Tanner Bilinski

From tracking feed usage to generating accurate custom feeding bills, Tanner Bilinski of TNT Cattle near Weedsport, New York, says Performance Beef has become a must-have. The software simplifies everyday chores and brings clarity to his cattle feeding operation. 

Founded in 2015 by Tanner, his father, Steve, his brother, Tucker, and his cousin, David, TNT Cattle operates a multifaceted feeding operation. Managing roughly 150 cattle and custom feeding another 250 to 300 head. In addition to feeding cattle, the family grows row crops on a few hundred acres.

Human error

Before adopting Performance Beef, Tanner and his team relied heavily on manual methods. Rations were calculated by hand and feed management was managed through a combination of paper records and manual calculations. 

“The nutritionist would come back with the rations on sheets, on what needs to get fed,” Tanner recalls. “And then we would do the math, pounds per head, on a piece of paper, write it down and keep it in the loader so we'd know what to load and it would all be on paper. And you would always be doing math."

"The problem with pen and paper is there is always room for human error," he recalls. 

Transitioning to Performance Beef marked a significant turning point. Tanner first heard about the software through a Facebook group focused on cattle feeding, stockers and cow-calves where many of his peers praised its benefits. Skeptical at first, Tanner was pleasantly surprised by its efficiency and ease of use. 

Organization drives profitability

With Performance Beef, Tanner can track the exact amount of feed used down to the pound, eliminating second-guessing and improving billing accuracy — especially for custom-fed cattle.

“When you know what each pen ate and the feed cost per pound, you can create bills with confidence,” Tanner says. “You’re not scrambling through paperwork or trying to remember numbers from a week ago.”

That kind of organization, he says, has been key to improving overall profitability.

Precision makes all the difference 

This ability to avoid human error and pivot in unprecedented situations allows for unmatched precision and organization. This is allows TNT Cattle to function efficiently. 

“When you see everything that's going into the cattle that's precise, that's worth its weight in gold right there,” Tanner says.

This precision is thanks to the organization that come with using Performance Beef. Eliminating the mess that comes with manual records gives Tanner a clearer picture of what is actually happening in the operation.

Tanner adds to this point by noting, “The organization is key to, I believe, any successful operation. With Performance Beef you can stay so much more organized. And it all ties into itself really, as far as the profitability, the organization. It's all right there for you with minimal effort, versus you having to take a lot of time to keep stuff organized. And on a cattle-feeding operation, time and organization, it's either going to cost you a lot of money or it's not going to happen period.”

A tool that exceeded expectations  

Tanner admits he was skeptical at first. He thought Performance Beef might be more suited to larger Midwest feedlots and didn’t see how it would apply to his operation. That changed quickly.

“I thought it was just another tech trend,” he says. “But it’s one of the most efficient tools I’ve used. It makes everything easier and that’s worth its weight in gold.”

Today, Tanner recommends Performance Beef not just for large operations, but for those like his — small to mid-sized feeders who are balancing daily chores, bills and razor-thin margins.

“Organization is the key to any successful operation,” he says. “With Performance Beef, everything ties together: time, money, efficiency. It’s all there and it works.”