ESTEVAN — The Saskatchewan Cattle Association (SCA), the Southeast Techhub and the Ross L-7 Ranch in the Estevan area are teaming up for an upcoming workshop.
The Open Innovation Day: Beef Cattle Ranch will be held Aug. 11 at 10 a.m. at the ranch. The Southeast College and the National Research Council are also partners on the event.
Chad Ross with the Ross L-7 Ranch, who is a board member of the SCA, said the event is a natural fit to host, since the ranch has embraced technology. It uses a cloud-based program for feed, with an iPad and an app that are connected to a total mixed rations Bluetooth scale.
"That ration for that particular group of cattle is right in the computer, and as you add each ingredient to that ration, it records that and it makes a complete balanced ration for our cattle. I wish I had someone that could do that for me with my nutrition … like we do with our cattle," said Ross with a laugh.
"It's very scientific. We test all of the ingredients and we do a complete balanced ration."
The technology also tracks their inventory of feed and livestock.
"That's one technology that we've embraced and really enjoyed. I used to spend hours developing that feed ration for each day, and now it can literally be done in minutes."
The ranch also employs radio-frequency ID tags that are needed for each individual animal, which tracks them throughout their lives and helps with traceability in case there is a disease outbreak in the industry.
Ross L-7 has also used technology for regenerative management on the grass and in the winter to keep cattle out on the land and decrease costs.
"[It gives us] the ability to improve our soil, improve our grass, through grass management, with some technologies."
All of these advances have improved their operation.
Technology has lagged behind
Ross said beef technology has lagged behind advancements in crop production. He believes it's because margins have been quite low for ranchers for at least 20 years, so they have been in survival instead of enhancement mode.
"As we increase our margins within the beef sector, there's going to be more appetite for implementing technology into our operations," Ross said
He hopes the event will be a platform to exchange ideas, show fellow ranchers what they're doing and show where they can take technology in the industry.
SCA research analyst Marianne Possberg said it is working with the different partners who are interested in technology in agriculture.
Possberg said technology has been difficult to break into the beef industry because there is more variability.
"If you've got a farm in southeast Saskatchewan, and if you're from northwest Saskatchewan, your farm is going to be very, very different, based on different weather conditions or climate conditions or different cultural aspects as well," said Possberg.
Having a better understanding of various farms can help individuals or companies develop their product so it can be tailored to different farms, or made more available to a wider array of ranches.
"As this is the first meeting of its kind, we are hoping to have more events based on this to attract folks that might be interested in developing technology for the industry, or perhaps are just in the industry and want to ask some questions on farms to understand whether their technology might be successful," said Possberg.
She said the SCA has been working with the National Research Council for the past four years. The people at the council connected the SCA with Techhub executive director Gordon More.
"When they were talking to Gordon, he was very interested in gathering more information for the entrepreneurs that he knows in his area to try to gather a better understanding of the beef industry," said Possberg.
She described Chad and Crystal Ross as forward-thinking producers, and the SCA thought the farm would be a great fit for this event, because they have done a lot of work trying to investigate where they can implement innovations and increase profitability.
"They also have noted that there are a few areas on their ranch where they would like to get more efficiencies, as are other producers," said Possberg.
The SCA has had Beef Tech Breakfasts at Agribition for a few years, Possberg said, to connect people with newer innovations and those who are funding these innovations.
"We want to continue to open it up, because compared to the crop sector, there hasn't been as many innovations for livestock. So, we thought that a good opportunity might be here to just create more understanding of the beef industry," said Possberg.
Rather than trying to take tech innovation from Australia or elsewhere and manipulate to a Saskatchewan setting, the SCA would like to see some Saskatchewan innovations that make sense for producers.
The SCA hopes to have 25 people at the first event.
