Australia’s beef industry now has the power to unlock new insights from all the data it collects, thanks to a just-completed two-year project between the QUT Centre for Data Science (CDS) and Black Box Co.
Black Box Co. is a Queensland start-up launched in 2020 by Shannon Speight and Emma Black. Their aim was to help the beef industry make sense of all the data it collects. To help do that, Black Box Co co-funded a Postdoctoral Research program with CDS under the supervision of Professor Moe Thandar Wynn. QUT’s Dr Ishara Kalpani Duwalage undertook the research for the project.
“One significant challenge was the complex nature and wide variety of data being collected by the beef industry. There was data collected from over one-million cattle,” says Ishara.
The initial project focussed on advancing statistical and machine-learning methods in the domains of cattle production. The key areas considered were production (grass-fed cattle, grain-fed cattle) and reproduction of cattle.
“For example, the initial study in the project aimed to create statistical and machine-learning models for predicting the carcass weight of grass-fed and grain-fed cattle,” says Ishara.
“These forecasts assist in pinpointing suitable markets for cattle, predicting cash flow, scheduling management practices effectively, meeting customer orders promptly, and reducing unnecessary paddock costs.”
Additionally, the project also considered environmental factors such as temperature and rainfall.
One key aspect that the project looked to tackle involved cattle fertility.
“We showed how farm-level data could be used for predicting the conception times of beef heifers and the subsequent re-conception times of first-lactation cows,” says Ishara.
Some of the benefits of the predictive models in this area included identifying productive cows and reducing unnecessary pregnancy scanning costs.
These investigations into beef production and cattle reproduction showed just some of the potential that there is for this type of research. Ishara says the industry has shown a real openness for embracing data science and analytics.
“The willingness of beef producers and stakeholders to adopt these innovative approaches was a testament to their commitment to progress and sustainability,” says Ishara.
“This research project represents a significant leap forward, positioning the Australian beef industry to thrive in an increasingly data-centric and competitive landscape.”
The QUT Centre for Data Science team also says the partnership with Black Box Co has been invaluable.
“From a research perspective, working on real-world problems like the ones presented by Black Box allowed us to develop new and cutting-edge data science and analytical techniques. These new techniques will then help Black Box with the tools it provides the beef industry to help producers tackle their data challenges,” says Ishara.
The project team included:
From QUT Centre for Data Science
- Dr Kalpani Ishara Duwalage
- Prof. Moe Wynn
- D/Prof. Kerrie Mengersen
- Prof. Dale Nyholt
- A/Prof. Dimitri Perrin
From Black Box Co:
- Shannon Speight
- Emma Black
- Federic Robert