Artificial Intelligence: Is It Benefitting Ranchers?

Artificial intelligence is for software companies, right? Not necessarily. Ranchers across the country have found unique methods to responsibly integrate artificial intelligence into their daily and seasonal ranch decisions. But like any tool, how are ranchers supposed to know if it’s the right fit? 

“It’s not going to be for everyone,” explains Haley Potter. “Where it really works is when you need help with information gathering, admin, or researching.” 

Potter is a member of the Ambrook team who works in product operations. In addition to her role at Ambrook, Potter, her husband and their daughters spend half the year on his family’s operation near Dell, MT and their summers at a remote cow camp near Alder, MT. Potter also comes from a family with a rich ranching background in western, ND.  

She says, “I like to think about it as a tool that buys you back time.” 

Potter has immense respect for the cowboy lifestyle and more importantly cowboy logic. She believes generational knowledge, common-sense and real experiences should be a part of every decision and artificial intelligence is supplementary. 

“What AI should do is support human thinking and be transparent about how technology works…but people remain responsible for the final decisions,” says Potter. 

AI models are far from perfect. They can make mistakes which is another reason people still need to be able to analyze the data and make the final decision.  

One specific use case Potter uses for their own ranch is sorting through bull EPDs within and across breeds.  

She explains, “I created a skill within Claude, and it will actually have all of the parameters of what my father-in-law is looking for across different breeds, across different sets of EPDs, and then it will kind of surface the bulls we want to look at.”  

Other use cases used by ranchers include creating backend financial dashboards, grazing plan templates and even total ranch dashboards to measure rainfall and biosecurity threats. 

Of course, AI is for ranch software companies too. Ambrook for example is an accounting and bookkeeping software for independent companies that uses AI to make data entry and upkeep faster.  Ambrook also takes pride in approaching AI responsibly. 

 “We prioritize solutions that are going to save you time, improve your profitability and reduce stress,” explains Potter. “We are using AI to create easier repetitive workflows, like I mentioned, where it's going to save you time.” 

Easier workflows mean cleaner data entry, which equals more valuable data to ranchers.  

Potter says, “Your data is only as clean as the entry. So I always tell people the data you collect should hopefully eventually answer the questions that you have about your business.” 

Data privacy is one component of this conversation that can’t be overlooked. Ranchers should be aware of how AI is being used within software and who has permission to see and use their data once it is entered.  

“You really want to make sure that you're only connecting to services you know and trust,” says Potter. “And it should be a non-negotiable that they are only acting on your data with your approval.” 

The AI conversation is both important and exciting to have at ranch and industry levels. When used responsibly, it can be a gamechanger for ranchers of all ages when used appropriately.  

“AI really needs to serve a need that you already have and not the other way around,” says Potter. “It needs to meet you where you're at.” 

Listen to the full conversation on the Casual Cattle Conversations podcast.