Tracy Buyer

Time and flexibility are valuable commodities in any operation. On the Bar JB Ranch, a fifth-generation ranch and feedlot that relocated from Alberta to southeast Saskatchewan, Canada, in 2011, adopting new technologies has provided more of both.

Tracy Buyer and her husband, Cam, employ eight full-time and a few seasonal workers on their ranch and feedlot. Their operation includes 850 commercial cows and a mid-sized backgrounding yard, where they background about 10,000 calves annually with the occasional pen of fat cattle. Recently, they have started expanding their operation to include year-round calving for both recipient and commercial bred heifers.

Family affair

The couple instilled a passion for the cattle industry in their two adult sons, Eric and Tyson. Eric, when not busy on his own cow/calf operation, works in the nutrition and commodity procurement side of the feedlot. Tyson provides veterinary support from his large animal practice just a short drive away.

Tracy’s role has evolved over the years, from more hands-on, day-to-day cattle management to full-time administrative responsibilities. In 2020, Bar JB Ranch built an office in a mezzanine above the processing area that overlooks the processing facilities, shipping/receiving area and Feedyard.

“This has allowed me to be fully engaged with all areas of the feedlot from intake, processing and treatments, to watching cattle liners arrive and unload or watching the cattle ship out,” Tracy explains.

When she’s not busy in the office, Tracy serves field meals during silage and harvest season and volunteers at her church as a music and worship coordinator. She belongs to a Women in Ag Peer Group and participates in volunteer advisory panel for the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources panel. However, Tracy most enjoys any time she is able to spend with their two young granddaughters.

The freedom in flexibility

The technology the ranch uses has also evolved. The Buyers had previously tried two other software programs before landing on Performance Beef. The other programs required a physical feed sheet and daily data entry. This was time-consuming and mundane and tied Tracy to the operation every day.

“Being self-employed offers great flexibility during certain seasons, however, it can be a challenge during the other seasons. We added newer technology, such as Performance Beef, that has allowed even more flexibility,” says Tracy.

From pad of paper to iPad®

In addition to digitizing the “feed sheet”, Performance Beef records commodity usage in real-time. The easy-to-use software makes capturing feed records a breeze for Bar JB Ranch feed truck operators and eliminates additional entry for Tracy at a later date. 

“We now have a very accurate accounting of exactly what is being fed to each pen,” Tracy says. “This allows much more accurate billing for our clients as well as tracking of our feed commodities.”

Recently, Tracy and the team began using the health management side of Performance Beef to track animal health records and costs. She was impressed by how helpful the information was and how simple it made herd health management. The data syncs directly from their RFID tag reader and scale, making it easily accessible to all employees.

“Not only has this simplified the intake process, but it’s also taken the task of uploading all RFID tags, daily treatments, and processing off my desk,” Tracy explains. “Overall, this has saved hours of administrative work and made month-end billing much more efficient.”

With her background in office management, Tracy is always looking for ways to streamline administrative tasks and keep pace with the digital evolution in the cattle industry.

“Performance Beef has been invaluable in that process for us,” she says. “Of course, every feedlot or ranch has different software needs, specific to their operation. The staff at Performance Beef have been more than accommodating—helping me adapt certain functions to fit our workflow. They answer my calls promptly and politely, with a sincere desire to help.”