HerdDogg: Technology Designed to Give Ranchers Their Time Back
Question of the Week
If you had an extra 3 hours per week, how would you use them?
You never know which hat you’ll see Andrew Uden wearing. He is always switching between them and has been known to wear them around the world. He might be ranching, working in the family feedlot, consulting with ranchers or serving as the CEO for HerdDogg – a data analytics company that has developed what is essentially a Fitbit for cattle. Despite wearing many hats they all have one thing in common – they allow him to solve problems for others. “You’ve got to be in the business of solving problems for people,” said Uden and you can guarantee that no matter which hat he has on, that is what he’s doing.
Andrew’s story starts in rural Nebraska with strong roots in agriculture and a lot of curiosity that has taken him across the world. From a study abroad to mission work and career opportunities, Uden has spent time in Scotland, Africa, Australia and Russia. His experiences abroad opened his mind to just how different the beef industry is in different parts of the world and what the future of cattle production could look like in the United States.
“I wanted to experience a different mindset and economic system for how cattle are raised in terms of managing grass, cattle feeding and which systems work better for which types of cattle. Additionally, I wanted to learn how to do this on a large scale. At the bull stud farm I worked for in Australia we ran 5000 head with four guys and it was a similar situation at a station I was on too. The vast amount of work that you could get out of one person by eliminating inefficiencies in the system was almost unfathomable and I've tried to bring that mindset back to the United States,” said Uden.
Andrew’s exposure to these systems also made him more aware of the challenges cattlemen and women face each day like finding adequate labor for production systems and determining which marketing programs to place your cattle into. He believes the solution to many of the challenges we face can be found by implementing new technologies. Technologies like HerdDogg’s ear tag are one example of a versatile product that can be used to increase the efficiency of operations and free up time for ranchers. The HerdDogg ear tag is constantly collecting data. It is pulling in data every 6 minutes 24 hours a day. This technology can be used for estrus detection, calving detection, illness detection and knowing where your cows are along with a host of many other possibilities. It also includes an LED light that can be used to sort out specific cattle for whichever data points you are tracking. This tag is versatile, to say the least which makes it applicable to a wider range of cattle operations. This technology reduces risk on operations by eliminating the guessing element of when exactly to AI a heifer or even how close a cow is to calving. “Let’s say a normal calving system with 2-3 people looks like alternating who checks cows every couple of hours. If we know how many cows are close to calving based on the algorithm, we could up the checking interval to 4 or 5 hours and allow people to work on something else, because we now know exactly what has calved or what needs attention. You’re not going to get rid of people, there's always something that needs to be done on the operation. Technology is just allowing us to get some of those hours back in our day to get those things done,” said Uden. This is just one example of how HerdDogg can help cattle producers on the labor front.
Additionally, technology like HerdDogg has the potential to help cattlemen and women with cattle marketing too. “We are seeing a big trend towards programs and setting calves up to be eligible for multiple programs,” said Uden. An important component of being in these programs is having data available on your calves. Currently, HerdDogg is still building out a structure to record additional information about your herd but it’s already paying off for producers who market in natural programs. “We have one client who can detect illness sooner because as soon as he gets an alert about a calf with a fever he can break the fever by using transdermal Banamine. This allows him to still be compliant with his preferred marketing programs and treat sick calves without ever sticking them with a needle,” said Uden. The illness-detection ability of this technology can simultaneously improve animal well-being and allow cattle producers to be profit-focused.
At the end of the day, Uden is excited about working in a beef industry that is using and embracing technology. He believes it not only helps cattle producers become more profitable and efficient, but also makes ranching more enticing for the younger generation. Learn more about HerdDogg by heading to their website. https://www.herddogg.com/
