The other day, I was talking to an acquaintance whose father had a cattle ranch many decades ago. She explained that during "branding" time, you learned just how smart those so-called dumb cattle really are. You see, she told me that after you branded a few, the other cattle would start to avoid the branding area as they heard the sounds, and watched the treatment of other members of the herd.
By the time they got down to the last 2-3 they were practically Einstein's, they knew exactly what was going on, and they wanted absolutely no part of it. In fact, one ranch hand had stated, that it would be better to just shoot the last three considering how much trouble they gave them, stating how dangerous it was to try to complete the job.
Well, why not try a different approach and stay safe from an out of control animal that wants to save its hide from being branded? Okay so, I've got an idea here, a new concept that I'd like to run by you. Why not, simply change up the way you do business.
Why not get miniature, very quiet UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to go to those persnickety last few cattle and follow them around and then brand them when they were not expecting it? Or on another note, why not just "chip" the cattle and forget the branding methods of days gone by, that's way old technology anyway. It might make PETA happy, but more importantly it makes everyone's job a little easier.
Even better why not use an MAV (micro air vehicle), small version of a UAV to go chip the animals as they sleep at night. You could have the entire herd half-chipped in a single night, follow up the next day. You'd know which cattle were not chipped because they wouldn't register on your herd counting device, thus, they get chipped next, simple strategy, and a better way to keep track of cattle, or sheople - whoops, pretend I didn't add that last part for the NSA.
In the US we are so very concerned with food safety, meat products and FDA standards for beef. If we had more data, on each cow from cradle to grave, we'd certainly have better guarantees in human food chains, thus protecting the value of our exports, the health of our citizenry, and improving the niceness in the way that we treat our animals, and I bet PETA would definitely agree on that last point. Please consider all this and think on it.
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net
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