by Jenny Keyes
A startup company in Lincoln, Nebraska is taking the guesswork out of animal health. Vishal Singh, CEO and founder of Quantified Ag, explained that the precision livestock data analytics company is developing a wearable health-tracking device for cattle.
The device is an ear tag loaded with sensors that can detect potential illness. Some indicators of illness include head movement, mobility and body temperature of the animal.
Quantified Ag’s six-person team is located on Nebraska Innovation Campus, the research campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Team members are: Andrew Uden, chief operations officer and co-founder; Brian Schupbach, chief technology officer and co-founder; along with talented members helping to build the system.
“Being at Nebraska Innovation Campus, not only do you have the academic environment you are in, but you also have access to other business startups,” Singh said. “It is nice to be able to talk through ideas with other people who may be facing the same type of issue you might be.”
Technology
While Singh hasn’t spent a career in the cattle industry, he discovered during his work with agricultural technology projects with the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources that one of the producers’ main issues was
animal health.
Singh originally looked at imaging cattle with the use of drones. After exploring the real problem for cattle producers, Singh decided the device needed to be user-friendly.
The battery-powered ear tag is currently being used on 1,200 head of cattle in Nebraska feed yards. The ear tag fits onto the cartilage of the animal’s ear.
When cattle producers are looking for sick animals, they are looking for cattle with their heads down or that have a low range of mobility. The biometric sensors record temperature readings and behavioral patterns that are indicators of illness in the animal. For example, an animal that is standing in the corner of the lot by itself with its head lowered should be removed from the pen for a veterinarian to examine and treat.
“There has been a lot of research on how cattle show their symptoms of illness and a lot of times, illness manifests itself with a high temperature,” Singh said. “Beyond that, you want to track their mobility. Mobility can be how much they are walking around the pen, but more importantly, the range of motion during mobility.”
Once the data is collected, it is then sent to internet-based data storage called “the cloud.” Cattle producers pay a subscription fee on a cost-per-head basis to access the information, Singh said.
While many cattle producers rely on pen riders and their expertise to locate the sick animals, there are many benefits to investing in Quantified Ag’s technology. By catching any signs of sickness early, producers can save on veterinarian bills or the death losses that can occur.
“If you are a 10,000-head feed yard, you are going to rotate through your inventory 2 to 2 ½ times per year and then, if you calculate death loss at say, somewhere around 2-3 percent just on death loss, you are losing almost $700,000-$800,000 per year,” Singh said.
According to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, Nebraska had more than 2.5 million head of cattle on feed in 2016. Quantified Ag is currently only being marketed for feed yard producers, but looking ahead, the company is hoping to work with other areas of the livestock industry.
“The system as we built it up is specifically built for feed yards, but we have had a lot of people in the livestock industry approach us saying they need something like this,” Singh said.
Mentorship
Quantified Ag didn’t begin overnight. Singh developed relationships with mentors who helped guide him in creating a successful business.
Singh credited his mentors Tom Field and Vern Powers as sources of entrepreneurial advice and guidance during the entire business process. Field is the director of the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln; Powers is mayor of Hastings.
Singh believes the best mentors don’t necessarily come across as knowing everything about everything.
“They might have a really, really deep understanding in a specific area or multiple areas, and they are able to see your path,” Singh said. “If you are headed toward any problems, they alert you before you get there so you can be a little bit better prepared.
“Every day is definitely a new challenge and I learn all sorts of things as I go through this,” Singh said. "I think the best part is that is I have a lot of people around me who really believe in this.”