In a sun-drenched pasture, one grazing cow decides it's time for a snack. She ambles over to a nearby feed machine, puts her head inside and chews a few pellets of feed. After a minute, she belches gently and wanders away, satisfied.
That's what you'd see if you were watching. But much more has transpired in these few moments. During this afternoon snack, internet of things (IoT) sensors in the GreenFeed machine identified the cow via an RFID tag and tracked how much she ate. They also measured the methane and carbon dioxide released when she belched. This health and performance data was then wirelessly and securely transmitted to a company called C-Lock for expert analysis in the cloud.
Founded in 2005 by Dr. Patrick Zimmerman, C-Lock designs and builds cutting-edge science and engineering systems to monitor, analyze and control cattle biological parameters. For Dr. Zimmerman, the goal was simple, although not necessarily easy: "Do something that would change the way the world works in fundamental ways." Having grown up on a farm, he realized he had the knowledge to help the community he knew.
"I'm a farm kid. I grew up on a family farm. Farmers are always struggling to make ends meet," he said. "I knew from my upbringing that there were lots of opportunities to apply cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art science to farming practices in order to improve efficiency, improve the bottom line and also reduce the environmental footprint."
To deliver on this vision, Dr. Zimmerman's innovative firm relies on near real-time data collection at the edge to provide valuable insights to ranching and farming customers. And connectivity is the key to it all.
Rural locations challenged field data collection
A key advantage of C-Lock's GreenFeed and SmartFeed systems is that they can be placed right where ruminant animals like cattle live and graze. But these innovative machines require reliable connectivity, which can be a challenge to find in the rural areas where they are deployed.
Solar panels keep the smart feeding machines running day and night. The sophisticated instruments inside can collect data every second from as many as 18 different sensors, which are used to evaluate animal performance, health and emissions. C-Lock then uses intelligent data-mining techniques, precise measurements and numerical modeling to help customers optimize cattle health.
C-Lock can also help customers measure greenhouse gas emissions from their livestock so that they can make proactive adjustments to help reduce their environmental impact. "Each molecule of methane is equivalent to roughly 40 or 50 molecules of CO2. It's a potent greenhouse gas, and it's also something we can do something about," explained Dr. Zimmerman.
But there's a catch. The machines must quickly transmit data back to C-Lock, so that the company can monitor system performance and provide advanced analysis for its customers.
"Connectivity is the backbone to C-Lock," explained C-Lock Global Services Director Ryan Kent. "We need our equipment to be online and communicating with our servers. We take that information, and we try to find problems before they affect our clients' data. Our job is to make sure that when a client is running an active trial, the data they're collecting is reliable and accurate," he added. But when connectivity falters or fails, the accuracy of the data diminishes.
Internet connectivity and data transmission allow us to really monitor our units wherever they are located. If we didn't have that connectivity our business would have failed.
Scott Zimmerman, President, C-Lock
Fixed Wireless Access helps C-Lock talk to the animals
C-Lock already used the Verizon One Talk business phone system to facilitate employee communication and enable traveling technicians to stay in touch while on a customer's site. Faced with new data collection needs, the C-Lock team turned to Verizon to help solve their connectivity challenge.
Verizon implemented a Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) business internet solution that provides continuous, reliable and secure connectivity. This connectivity enables the transmission of crucial data from onsite machines to the C-Lock cloud, providing round-the-clock monitoring of livestock in remote rural areas for timely analysis. C-Lock can measure each animal's food and water intake, weight gain and—in the case of ruminants —greenhouse gas emissions. This valuable data is continuously collected and stored, then shared with customers on demand.
FWA also enables C-Lock technicians to remotely monitor and troubleshoot their equipment. This is crucial not just because the emissions, feed and water machines are often located in inaccessible areas, but also because the C-Lock team needs to proactively notify customers about any emerging issues—such as power outages—and promptly resolve them.
C-Lock President Scott Zimmerman emphasized the point. "Internet connectivity and data transmission allow us to really monitor our units wherever they are located. If we didn't have that connectivity our business would have failed."
I knew from my upbringing that there were lots of opportunities to apply cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art science to farming practices in order to improve efficiency, improve the bottom line and also reduce the environmental footprint.
Dr. Patrick Zimmerman, CEO & Founder, C-Lock
A strong partnership feeds a healthy herd
With Verizon’s Fixed Wireless Access business internet solution, C-Lock can deliver easy-to-understand, and reliably provide the data that helps ranch and farm customers monitor and help improve the health and performance of their livestock. And customers can cut down on their biggest expense: feed.
"Feed costs can represent over 70% of a farmer's total operating costs. Feeding those animals is really expensive. It's about $10 per day to feed a dairy cow. By implementing some of these solutions, they can start to target animals that are highly feed efficient," explained C-Lock Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Meredith Harrison.
C-Lock customers can quickly gain insights into livestock health, too. "If you see an animal has been steadily decreasing their intake over the last couple of days, it gives you a prime opportunity to go out and look at them and check their temperature before you start to see those clinical illness signs," Harrison added.
C-Lock's SmartScale can also track an animal's body weight, allowing ranchers and farmers to monitor weight gain and determine optimal breeding times without moving the animals into a dedicated facility—a costly process that could also potentially cause them stress or injury. Without the need to physically wrangle their animals to collect this data, C-Lock customers can save both time and money.
Feed costs can represent over 70% of a farmer's total operating costs. Feeding those animals is really expensive. It's about $10 per day to feed a dairy cow. By implementing some of these solutions, they can start to target animals that are highly feed efficient
Dr. Meredith Harrison, Chief Scientific Officer, C-Lock
A sustainable future
Farmers and ranchers can use C-Lock's analytics to boost both profitability and sustainability.
"Methane emissions can be as much as 12% to 15% of the gross energy intake. If you can tweak the animal's metabolism in a way to favor the production of certain precursors, like formate versus acetate, you can get more meat and milk, and you make less methane," Dr. Zimmerman explained.
With a strong partnership in place that enables C-Lock to deliver for its customers, the firm sees a bright future ahead.
"We really started this company because we wanted to change the world," Zimmerman said. "And in a small way I think we're doing it. I think we're going to change animal agriculture so that we can more efficiently face the future."
Wireless business internet solutions, including both LTE Backup Internet and LTE Business Internet services, are available within the U.S. on Verizon's 4G LTE network, providing either primary or backup/continuity connections. Compatible LTE-enabled router required (Verizon-provided or Customer-provided). Various data plans available; terms apply.