August 2025 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN 17 ket, but The Combine provided them with many resources, including financing, legal help and IT. “Our testing service gives cattle owners quick, easy-to-understand genetic information that helps them manage specific health risks,” Petrik explains. “It equips them with data to make informed, performance-related decisions whether they’re buying, selling or retaining certain animals. They can use it for breeding selection, precision breeding and in feedlots to sort and manage animals, especially those that might be high risk.” Petrik explains that, while genetic testing certainly isn’t new technology, the use of this test for producers who live in or sell animals in higher elevations can have an affordable and quicker result than the less reliable pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) test. “The PAP test varies with the age of the animal, the elevation they’re raised at and their overall health,” Petrik says. “A genetic test improves on those because you can test that same animal at any point in their life, from birth to death, and the genetic information remains the same, regardless of what elevation you take it to or the current health of the animal.” The Bullseye GX technology is bringing producers into a new era of information to help them make decisions to improve the management, breeding and care of their animals and empowering them to reduce disease risk. “Heart failure is our primary focus at the moment. If we do our job, we could potentially breed out this genetic mutation entirely, which would be a huge win for the industry,” Petrik says. “We’re always looking ahead not only at what technology we can use to improve testing and reduce costs, but also at identifying the next breakthrough test that will add value to the industry.” RETHINKING CATTLE OVERSIGHT WITH AI Another incubator resident at The Combine is BovEye, which uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence-enabled (AI) computer vision models to automate inventory inspections for cattle in feedyards or on rangeland. “Really at a high level, we focus on using AI and machine learning to help augment and support the human eye and agriculture, specifically livestock production,” says Andrew Minarick, BovEye founder and CEO. “There’s a lot of complexity in these dynamic systems involving cattle; there are a lot of variables that can be really difficult to observe with the human eye, whether you’re looking at an animal or whether you’re looking at a large data performance set.” No matter if that data is visual data or structured data like Excel databases, BovEye uses AI to enhance livestock production efficiency by building custom machine-learning models that forecast performance more accurately than traditional methods. CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 1/2 page horizontal Nebraska Cattleman August 2025 1009 W US Hwy 6 • Holdrege, NE 68949 | 308-995-9565 | www.holdregeequipment.com DON’T LET THE COWS GO HUNGRY! JAYLOR 2000 SERIES COMMERCIAL RIBBON AUGER TMR MIXER BUT WHEN THEY’RE DONE, DON’T LET IT PILE UP ON YOU! MEYER CROP PRO COMMERCIAL MANURE SPREADER NEED HELP WITH YOUR HERD? CALL HOLDREGE EQUIPMENT TODAY! WE HANDLE BOTH ENDS OF THE BUSINESS!
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