Data – simple answer but what’s the question?

The challenges and opportunities of data use in the livestock sector

By Lilian Schaer for Livestock Research Innovation Corporation

There is arguably more data being collected everywhere all the time than ever before in human history, including in the agri-food sector. How to best collect, manage, govern, and use that data are questions still in search of answers, however. 
Livestock Research Innovation Corporation (LRIC) tackled that topic in its most recent Horizon Series webinar, with CEO Mike McMorris hosting a moderated panel discussion with two experts in the field. 

Dr. Karen Hand is founder and president of Precision Strategic Solutions, a biostatistician with an extensive animal health background and former director of research data strategy with Food From Thought at the University of Guelph. Dr. Martin Gooch, CEO and partner of Value Chain Management International Inc., is a respected expert in value chains and food waste and an adjunct professor at the College of Management and Economics at the University of Guelph. 

Farmers collect data for two reasons – they want to or they have to. How do you see the balance between “want to” versus “have to” evolving across the different sectors of the livestock industry? 

Hand: That’s an important question but not an easy answer. There is a lot of tension between those who want access to the data and those who are driving the collection of the data. Digital transformation increased the ability for us to interconnect with machines and others through digital technology. It’s really driving the digital economy but on the other side, the tension between the two groups is becoming bigger and technology is really being driven by big data companies. We don’t have a comprehensive strategy that looks at how to balance this tension or how to do so properly and in a way that is fair to all of those sharing that data. 

Gooch: There is too much big business driving this whole discussion. What we need is a better understanding of how agriculture can use data, starting with why agriculture needs data, what data, and how that data will be used. For me, the big difference between want to and have to is that wants is where the real opportunities lie, whereas have to is about compliance, which everyone needs to do. 

Data seems to be the answer we hear so often, but what is the actual question we are trying to answer or problem we’re trying to solve in the livestock sector? 

Hand: As humans, we have the magpie effect. We like shiny and new and tend to do that with tech too – think artificial intelligence or block chain. But we don’t really understand the objectives so what we do is let the technology lead the objectives. We need to reverse that and really understand what we need to solve, what data will help us solve it and what format that data must be in. 

Gooch: I’m interested in the relationship between virtual value chains, like technology, data, and information, and physical value chains and how you can use the virtual value chain to drive increased performance in the physical value chain. One thing we haven’t done in the agriculture and food industry is sufficiently marry those two concepts. We are way behind other sectors in using data and IT to drive business decisions and enable better performance. 

Are we making such slow progress in data in livestock due to our market structure, and lack of true value chains? 

Gooch: Value chains come in many forms. It’s about understanding the best technology for your situation and starting by mapping out what information you need to know for what reasons. In large part, we’ve been taken up and consumed by the marketing and PR regarding tech and what it can do for us without understanding how we can or need to use it. 

Hand: What we are also missing is that we don’t consider the human side of technology. A lot of the governance around how the data is used – what is the good data, how should we use it, and what are the rules we need to make sure it’s being used properly – requires human relationships and trust on both sides. 

How do we do some bridging between researchers working in this field and the realities of the marketplace farmers are facing?  

Gooch: For me, it’s about raising awareness and education on both sides of the coin because there are many researchers who aren’t connected to agriculture and don’t understand agriculture. We need to educate both sides so we can have deeper, more meaningful conversations and get to a space where agriculture can take advantage of opportunities that clearly exist. 

Hand: We know producers understand farming and understand their markets, but current data services leave them uncertain of the use of data and ability to use it. We need technology systems that are easy to use and producer-centric but don’t rely on them (producers) having to become an IT expert. 

We are increasingly dividing into two worlds: those that understand IT, capturing data, governance and people at ground level who look at day-to-day decision making. Over the last 20 to 30 years, it’s been getting harder to bridge those two – how would you do it? 

Hand: We need a comprehensive strategy for Canadian agri-food. We lack the leadership to provide that type of governance and oversight, to look at the technologies that will work for the sector as a whole and to respect producers as part of the system and not give their data away to third party aggregators. Producers need to be part of the ecosystem and the governance structure; their voice needs to be heard. In governance, their story is as important if not more than others in the supply chain. When we think about (the United Nations’) Sustainable Development Goals, we see rules coming down in terms of net-zero and we have models that are disconnected to the realities of the farm, and data and science on the farm. 

Gooch: I agree, we don’t have the leadership or the leadership we have aren’t sufficiently knowledgeable of the role data plays, or of the need for farmers to keep ownership of the data. It’s only that leadership that can sufficiently push back against tech firms who are doing their best to market these sparkly solutions that cost a lot of money and at the end of the day don’t provide any value. There is a triangle between infrastructure, process and product and we haven’t connected those three elements. 

What would you do in three steps to get us to the promised land of data that brings value?

Hand: We have an incredible opportunity to realize a Canadian digital strategy and see a cooperative or not-for-profit start with the basics to look at data governance structure and understanding what we need to do. Talk to everyone across the value chain, producers especially. What do we need to answer, where is the data coming from, how is it being generated, what questions do you need answered? In these times of disruptive shocks, we have a lot of converging crises that are really hitting the farm gate hard, so my objective would be to form that cooperative with provincial hubs because it is important to recognize that everybody has different objectives with technologies or questions that need to be answered. 

Gooch: It’s a really exciting challenge but also a seismic challenge. I’m passionate about agriculture and I don’t like seeing agriculture miss an opportunity and that’s what we’re doing in this present state. Strategic foresight and analysis to determine what can we control and how, what can we not control, and what can we influence for the industry’s long-term success and benefit. How do we execute it at the operational level? Then we start talking about individual tech solutions, that’s down the road. 

You say we need a different type of leadership - who should grab the bull by the horns?

Gooch: It’s industry, it’s not government. Government can help create an enabling environment, but it’s industry that needs to take the lead. 

Hand: It is not the role of government. Government doesn’t need to lead this and neither does academia; industry does and I’m also a firm believer in everybody at the table. 

This article is provided by Livestock Research Innovation Corporation as part of its ongoing efforts to report on research developments and outcomes, and issues affecting the Canadian livestock industry.  It was published in the April 11, 2023 issue of Ontario Farmer.