SBIR-STTR Award

While the initial application will be for cattle, the systems developed in this project will be applicable to feeders used for other domestic species including sheep, goats, and domestic hogs. In addition, the systems developed could be used to control gates or other access for animals or objects that are tagged with radio frequency identification systems. This project is designed to increase the economic benefits of specific husbandry practices, improve the competitiveness of U.S. livestock production, enhance the competitiveness of a small, rural employer, and develop a leading technology that is likely to become an industry standard. Quality of life in rural Oklahoma will be enhanced if 3C Cattle Feeders, Inc. can employ more people. 3C Cattle Feeders currently has 12 employees in Mill Creek, Oklahoma. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this phase I SBIR project is to design, develop and test new and improved radio frequency based control systems for cattle creep feeding equipment. This will allow access to the feed only to animals with the appropriate RF ear tag for which the feed is intended so that wildlife, particularly feral hogs and deer, can be excluded from the feed source. The project will result in a marketable and affordable technology to improve the efficiency of feed use in the cattle business. APPROACH: The power to control access to the feed will be supplied by a solar-energy based device so that it can be powered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By using such a control system, the health of domestic species will be improved because incentives for both feral hogs and deer to be near livestock feed sources will be eliminated and the interaction between domestic species and wildlife can be reduced, minimizing the risk of diseases from invasive species. Thus, the protection and safety of the Nations agriculture and food supply can be improved at a nominal cost to the rancher. By leveraging and using commercially available technologies, the project will improve the productivity and quality of cattle

3-C Cattle Feeder, in collaboration with the New Product Development Center [NPDC] at OSU will develop enhanced prototypes to be tested in the field. The doors to the feeder will be controlled by an RFID reader which actuates a motor allowing the feeder doors to open. For safety, the doors are fail-safed using an infrared safety switch to prevent the doors from closing on a cow or calf, while their heads are still in the feeder. These tests will be conducted both at OSU and at several ranch sites in Southern Oklhaoma. Statistical data will be gathered using the new enhanced feeders and non-controlled feeders. These data will be analyzed to determine stistical significance between the enhanced feeders and the control. Part of the Marketing Plan for 3-C Cattle Feeder will build the basic feeder containers and purchase necessary equipment off-the-shelf. This will ultimately make the feeders more economically priced cattle feeders. The last phase of this project will be to begin implementing the marketing/commercialization plan. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this Phase II SBIR project is to develop, optimize and test new and improved radio frequency based control systems for cattle creep feeding equipment. The key technology objectives are: 1. To design and fabricate effective and efficient mechanisms for excluding intrusive species from feed bunks and specifically from creep feeders for calves; 2. To field test the effectiveness of alternative feeders in locations in which the populations of intrusive species are known to be present, statistically analyze data; and 3. To evaluate the costs and benefits of the alternative systems and select a system to be implemented on 3C's creep feeding product line. APPROACH: 3-C Cattle Feeder, in collaboration with the New Product Development Center at Oklahoma State University (OSU)will complete development of an enhanced prototype and a marketing plan, for the new feeder, that will include likely first adopters: an analysis of current dealer performance, identification of dealers that would be particularly desirable to add to the dealer network, an updated competitive analysis at the time of introduction, strategies to differentiate and appeal to the market segments identified, recommendations for an advertising and promotion program, and recommendations for a dealer support program. A specific time-line for product introduction will also be presented as well as a monitoring and measurement system to determine which strategies are working and to gain feedback from customers. The marketing plans will be completed by Dr. Daniel S. Tilley, Associate Director of the NPDC along with Chance Runyan of 3-C Cattle Feeder, inc. 3C will not become an electronics production company. The control box unit for the RFID cattle feeder will be supplied by outside vendors to be determined by a bid process. The RFID panels will also be supplied by outside vendors. 3C does not finance sales. As units are sold, receipts are forthcoming within 30 days. We expect sales of the RFID controlled feeder to expand as the use of RFID tags becomes more common