HerdWhistle’s unique innovation lines each pen in a feedlot with 48 meters of RFID antenna to monitor feeding and drinking behavior of cattle 24/7. While RFID was first introduced over 30 years ago, HerdWhistle is the only company able to monitor every steer in a feedlot simultaneously.
The sensors in the HerdWhistle system track feeding events, meals, and drinking bouts to produce data that shows cattle’s behavior. Morbidity and mortality can be reduced by detecting when animals stop eating or drinking due to injury, illness, or distress. A feedlot of 20,000 animals will produce more than a trillion readings a month of animal feeding and drinking behavior.
This level of information creates new opportunities for feedlots and a new type of work. HerdWhistle takes information management to the next level by providing daily alerts and reporting about every single animal. Feedlot operators can now manage more than just the herd. A single animal with illness, injury or distress can be identified and treated.
The physical workload of pen riders changes when a rider’s task is seeking a specific animal with a unique ear tag instead of generally riding through the herd looking for issues. HerdWhistle issues alerts telling the pen rider what animals are having issues. HerdWhistle changes the relationship between the operator and the animal. It reduces the mental workload of the operator by creating timely reports to deal with health and welfare issues sooner.
Feedlot operators are becoming information managers through Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) initiatives like HerdWhistle. Real-time monitoring technologies focused on each animal instead of the herd will change the feedlot operation. Every aspect of the farm environment is factored into the reporting of feeding and drinking behavior. Information can be analyzed, stored, and reviewed to create a per animal history feedlot operators have never seen before.
The weather has a significant impact on feeding and drinking behavior for example. Cattle’s drinking behavior at the water trough is very different in winter weather where the temperature hovers around zero versus summer weather when temperatures can be near 100 degrees. HerdWhistle can factor temperature into the equation and provide data to the feedlot about how much water is being provided on a per pen basis. A winter snowstorm can throw off feeding schedules and reduce the amount of feed cattle eat. Monitoring reports can show the operator when the animals start eating again and if every animal recovers and starts to feed again.
Managing per animal information and performance on a daily basis is a new level of operation for feedlot operators. It takes the guesswork out of the equation and puts hard data into the hands of people who need to make tough decisions daily. Operators have infinitely more information available to them per animal than they’ve ever had before. Decision making becomes more comprehensive and effective.
