Cattle management method and system
A highly automated method and system for providing individual animal electronic identification, measurement and value based management of cattle in a large cattle feedlot. Through the use of (1) a computer system integrated with (2) automatic individual animal identification (3) multiple measurement and remeasurement systems with automatic data input and (4) a cattle handling and sorting system, animals are individually (a) identified and (b) measured by weight, external dimensions and characteristics of internal body tissue. With this information together with animal physiological characteristics and historical data, the computer system calculates the optimum (c) slaughter weight, (d) economic end point and (e) marketing date for shipment to a packing plant. After measurement, individual animals are (f) sorted by direction of the computer in response to calculations from the measurements. The computer system also calculates from individual animal data and other data (g) each animal's pro rata share of total feed intake for the animal's feed group. The computer system (h) stores individual animal measurement, performance and location data, which is used by management to (i) select animals for shipment from the feedlot for slaughter at the optimum time. Following an animal's shipment to a slaughter facility, its identification in the computer system is used to (j) correlate the live animal physical characteristics and performance data to the measured and evaluated carcass characteristics data obtained during the slaughter process and (k) build a data base to more accurately identify and measure value-based characteristics in subsequent animals produced and fed for more effective value-based selection and management of those animals.
1. A method for tracking animals destined for commercial food production, comprising:
uniquely identifying an animal using an electronic identification device;
entering into a computer system data concerning a first location occupied by the animal;
entering into a computer system data concerning a second location occupied by the animal; and
correlating in the computer system an animal's location data with its identification.
2. The method according to claim 1 where the first location and the second location are the same.
3. The method according to claim 1 where the first location and the second location are different.
4. The method according to claim 1 where one of the first and second locations is a location other than a feedlot.
5. The method according to claim 1 where at least one of the first and second locations is a feedlot.
6. The method according to claim 1 where both the first and second locations are locations in a feedlot.
7. The method according to claim 1 further comprising identifying in the computer system one or more locations occupied by an initially identified animal.
8. The method according to claim 7 where the computer system is capable of identifying all animals that shared a location with an initially identified animal.
9. The method according to claim 8 comprising entering into the computer system data relating to individual animals that have been commingled by mixing from different groups of animals and correlating data with the identification of individual animals in the computer system.
10. The method according to claim 8 further comprising determining the health condition of the initially identified animal.
11. The method according to claim 1 further comprising initially recording at least two characteristics of identified animals, including a measured weight, and matching in the computer the recorded characteristics with the animal's recorded identification.
12. The method according to claim 11 further comprising:
feeding identified animals with a group of other animals;
storing in the computer for the identified animal a limit or condition;
making a computer projection of an estimated time or date for the identified animal to achieve the projected limit or condition based at least in part on the characteristics; and
selecting identified animals for further processing based at least in part on the estimated time or date.
13. The method according to claim 11 further comprising recording at least two characteristics of identified animals at least a first time and at least a second time, the two characteristics including a measured weight, and matching in the computer the recorded characteristics with the animal's recorded identification.
14. At least one computer readable medium having stored thereon program instructions executable on a computing device to perform the method of claim 1 .