HOW MANY CATTLE DO I HAVE?
Counting a herd of cattle is similar to counting the hairs on your head. It can be a difficult, frustrating, and time-consuming task. Many ranchers have expressed that they often run into issues when trying to obtain an accurate count of their herd, which can cause problems later throughout many areas of their operation. Most ranchers only have a rough estimate of how many head of cattle they own. Herd sizes fluctuate continuously due to calving seasons, market conditions, the economy, and other external and internal factors. Since the herd size changes frequently, it makes it tough for ranchers to keep track of their exact inventory regularly.
Cows are notorious for wandering as it is a part of their nature. They tend to move around, hide behind other cows, trees, or other objects during cattle counts so it is likely that a few head will be missed here or there. This can result in ranchers having incorrect headcounts due to several cows being miscounted or double-counted. Some ranchers round up their cattle in their designated pastures to be counted. Other ranchers may bring their herd through a corral system and chute to count, but this can be time-consuming and isn’t always the most accurate option. Whether you have 200 head or 2,000, there will likely be errors. Inaccurate inventory records could be due to a simple counting error, lost or missing animals, or even theft. These inaccurate inventories can lead to supply chain disruptions, a loss in sales, and flawed records concerning your herd. If these issues are never found or corrected, they can cause large and negative impacts to your operation in the future.
WHY ITS IMPORTANT
Let’s say that a rancher unknowingly had an error while counting and was five head off on their cattle count. Since cattle are such a large asset, the amount of potential profit loss adds up quickly when a just few head are missed. This occurrence can be detrimental to an operation as it negatively affects the business's profitability and net income. Keeping an accurate count of how many animals you have is critical for precise ranch management. It can be a difficult task at times, but it is important to provide accurate answers with regards to the size of your herd as it affects management, production, and records within your operation. It is crucial to have accurate inventory records. They provide the necessary information needed to influence business decisions and give insight into areas that may need improvement to boost profitability.
HOW WE CAN HELP
701x has been working hard to develop cattle ranching technology to minimize the inventory tracking problems associated with cattle. Our GPS tracking ear tag grants ranchers access to effortlessly maintain and keep track of each animal in their herd. By adopting our ranching technology into your herd, users gain important information such as animal inventory, animal reports, GPS positioning data, health records, and so much more.
HOW IT WORKS
Each individual cow within your herd has its own identification number within the 701x management system to individually track and monitor daily activity. This allows users to quickly view their cattle inventory and obtain an exact number of how many cows are in each specific pasture. If a cow were to find its way out of its designated pasture and wander into another, go missing, or get stolen, an alert would be generated to notify the rancher. From there, they can actively track that cow's GPS location by connecting to the correlating 701x livestock ear tag. Between the GPS tracking and the activity monitoring capabilities that the ear-tag provides, users can verify that the tag is attached to a head of cattle and that it has not been removed or somehow been fastened to a car, machinery, or other objects. The information that the tag retrieves and forwards to the user makes it virtually foolproof. Not only do these capabilities give ranchers peace of mind and insights about their herd, but it also saves them time that could be spent working on other tasks.
LOOKING FORWARD
In the future, we will be highlighting some of the inventory issues that ranchers face by sharing their thoughts on the matter as well as some of their own personal ranching stories. Click links for more information about our smart ear tag and cattle management software. Feel free to follow us on our social media platforms to stay up to date with our posts and to share your own thoughts and stories! ! Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.