INNOVATION
Is the beef industry
gearing itself for a
digital renaissance?
The livestock industry is gearing up for its turn in the innovation saddle as more start-ups
pick up the pace – this is according to Lauren Manning. The following article will explore
some of the challenges associated with digitalisation in the livestock space as experienced
by a company called Performance Livestock Analytics (PLA).
By Martin van Zyl
Senwes Group Executive: Innovation
and Integrated Solutions
I
nnovation is changing virtually every
segment of food production. There are
intricate algorithms assessing moun-
tains of data coming from row crop
operations, newly discovered microbes
spawning bio-based fertilisers, gene edi
ting that can improve the nutritional profile
of crops and hyperspectral scanners hel
ping food distributors achieve better food
safety standards.
16
SENWES SCENARIO | WINTER 2019
One place where technology has
been less apt to spread like wildfire is
livestock production, including beef,
dairy and other segments of the
supply chain that puts meat and milk
products on our plates.
When it comes to digitalisation, the industry
is just getting started, according to Dane
Kuper, founder and CEO of precision ani-
mal agtech start-up Performance Livestock
Analytics (PLA).
“Livestock is one of the last industries
where you will see true digitalisation hit. We
have seen every other industry go through
a digital revolution,” Kuper explains.
“Livestock is a slightly smaller industry
than row crop production and probably
more challenging in terms of how you solve
tech issues. It also probably has more vari-
ables to deal with and higher demand in
how they need to produce these products
compared to row crops,” Kuper explains.
“Meat is a higher value product globally
and you are seeing meat consumption on
the rise. And now the consumer wants a
connected experience when it comes to
how the product was produced.”