An intense all-day technology hackathon intending to solve problems in agriculture took place at the University of New England’s Smart Farm last weekend with transparent beef production proving to be the winner.
The UNE’s Precision Agriculture Research Group presented its second annual event designed to produce and deliver technical and innovative solutions to real issues identified by primary producers.
Scott and Laura Simpson run Angus and Ultrablack on 4200 acres north of Inverell and have found great difficulty in getting constructive feedback about their weaned calves once they leave the property.
“We want to know how our product ended up, how did it perform,” said Mrs Simpson. “We need this information to make better decisions about buying bulls, what Estimated Breeding Values to look for, what females to retain.
“We are putting effort into nutrition and fertility, we yard wean, we select for temperament. But we want to differentiate ourselves and market that.”
Despite their pleas for information from further up the food chain, the response has been mostly negative.
Mr Simpson said they had gone so far as to staple their contact details to their National Vendor Declaration form in the hopes that someone backgrounding their cattle would respond. They only got one response.
“How can you build your product up if you don’t know your market?” Mrs Simpson asked.
“Feedlotters have been happy to provide that information if you make the phone call, if you sell direct to them.”
During the hackathon leading technical minds put their heads together and came up with a solution, intending to create a platform which can tie-in to the usual methodology, like Herdmaster, or Stockbook, and deliver data on yearling performance throughout their lives – for a small fee of course.
The idea was pitched by a team led by Angus Street from Auctions Plus and will now be supported by the UNE’s Smart Region Incubator for the next 12 months with the potential for venture capital funding should the concept continue to evolve into a commercial reality.
“As farmers we are business people and we need to be treated a business”’ said Mr Simpson.
“We need to be transparent as an industry. This information won’t hurt anyone. This is intended to lift everyone’s bottom line.”
