Weigh to go

A cluster group consisting of three grazing properties is trialling the Optiweigh weighing system as a grazing land management tool. 

They will share their insights and results next year, once they have completed the trial and the outcomes can be compared. A field day will also be held to present the findings to the broader grazing community.

The Optiweigh (pictured) is a simple, in-paddock weighing system that attracts cattle with a molasses or dry lick tub. As cattle enter, their NLIS (National Livestock Identification System) tag is scanned and their weight is recorded. 

Each day, the system sends a weight gain or loss report via email or app based on the previous day’s data. In contrast, collecting similar data manually — by weighing cattle monthly — would require four rounds of mustering and yard work across six months, making it time-consuming and labour-intensive.

Optiweigh provides producers with real-time, valuable data for herd management decisions, and is now being trialled as a tool to support grazing land management (GLM). Graziers in the Burdekin are using Optiweigh to help guide rotational grazing decisions. 

While graziers typically rely on forage budgeting tools (e.g., RCS, Dick Richardson, Nature’s Equity, and Department of Primary Industries methods), grazing plans, animal gut fill, and dung assessments to determine when to move cattle, Glenalpine Station now incorporates daily Optiweigh reports into this decision-making after trialling the system.

For example, if herd weight gain plateaus or turns negative, cattle are moved to fresh pasture. This maintains weight gain on an upward trajectory and allows previously grazed paddocks to recover.

Graziers like Barry O’Sullivan, Glenalpine Station, report that the Optiweigh data often prompts earlier paddock moves and rest periods than traditional assessments suggest.

A machine could not judge cattle condition better than an experienced grazier, could it?

Glenalpine grazier Barry O’Sullivan knew cattle, knew pasture, and knew when his mob needed to move to keep gaining weight — or so he thought.

When he installed a newly purchased in-paddock weighing system, the Optiweigh, and noticed its weight gain graph plateauing while the cattle still looked good to his eye, he initially doubted the data. But it didn’t take long for him to realise the Optiweigh was right. Less than a month after setting it up with his 1000-head herd of trade steers, he was shifting them at the right time — every time — and the steers were gaining weight steadily through to the saleyards.

“I was leaving them in the same paddock too long,” he admitted. “Using the Optiweigh data as a guide, we got them to market a couple of months earlier than usual.”

Impressed by the impact of the data on his operation, Mr O’Sullivan approached NQ Dry Tropics to help share the benefits with other graziers. He worked with Senior Grazing Field Officer Tristan Gibson to design a project that would give other producers a chance to get hands-on experience with the Optiweigh system.

They believe that letting graziers interact directly with the tool will lead to the same realisation Mr O’Sullivan had — that cattle often need to be moved to fresh pasture sooner than traditional indicators suggest.