Developing tools to help producers select cattle and manage grazing to maintain productivity and build public trust in sustainability
Grazing is regarded as the most beneficial use of temperate grasslands from both an agricultural and ecological point of view. However, scientists and consumers are often conflicted about the environmental footprint of beef production and the complex relationship between cow-calf production and grassland conservation. The aim of this project is to understand how the variation in pastures, forage grasses, cattle genetics and pasture microbes work together to influence sustainable beef production. Tools will be developed to help producers decide which cattle are better for the grasses on their land and to align forage availability with cattle nutritional needs. The environmental benefits of grazing grasslands will be measured to help build public trust in the beef industry
Download the full project summary here.
For more information on this project, please contact Livestock Gentec:
Phone: 780.248.1740
lsgentec@ualberta.ca
Institution: University of Alberta
Primary Investigator: John Parkins
Co-Primary Investigator: Cameron Carlyle (UAlberta)
Term: 2021 - 2023
Funding: $197,936 from New Frontiers in Research Fund
The Armchair Rancher app will help producers create scenarios to predict risk and potentially cut losses in their operations. Based on historical data, the app will identify current and predict future trends, and act as an assistant.
The Arm-Chair Rancher will capture both industry and on-farm data to help producers make decisions for their operation. The project is looking to collaborate with industry partners to collate data into an industry database, as well as work with current programs that producers are using to record on-farm performance data.
The Arm-Chair Rancher is an app that will harness a huge database of beef industry data (weather, soil condition, commodity prices, genomics, etc.) and use machine learning to generate guiding scenarios, recommendations and predictions to improve productivity on beef farms. Dr. Wishart is a professor in computing sciences and biological sciences at the University of Alberta and is co-developing the app with Livestock Gentec.
The Smart Agriculture and Food Digitization and Automation Challenge was launched by Alberta Innovated to funds projects that are developing smart technologies to increase productivity on farms. The Arm-Chair Rancher is one of 8 projects that were successful.
Diane Finstad of 
While a fully functioning app is still a long way off, the Arm-Chair Rancher team is working with beef producers to ensure this app will bring value to Alberta’s ranches.
The Arm-Chair Rancher aims to support beef producers in making decisions on their farm with tailored recommendations and scenario planning for every area of their operation.
Livestock Gentec, partnered with the University of Alberta and Beefbooster, was awarded $481,000 to develop an app to harness on-farm and industry data and use machine learning to generate guiding scenarios and predictions for optimal herd and farm management. Funding was awarded through Alberta Innovates “Smart Agriculture and Food Digitization and Automation Challenge”.