Tanner Nelson

Tanner Nelson spent a few years away from his family’s ranch, Right On Cattle near Bertrand, Nebraska, after college. He kept a day job even after returning home to work with his dad, Mark, and brother, Jake. He describes the family business as “farmers who added cattle,” explaining they transitioned from commercial to purebred roughly 20 years ago.

As they work to balance crops and cattle, it is important to find technology solutions that everyone can use. Tanner has a unique perspective on technology from his experience with early-stage programs. He works for The Combine, an agtech statewide incubator located on Innovation Campus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

“Simplicity is one of the most important things in software development,” says Tanner. “I use Performance Beef as an example. The software is very easy to use.”

Performance Beef was easy for the Nelsons to implement. Fortunately, Tanner’s dad is also open to using technology and they’re able to help train him. 

“A lot of technology is hindered by usability. It doesn’t work if dad or a hired man can’t be efficient at it,” says Tanner. “We don’t want to lose manpower. We all have different skill sets. Pen and paper are better than a system you can’t use.” 

They use the software a lot for managing feed intake and tracking costs. Performance Beef was designed to make it easy to track feed intake, performance and all costs associated with the herd. 

Carefully managing intake has helped them plan for crops. “It’s easy to run a report and understand the consumption of silage. We use that information for planning out harvest time,” explains Tanner.  

Tanner recommends Performance Beef to others for its ease of use. “You don’t have to have pen and paper, it’s all recorded,” he says. “It’s all in one spot and easy to look at the end of season from your phone, computer or iPad.”