We’re still a few weeks away from Ag in Motion, but details are filtering in about events in the Livestock Central part of the show.
New this year is the Livestock AgTech Happy Hour, slated daily from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Livestock Event Centre. Farmers and ranchers will be able to chat with the entrepreneurs bringing new technology to market.
Each day will also feature speakers from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. Chelsey Siemens and Natasha Wilkie, livestock and feed extension specialists, will talk about advancements in water and alternative feed management technology on Tuesday, July 16. They’ll cover some of the tech available and how it might fit into different management practices. They’re also planning to highlight a couple of the ministry’s ongoing demonstration projects on nitrates in forages and water quality.
Read Also
Body condition, nutrition and vaccination for brood cows
One of the remarkable events of the past century related to ranching has been the genetic evolution of brood cows….
On Wednesday, July 17, livestock and feed extension specialists Alexis DeCorby and Tessa Thomas will cover using technology in herd management. DeCorby says they’re planning to cover a lot of ground in a short time, including:
- Record keeping, and common things that producers track. You can’t manage what you don’t measure, DeCorby says.
- Weight scales and body condition scoring.
- Cowbytes (ration balancing software to manage winter feeding).
- Results from a recent Agriculture Demonstration of Practices and Technologies project, in which producers tried a few record-keeping software systems.
- A brief discussion of putting record-keeping into practice when selecting replacement heifers.
Andre Bonneau, range management extension specialist, takes the stage on Thursday, July 18. He plans to cover virtual fencing, as well as some of the other tracking and monitoring programs. He’s also looking into some of the other technology available to manage livestock on pasture, such as systems that read temperatures to indicate heat and track movement (which could be helpful when adding cross-fencing).
