For sixth-generation Oklahoma cattle producer Lodge Scott, managing a stocker operation means keeping a close eye on cattle performance, feeding costs, and the bottom line. At his operation east of Waurika in Jefferson County, Scott raises his own stockers while also feeding customer cattle for 60 to 75 days before sending them back or selling them.
Scott says technology has become an important part of managing those cattle, particularly through Performance Beef.
Tracking Costs and Break-Even
Scott says one of the biggest advantages of Performance Beef is being able to quickly track costs and determine where cattle stand financially. “Using Performance Beef and different technology in our operation, we’re able to track all of our costs easier and be able to see what our break even is going to be when it comes time to sell cattle,” Scott said.
The system has also made it easier for Scott and his family to access information about their cattle without having to be at the operation.
He recalled recently sitting in a sale barn and showing someone the break-even point and closeout information for cattle they were selling. “It was just like calling the feed yard and saying, ‘Hey, I need to see how my cattle are performing,’ and it pulls it right up on his phone,” Scott said.
Making Feeding More Efficient
Scott says Performance Beef has also changed how the operation handles feeding and ration management. “Performance Beef has made a huge difference in how we feed and mix our rations,” he said.
The ability to connect the software with equipment such as the scale head on the mixer has helped reduce paperwork and make feed records easier to manage. “Once you fully get on the software, it’s so much easier than trying to keep pen and paper,” Scott said.
He says the system allows the operation to keep track of feed calls and costs as they happen, rather than having to go back later and reconstruct the information. “You can look at your costs at the end of the day and know exactly what you’re putting in,” Scott said.
Saving Hours Each Day
The time savings have been another major benefit for the Scott operation. Scott says the family committed to the system after seeing how much time and money it could save. “We committed to the system when we learned about how much time and how much money we were saving using it,” he said.
According to Scott, the operation’s daily feeding routine has been reduced substantially. “It really has cut our feeding. What used to take us all morning until noon has cut us back to two hours a day,” Scott said.
That efficiency also gives Scott the ability to monitor the operation when he isn’t physically there. “I’m able if I’m off on vacation or back when I worked at sale barns, I’d check and see how things were going out here,” he said.
A Technology the Family Has Embraced
Scott says his father initially put him in charge of learning the technology, but quickly became comfortable with the system himself. “My dad said, ‘You’re here. You understand the technology. You’re gonna run it,’ and I said okay,” Scott said.
Scott said his father learned the system quickly and now regularly uses it to review cattle performance and financial information. The technology has become an important part of the family’s day-to-day management, allowing them to make decisions with current information rather than relying solely on handwritten records.
Scott says going back to the old way of doing things would be difficult after becoming accustomed to Performance Beef. “If we lost all of our information tomorrow, and not had Performance Beef and had to go back to pen and paper, I don’t think we’d know what to do because it would look like a train wreck out here if we lost Performance Beef,” Scott said.
For a sixth-generation cattle producer focused on carrying on his family’s operation, Scott says tools such as Performance Beef are helping the operation manage its cattle and costs while making better use of its time.
To learn more, visit PerformanceLivestockAnalytics.com
