By South Dakota State University specialists offered three technology-focused learning sessions at the Cattlemen’s Education Series during the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association 2025 Convention and Trade Show in Deadwood earlier this month.
The initial session, Modern ranching: Where innovation meets tradition, was led by Jameson Brennan, SDSU Extension livestock grazing specialist. It focused on cybersecurity considerations within beef cattle production.
Brennan discussed strategies for using technology to potentially enhance profitability, address labor shortages and increase operational flexibility. This session was meant to equip producers with a comprehensive understanding of the cybersecurity risks associated with adopting technology in livestock management.
Brennan
He outlined how to protect operations from cyber threats. Ranchers don’t have to be experts in technology to implement basic cyber practices to mitigate bad actors from gaining access to sensitive data and computer systems. He provided some real-life examples and shared ways to prevent access.
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Logan Vandermark, SDSU precision livestock technology specialist and a colleague of Brennan, also touched on the subject.
“This could range from handling phishing emails that appear in your inbox to real examples of threats specific to the agriculture industry. There are steps we can take to reduce our risk of having information exposed, whether it’s details about your ranch or your personal data,” Vandermark said. “We call it practicing good cyber hygiene. For example, avoid using the same password for your bank account, email and computer.”
The second presentation examined ways to use electronic identification, often called EID, for enhancing livestock management.
“The goal is to leverage identification tags to improve herd data management for operational decision-making,” Vandermark said. “Can these EIDs support basic digital decisions based around health monitoring and breeding? For example, how do we practically integrate these into operations with existing systems?
“We highlighted some examples of how we can make quantitative decisions versus qualitative decisions for ranch management. An example would be when producers are trying to decide which cows to cull within our herds. Other examples include streamlining vaccination and treatment records or by simply making record-keeping a more automated process,” he said.
Virtual fencing has a place in agriculture
The last session, moderated by Krista Ehlert, SDSU Extension range specialist, focused on virtual fencing and the future of grazing.
Ehlert
Producers, researchers and non-governmental organizations joined Ehlert to share their perspectives on virtual fencing. They discussed where it will fit well into operations and where it might not.
Vandermark said it could change how people manage livestock.
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The group examined the practical applications of the system and the scientific principles underlying virtual fencing. The technology can serve as an effective tool for rangeland stewardship.
“We hope folks gained an understanding of the opportunities and potential challenges involved with implementing virtual fencing into range cattle production,” he said.
Additional benefits, like improved record-keeping and data management, might provide extra insight. The discussions stimulated conversations about the direction of technology in cattle production on the Northern Great Plains.
The specialists focus on the challenges arising with technology integration. It’s a good understanding of where to start in the sense that technology might address certain management scenarios, but it also opens up new challenges. Producers need to consider ways to protect operations.
The topic of virtual fencing has been pretty popular among producers and non-governmental organizations in the state for two or three years now. Vandermark said folks see a lot of promise in the technology because of what adaptive management can do.
Trailer offers hands-on learning
To provide additional opportunities for learning, SDSU has developed a cybersecurity and precision livestock technology trailer. Meant to highlight current tech equipment, the learning lab offers producers a chance to examine some of the precision tools available.
SDSU also has a learning lab featuring crop technology.
“We’re not always tied to a research station. We can take this trailer to a ranch to meet with producers for a field day or to conventions and fairs. To show the system, the team can even put virtual fence collars on a few animals,” Vandermark said.
Vandermark
According to USDA, precision agriculture is defined as practices that use “technology to improve agricultural productivity or efficiency by connecting the practice to a digital environment for crop or livestock production.”
“For me, I learn better by being able to see and touch items rather than sit and listen for 45 minutes in a classroom,” Vandermark said. “When we take the trailer to events, people can see the virtual fencing collars, stock tank monitoring devices, GPS tags and an ID wand. There are some pretty neat rain gauges in there, drones and iPads oriented towards Extension programming. The trailer highlights some of the precision tools and what they can do. There will be informational handouts that folks can take home to study and learn more about these items.
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“I think this is an excellent opportunity to set realistic expectations about technology integration in cattle production. We hope for the best-case scenario possible when integrating technology, but there are always realistic challenges and opportunities. We provide these sessions to shed a little light on where some of these technologies are in terms of readiness for producer adoption,” he said.
Connie Sieh Groop of Frederick is a veteran journalist and writer who has focused on all aspects of the agriculture industry during her career.
