Using new technology to collect and store data, cattle scales today do a lot more than just weigh animals. One example is provided by C-Lock Inc.

Patrick Zimmerman created this company in 2005 in Rapid City, S.D., when he was director of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and professor at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Through a systematic approach utilizing data-mining techniques, measurements and numerical modeling, products created by C-Lock can detect problems in cattle that interfere with efficiency and productivity. Pinpointing problems — and offering cost-effective solutions — saves money for producers.

Meredith Harrison, chief scientific officer for C-Lock, is involved with research on the combined application of precision livestock technologies and mathematical models to improve beef and dairy production, and biological and economic efficiency.

With a doctorate in animal biology and feedlot production systems, she has substantial experience with statistics, experimental design and data management, and has developed models to predict methane emissions, dry-matter intake (DMI), feedlot cattle growth and composition, and ways to optimize profitability.

“At C-Lock we have a weighing system that can be used in a pasture, feedlot or drylot setting,” Harrison says. The Smart Scale system is placed in front of an existing water trough. When animals drink, the system captures a front-end body weight. Algorithms convert that partial weight to a full body weight.

On any given day, a producer might get four to eight body weight measurements on an individual animal, she says. “With this scale system, which is built with an RFID antenna, we capture that individual animal’s ID and can associate that body weight with that animal in our records. Over a period of a week, we can calculate average daily gain and determine how those animals are performing.”

According to Harrison, the scale system is especially handy in extensive grazing systems where there is no access to a facility with chute and scales.

“Even for operations that do have a working facility,” she says, “static chute weights require a lot of animal handling and manpower to get cattle weighed. This is an easier way to monitor animals without extra labor or stress for the cattle.”

This system can also be useful to gain knowledge of animal health.

“If a certain animal doesn’t come to water, producers get a notification sent to them, stating that steer number X hasn’t visited water in the last 12 hours,” Harrison explains. Either that animal is sick or lame and not traveling.