GrowSafe Beef

In 2007 we began the development of an in pen monitoring system for the cattle industry now known as GrowSafe Beef™ (GSB). GSB collects data from environmental and biometric sensors each time an animal drinks. From this data we calculate an animals' weight and gain, its health profile and performance. We also suggest best marketing dates for each animal.

GrowSafe Beef™ is an unprecedented ability in real time to:

• Continuously and automatically track animals - control inventory and comply with traceback reporting.
• Identify sick animals and poor performers - enhance animal well being and mitigate risk.
• Visually identify animals needing treatment or market ready animal - reduce labour.
• Measure and predict individual animal gain and market value - maximize profits.

Identifying Sick Cattle

Finding sick cattle is one of the toughest jobs a feedyard cowboy has. The usual means of assessing the health of beef cattle are subjective, involving visual evaluation aided by minimal clinical measurements. Several epidemiological studies have indicated that even with increased pharmaceutical use, the incidence of morbidity and mortality in feedyards has increased. The effectiveness of antimicrobials in the treatment of Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) depends primarily on early recognition and treatment. BRD manifests its economic losses cumulatively, through the cost of treatment, the cost of lost production, and death loss, emphasizing the importance of prevention and treatment as early as possible.

GrowSafe Beef™ proposes an optimal market date for each individual animal at a time when the cost of gain begins to exceed the value of gain. This is a new marketing concept for the feedyard. Typically the feedlot forecasts a number of days on feed for the entire pen, and markets all animals on the same day. GSB considers many variables but at least the following is built into the marketing decision model:

• Cost of gain - yardage and estimated individual animal feed intake
• Value of gain - market price and discounts for out weight carcasses

The system aggregates a truckload of cattle from monitored pens to optimize shipping.

The Feedyard Program

GrowSafe provides customers with a "turnkey" service program which includes:

• Installation, commissioning, and regular service visits.
• Guaranteed replacement of equipment in case of breakdown.
• Fixed, predictable monthly cost.
• Access to the latest feedyard technology without requiring sophisticated in-house IT capability.
• Remote monitoring of equipment.
• Periodic statistical process control.
• Industry benchmarking.

To find out more contact als@growsafe.com

How GrowSafe Beef Works

Cattle are tagged with ISO approved RFID electronic ear tags. The tag is CCIA (Canada), NLIS (Australia) mandated and recommended for use by US state agencies. The tag currently costs about $1.50 each. Each tag has a unique number.

When an animal drinks the tag is automatically read, and partial body weight and data from other sensors is acquired. This is non-invasive measurement causing no stress to the animal. Conversion from partial to full body weight is highly accurate. The system tares automatically. Individual water intake is measured when the animal drinks. Typically one pen will contain one GSB unit with 6 drinking/weighing positions. This configuration can adequately water and measure about 250 animals. The unit is solar powered or can be conventionally powered if available.

Data acquisition in the pen is continuous. Data is wirelessly transmitted to the feedyard computer. GrowSafe software installed on the feedyard computer automatically analyses data. The system reports current individual animal daily body weight and gain, and forecasts future body weight and intake. Health status is profiled based on water intake and behavior, predicted individual animal feed intake, weight and gain.

Software determines performance outliers, and animals requiring treatment. The system determines the optimum time to market each animal when cost of gain begins to exceed value of gain, building optimal truck loads from multiple pens. When an outlier animal or market ready animal is determined, the system visually identifies (spray paints) the animal's next drinking visit.

At any time, the system can report on operation wide or pen statistics. Data can be reviewed for each individual animal in the pen. Data can be seamlessly integrated into ODBC compliant feedlot databases.

GrowSafe Beef Validation

Through extensive commercial and scientific validation we have determined that GrowSafe Beef can positively affect net income in the pen by more than $40 per head. We have compartmentalized management strategies positively affected by the use of GrowSafe Beef as follows:

• Optimal Marketing $10 - $21/hd
• Early Sickness Detection $12 - $23/hd
• Poor Performer Management $17 - $21/hd Labor $ 1 - $10/hd
• Reduced Days on Feed Carbon Offset* $ 2 - $ 8/hd*
  (*Assumes $11-15 per ton CO2-e available only in active trading market area)

Beta Test Validation

Data collected during the beta test validation of GrowSafe Beef was published in the professional Animal Scientist. June 2007 vol. 23 no. 3 295-299

Case Study: An Evaluation of the Potential to Measure Real-Time Body Weight of Feedlot Cattle. W. H. Kolath, C. Huisma, and M. S. Kerley
[Abstract]

Validation Phase 1—Optimal Marketing 2007/2008

To validate return on investment from optimal marketing strategies, GrowSafe Beef™ was installed in 5 trial feedlots with ~4,000 animals monitored. Individual animal carcass measurements were obtained. Water intake was not measured. Treatment data was collected but animal health intervention was not based on GSB data.

Upon arrival at the feedlot animals were processed according to the standard operating procedures of each feedlot and randomly assigned to one of two treatments: GrowSafe Beef™ managed pens (GSB) and traditionally managed control pens (CON). Both GSB and CON animals were managed in the same manner except for determining marketing dates. GrowSafe Beef ™ managed animals were marketed based upon an economic model that determined when cost of gain exceeded the value of gain aggregated into optimal truckloads. Carcass merit was not considered. Traditionally managed animals were marketed by feedlot personal according to standard operating procedures. Average daily gain was 0.11lb greater and feed conversion was improved by 0.20 – 0.35lb/d for the GSB animals compared to CON animals. Cost of gain was also reduced for GrowSafe Beef ™ managed animals. The number of days on feed for the GSB animals was both greater and lower than CON animals depending on the location. The use of GrowSafe Beef™ technology marketing when the cost of gain exceeded the value of gain resulted in on average an increase in profit per head of $15.26.

Validation Phase 2—Water Intake Measurement 2009

The first phase of trials demonstrated that sickness could be identified early by GSB. A review of treatment data indicated that watering frequency and duration was not an accurate and consistent predictor of illness or water intake. Cattle would visit the bunk without drinking. GrowSafe determined that water intake measurement was required to early identify sickness reliably, particularly in the first two weeks after arrival. GrowSafe developed an individual water intake measurement mechanism which was added to GSB units. Several design flaws identified during the first trials were addressed.

The ability to predict individual dry matter intake (DMI) with accuracy would have production, and selection applications and optimal marketing would be greatly enhanced by including a more accurate prediction of individual intake. Present equations contained within scientific literature cannot explain more than approximately two thirds of variation of DMI.

The water intake measurement equipped GSB unit was installed in an Alberta feedlot and cattle were measured from October to December 2009 for a period of 66 days. The trial monitored 164 heifers with an average weight of 474 kg/1044 lbs during 650,000 feeding events, 120,000 meal events, and 65,000 drinking events.

We determined that water intake correlated to DMI, disease, and residual feed intake (feed efficiency). An equation was developed which correlated water intake to DMI with about 85% accuracy. Data collected during this trial provided the foundation for enhanced disease profiling and individual automated medication based on these measurements.

Results from this study were published in the Journal of Animal Science. Potential for water intake to predict dry matter intake in finishing beef steers. M. H. Ramos, M. S. Kerley, M. Brankovic, J. Gillespie, and C. Huisma,. J. Anim. Sci. Vol. 88, E-Suppl. 2/
[Abstract]

Validation Phase 3—Disease Profiling—Automated Intervention Algorithm— October 2010

In October 2010, supported by a highly respected team of epidemiologists, immunolgists and veterinarian specialists we began a validation trial in 2 commercial feedyards. By trial end, we will have comprehensively monitored 3200 animals.

The objectives of this study are to determine:

• if multiple measurements acquired continuously in the feedyard in real time can be built into a computerized algorithm that profiles and identifies disease occurrence in advance of current feedyard visual assessment,
• which automated measurements collected are of the greatest significance when identifying the onset of disease,
• what the economic benefit of this type of diagnostic method is, and whether it can be practically used in the feedyard.

In addition to GrowSafe measurements we have also collected samples from animals to characterize the detailed health status, using blood parameters as a gold standard for disease.

This trial will provide the data to begin developing more complex learning algorithms, and serves as the first step to automatically medicating animals in the feedyard without human intervention. The data collected also enables novel multi-parameter phenotypic characterization and may be instrumental in elucidating the genetic determinants of sickness behavior.

In the future this type of automated standardized data acquisition method will better assess the efficacy of various therapeutic strategies, and should enable more objective relevant comparison between animal studies.

During the first 21 days of this study there were 717 animal health interventions based on feedyard health crew assessment. Based on GrowSafe data alone we would have:

• agreed with the feedyard crew's 'pull' assessment 25% of the time,
• not pulled 65% of the cattle pulled by the feedyard,
• pulled 29 additional animals which the feedyard crew did not identify.

Of these animals:

• 68% based on clinical signs were identified as BRD (73% of these had temperatures less than 105 deg.)
• 21% had no temperature but were still treated based on clinical signs

What this all means is correct is currently up for speculation but by closeout, GrowSafe feedlot performance records, along with blood parameters and carcass data will provide a more complete picture.