Bivalve Bites: Tune In to This Farm Tech
BIVALVE BITES: EASILY DIGESTIBLE OYSTER AQUACULTURE NEWS
Whether you know it or not, you’re routinely using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. RFID is a form of wireless communication using radio frequency that can uniquely identify an object, person or animal. It enables your credit card, your hotel room card key and multiple other aspects of modern life to function.
Cypress Point Oysters in Florida is using RFID tags to manage its farming operations more efficiently and to add more compelling info to its sales efforts. Dewey Houck, co-owner of Cypress Point with his wife Jody, explains how and why they’re putting RFID to work for them.
OS: Explain the RFID you’re using on your farm.
Dewey: We’re using tags that contain antenna that don’t need a source of power, so no battery or anything. These tags deliver different data to a receiver, which is powered. We’re using what’s called NFC, near field communication, so we have to be very close to the tag to read it. But some forms of RFID can deliver data long distances.
OS: How are you using the technology on your farm?
Dewey: We use it in two ways. One, we use RFID to manage inventory and track growth. We do individual floating bags on a line on our farm, and every bag has a RFID tag in it. That means we can track the size of the oysters in the bag and the number of oysters in each bag by reading the weight data we get from the tag. We know which bags are empty, half-full or completely full by the weight. So, when we get ready to split bags, we know the best way to do that. It makes us very efficient. And we’ve been doing this since the beginning.
Also, in our effort to support seafood traceability, we include RFID tags in our bags of processed oysters that go to restaurants. This allows us to share some great information with chefs and restaurant owners. We write a message on the tag, letting the them know they can scan the tag and find out exactly where that bag of oysters came from, how long they’ve been out of the water, how many times they were tumbled, notes on their specific flavor profile, even our pairing suggestions.
We’ve found that chefs love it. It helps us engage them and helps them engage their customers and drive sales. When you’re charging $4 an oyster, you need a good story to help sell it. The most important piece of data in these tags the salinity; this allows chefs to confidently write tasting notes. It really arms chefs and FOH staff to sell these premium oysters to their guests.
OS: What motivated you to do this?
Dewey: When we decided to get into oyster farming, we knew we needed a data model for our farm. One, to answer the question, “How many oysters of which size do you have at any given moment?”. Two, “How does that picture change in two weeks, in a month?” and so on. We wanted to answer those questions so we could make a good plan on when to tumble and when to harvest.
We looked at the software available to do that, and there are a few things out there, but none of them did exactly what we wanted. We needed enough data to train an AI [artificial intelligence] engine to predict growth. So, we built our own. But we had to get the info from the farm into the software. When you are working your farm, you don’t want to take your gloves off to type info into a software interface. I had worked with RFID tags in my previous life, so I knew that if I put a RFID tag on a bag, I could use it as a trigger for activating a scale to weigh the bag; I knew that would be quicker and easier. We built the hardware and software for this before we ever put oysters in the water, which was in 2019, so we have collected data on every oyster we’ve grown.
“So, the idea is organizing and optimizing labor. If you can do that in terms of all the farm’s workload and therefor, touch each oyster less, you increase your gross margin. For any farm, optimization and cost reduction is a huge benefit.”
OS: What are the long-term benefits of what you’re doing and what you’re learning about it?
Dewey: For the industry, we see this as being akin to precision ag for aquaculture. We’d like this method to be a farmer’s almanac. If we can provide info to help other growers be more efficient, they can make more money, and the industry grows. That’s good for everyone.
Right now, a problem I see on oyster farms is, if you are not organized, you get behind, and then the farmer throws his arms up and says, “Why am I not making any money?” The answer is labor; that’s the biggest cost on a farm. Let’s say every time you go out and tumble, you add a nickel to your labor costs. You do that eight times, that's 40 cents. Also, if your oysters grow too fast, they get too big, they get barnacle-encrusted and ugly. That takes away from their appeal.
So, the idea is organizing and optimizing labor. If you can do that in terms of all the farm’s workload and therefor, touch each oyster less, you increase your gross margin. For any farm, optimization and cost reduction is a huge benefit.
OS: Can other farms implement this model?
Dewey: We’re already using this info to help the two farms who process with us, and it’s helping them. But that’s the big question, is this data transferable? Would it work in the Chesapeake Bay? One of Dr. Bill Walton’s Ph.D. grad students is doing his thesis on this; he’s staying with us for six weeks this summer to test this method to see how well it works.
OS: Does it require a technical background or is there a steep learning curve?
Dewey: No. That was part of the idea. We wanted to create a methodology, not just for us, but one that made growing oysters a real paint-by-numbers situation. It takes a long time to learn about growing oysters even when you are doing it hands-on. It can take just as long to teach it to someone else.
But this way, we know which bags need to be divided, tumbled or harvested and when. We have data that tell us that. So, the work is structured and repeatable in a scalable way.
OS: What are the challenges?
Dewey: Well, salt water doesn’t like RFID tags, so finding one that works well in an oyster bag for a long time is the thing we’ve got to figure out now. If they have to be constantly replaced, it could make this too expensive. We’re talking about maybe designing our own and printing them on with 3D printer. We’re also working on recycling the plastic from oyster basket floats and using that to make tags.