What tools does a rancher use to enhance his productivity? A pair of pliers? A tractor? A working chute?
Today we’ll meet a young Kansas woman who works with another set of ranching tools, but these are high-tech and digital.
Last week we learned about Eric Wagner of Diamond W Custom Machine Works. His wife, Katie, works for an agricultural technology company.
Katie grew up on a farm in Missouri where her mother is a nurse. Katie studied agricultural journalism at the University of Missouri and received her master’s at Texas Tech. She worked for the American Angus Association in St. Joseph where she met Eric, who was working at Kansas State University.
Katie took a communications position with K-State Research and Extension and then a similar position at the hospital in Norton.
Given her mother’s role as a nurse, Katie was interested in health care. She helped establish the Norton Regional Health Foundation. She married Eric and they now have two daughters, one age three and the other five months.
With young children, Katie looked for a flexible remote position. She found one in the agricultural science space. She became director of communications for a company called Enriched Ag.
Enriched Ag is an agricultural technology business started by technology experts who became interested in the food sector. For example, the CEO of Enriched Ag used to be the chief technology officer at Yahoo.
He assembled a team of specialists in technology and agriculture. They explored potential agricultural applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, such as digital imaging of fruits and vegetables to evaluate ripening.
Over time, Enriched Ag developed a set of digital applications relating to rangeland management for the livestock industry. These involve five areas of monitoring and analysis: Conservation and soil health, forage production, invasive plant species, animal health and wellbeing, and infrastructure.
The Enriched Ag system includes ranch-level, data-driven insights based on satellite imaging, machine learning and predictive modeling. A producer can go on the Enriched Ag website and identify a tract of land to learn related data.
The company offers a program called Enriched Ag Vision, in which a high resolution camera is attached to the producer’s utility vehicle, truck, or tractor. The camera collects images while the producer works, and the images are uploaded for the producer and analyzed for key data points.
A second program is called Enriched Ag RealTime, which provides ongoing ranch monitoring using all the Enriched Ag tools. This utilizes satellite Internet for connectivity, Enriched Ag Vision for constant visual monitoring, and a dedicated tablet with a customized dashboard offering insights, imagery and operations plus weather and safety alerts.
Then, using map-based tagging, intelligent images and more, the program creates automated reports for the producers.
It’s a high-tech, yet easy-to-use tool for farmers and ranchers. Enriched Ag is partnering with a number of research organizations, such as the Noble Research Institute, and leading universities, including K-State.
These programs can help a rancher determine projected forage height, plant biodiversity, and more. The data can help project optimal pasture recovery times, stocking recommendations, tracking of bare ground, and even sequestered carbon estimates.
The monitoring process can help detect sick animals, broken fences, and types and projected availability of forage.
“It can help ranchers with their grazing management plans and save on hay costs, for example,” Wagner said. “We want to make rangeland management easier and more profitable.”
Enriched Ag is serving customers all over the nation, mostly in the middle and western parts. The company’s employees work remotely across the country and in Canada. Wagner works from her home in the rural community of Phillipsburg, population 2,255 people. Now, that’s rural.
“No other company is doing exactly this type of work,” Wagner said.
For more information, see www.enriched.ag.
What type of tools does a rancher use? In addition to trucks, tractors, and working chutes, now there are more tools available: The high-tech tools of imaging and artificial intelligence.
We commend Katie Wagner and all those involved with Enriched Ag for making a difference with these innovations. They are pioneering innovative tools of technology.
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Photo: Katie Wagner (bottom row, far right) and the staff of Enriched Ag.
Ron Wilson is the director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
