American Livestock Producers

Getting Food to the People 

Farmers are a hard-working and resilient bunch. Facing a barrage of weather events, trade wars, and commodity price fluctuations, farmers are constantly adjusting and adapting to survive. They operate within an industrial food system designed for massive scale and throughput. On a normal day, the system hums along. However, as coronavirus hit, shockwaves were felt up and down stream. Seismic demand shifts away from food services toward supermarkets, dual supply chains unable to quickly pivot, and prices hitting the floor caused major disruption. Slowing the machine has made for difficult decisions.  

Getting Food to the People 

Seeing crops tilled over, milk dumped, and excess animals culled has been a harsh reality revealing the fragility of our domestic food system. Worker health and safety became front-page news as dozens of the largest protein processing companies shut down because of rampant virus spread. Despite enormous challenges, efforts are under way to redirect the surplus to where it is needed most. 

With American families struggling and farmers and ranchers wrestling with excess produce, milk, and meat, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) developed and funded the $4B Farmers to Families Food Box program1. This program brings together farmers, processors, distributors, and non-profit organizations to redirect the surplus to consumers. This revolutionary program has delivered 110 million food boxes to the tables of families around the country. This has been a lifeline for both farmers, workers, and American families. 

Technology on the Farm 

Technology has been making its way across the agriculture sector for years and has potential to smooth the bumps, scale production, and reinvent how food gets to consumers post COVID-19.  

Paramount to the industry’s recovery and improved resilience is the ability to add precision across livestock operations. Some of these technologies and tools include:  

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) for feed formulations and supplements to optimize production per animal 
• IoT, computer vision, robotics, and contact tracing to monitor animal health and welfare 
• LiDAR, robotics, and machine learning to monitor worker health and safety 
• AI, volumetric sensors, and 3D cameras to control the use of water, pharmaceuticals, and feed to minimize cost and waste 

Improvements in operations, animal well-being, and worker safety will help the industry become more efficient, sustainable, and transparent. 

Even prior to the pandemic, the industry was addressing the escalating need for traceability and food chain security. Blockchain adoption will solve for a traditionally fragmented system. The technology promises a more secure and unalterable chain of custody record, tracking and tracing of animals, and a streamlined order-to-payment process. Some of the biggest agriculture brands – Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus – are collaborating to digitize transactions, evidence that Blockchain is becoming mainstream. 

Innovations in the value chain could deliver triple bottom line benefits. Canada-based EarthRenew’s thermal processing technology solves manure-handling issues by bringing the plant to the feedlot. Rather than being stored for months prior to transport, livestock waste is processed onsite and is converted into nutrient-rich organic fertilizer for resale. Surplus energy generated through the process can be sold to the host farm, third parties, or back to the electric grid. This concept provides farmers a low-cost green energy source, helps avoid soil and water contamination from livestock waste, and creates a new revenue stream within the ecosystem. 

Growing Resilience 

A healthy agriculture industry is vital to the stability and security of our domestic food supply. Farmers are familiar with disruption but with the pandemic has come greater awareness of risk and opportunity along the meat chain. Data and insights derived from sensors, drones, AI, 3D cameras, Blockchain and beyond will add value end to end. Technology is key to livestock industry resilience. 

During this especially difficult time, I am grateful to the farmers across the nation who have continued to feed people across our country and around the world. They are truly essential to getting food to everyone.