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.

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