Australian cattle producers and researchers are under increasing pressure to lift productivity, manage costs and respond to growing scrutiny around emissions.
Feed remains the single biggest cost in most cattle operations, but the real opportunity lies in understanding which animals turn feed into weight and profit and how emissions fit into that equation.
That’s where C-Lock Australia’s integrated suite of SmartFeed, SmartScale, SmartWater and GreenFeed systems is changing the way performance is measured.
By capturing individual animal data on intake, growth, water use and methane emissions, producers and researchers are gaining insights that were once limited to intensive research facilities. Now, they’re being collected in commercial paddocks and feedlots, without disrupting normal cattle behaviour.
SmartFeed: Turning Intake Data into Better Decisions
SmartFeed provides accurate, automated measurement of individual feed intake using RFID-enabled feeding stations. It records how much each animal eats, how often it eats and how feeding behaviour changes over time.
This information quickly highlights variation between animals that often looks invisible in the paddock. Two animals on the same ration can differ markedly in intake and conversion efficiency. For producers, SmartFeed supports practical nutrition and diet evaluation, helping assess ration performance, supplement value and responses to feed changes.
For researchers, SmartFeed delivers high-quality intake data that underpins genetic evaluations and nutrition trials, providing confidence that performance differences are real and repeatable.
SmartScale and SmartWater: Performance Without Added Labour
SmartScale adds the next critical layer – frequent, low-labour weight measurement. Installed in-paddock, the system records liveweight as animals move naturally to water. This allows producers to track growth trends, daily weight gain and responses to management changes without mustering or yard work.
SmartWater monitors individual and group water consumption in real time. Changes in drinking behaviour are often one of the earliest indicators of health or stress issues, appearing well before visual symptoms. When water data is viewed alongside intake and weight gain, it provides valuable context for understanding performance fluctuations, particularly during heat events or ration transitions.
Together, SmartFeed, SmartScale and SmartWater move producers beyond averages and assumptions, delivering data-backed evidence of how animals are actually performing.
GreenFeed: Linking Productivity and Emissions
GreenFeed brings methane emissions measurement into the same performance framework. Using a baited feeding station, the system measures methane output during natural feeding visits, allowing emissions to be recorded on an individual-animal basis.
When emissions data is combined with intake and weight gain, producers and researchers can quantify emissions intensity not just total emissions. This makes it possible to identify cattle that produce more beef with fewer emissions per kilogram of gain, and to track how emissions change in response to diet, genetics or feed additives.
For research programs, this integrated approach supports robust evaluation of low-emissions strategies under commercial conditions. For producers, it provides credible, data-backed evidence of animal productivity and environmental performance.
From Data to Solutions
Individually, each C-Lock system answers an important question. Combined, they deliver practical solutions that support confident decision-making, including:
- Clearer breeding and genetic selection decisions, based on measured feed efficiency, growth and emissions performance
- Nutrition and diet evaluations that show what actually improves intake, gain and efficiency
- Objective proof of animal productivity, rather than visual assessment alone
- Data-backed animal performance records that support selection of high-performing, lower-emitting cattle
- Research-grade measurements applied in commercial settings
By integrating intake, weight, water and emissions data, C-Lock’s full suite gives producers and researchers a complete, objective view of how cattle perform and how to improve that performance over time.
As the industry moves toward greater accountability around efficiency and emissions, tools that translate measurement into meaningful decisions will become increasingly valuable. C-Lock is helping producers do exactly that: turning data into action, and performance into profit while supporting a lower emissions future for Australian beef.
For more information on C-Lock and our products, please reach out!
Collin Kramer – Marketing Manager
(605) 791-5657