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🇺🇸 SunFed Ranch: Using Technology To Increase Transparency And Build Trust

Woodland, CA

black cattle

SunFed Ranch

Location Woodland, CA
Operation type Cow-Calf and Stocker

Goals

Ensure a sustainable future

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Work more efficiently

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Build my bottom line

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SunFed Ranch was founded by two families, the Donatis and Byrnes. Between them, they have more than two centuries of experience ranching in northern California. Today, they aim to raise cattle as nature intended, roaming hundreds of thousands of acres of ranch land, free from added hormones, antibiotics, or the confinement of a feedlot.

It’s a philosophy that the wider public is catching onto. “More and more, consumers care about where their animal has been born, how it’s been handled, and what it’s raised on,” says Lori Conrow, SunFed Ranch’s Director of Ranching Operations.

Sharing SunFed’s story is a lot easier, thanks to AgriWebb’s livestock business management platform. Livestock records can be made on a cell phone, in the field, as cattle are moved, or treatments are made. It means accurate, up-to-date records for streamlined management and greater transparency.

“AgriWebb has really helped out, because we can be super confident about the traceability of our cattle. Being able to prove that opens up options for where you can market your animal, which also opens up pricing.”

Lori Conrow Director of Ranching Operations, SunFed Ranch

Audits are a breeze with AgriWebb

SunFed Ranch’s management practices mean they can join a range of value-added programs that help them receive a premium for their cattle. These include being GAP 4 certified, Certified Humane, source and age verified, and being in a non-GMO program and a Non-Hormone Treated Cattle (NHTC) program.

Many ranchers balk at joining such programs, fearing the red tape involved. It’s a problem that’s in Lori’s rearview mirror. “We actually had a full-time employee who did nothing but compliance, and we didn’t have half of the certificates we have today. AgriWebb made it where we could do a lot more at the ranch level. We no longer have that employee and operate on a much larger scale.”

Using AgriWebb, painstaking office work collating livestock records is a thing of the past. When an inspector shows up for a particular program, Lori can pull up a report showing the history of relevant animals at the press of a button. The most recent audit was with Savory, supporting SunFed’s regenerative agriculture practices.

“With Savory, we could pull up any pasture and tell them how many animals had been there and when they last left, or show what our expected RDM would be. It was awesome.”

Management gains across the farm

AgriWebb’s livestock business management platform offers benefits beyond reporting for value-added programs. It increases efficiency across the ranch and enables data-backed decisions in day-to-day operations.

Cricket Eaton manages SunFed’s Dye Creek Ranch, one of 13 leases under the company’s management. “When we get new cattle to process, they get a ranch brand, a visual ID coded to the ranch they came from, and they are added to AgriWebb,” Cricket explains.

The lightest cattle graze farthest away from headquarters, while heavier cattle close to market are kept near. “Out in the pasture on horseback, I’ve got my cell phone and it’s easy to look at a steer, pull up his visual, and see how much he weighs and what his last daily average gain was, and what the projected weight is,” Cricket says. “That is the most important feature to me; I can see they’re getting closer to the market and bring them in toward headquarters.”

Cricket believes that technology, and AgriWebb in particular, is a valuable tool for modern ranchers.

“It’s an easy program that everybody can use on their cell phones and it’s easy to implement and follow your cattle,” she says. “I think that ranchers need to embrace modern technology because it’s all headed that way.”

Cricket Eaton Ranch Manager, Dye Creek Ranch

Ready to see how AgriWebb can help you get more done, faster, or even prepare and pass audits with ease, like Lori with SunFed Ranch? Click here to contact a member of our team.

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