From Lesions To Logic: Introducing The BoviSmart® App For Smarter Beef Production

It focuses on three critical organ systems: 

• the liver
• the rumen
• the lungs

The app provides real-time feedback on cattle health, management practices and productivity risks. 

Why slaughterhouse lesion monitoring matters

Slaughterhouse inspections offer a unique opportunity to assess subclinical conditions that often go undetected on farm. These lesions are not just pathological findings, they are performance indicators, management feedback tools, and predictors of economic loss. 

Liver lesions

Liver abscesses, often caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum following ruminal acidosis, affect up to 32% of feedlot cattle. These lesions reduce feed efficiency, carcass weight and marbling, and are responsible for significant economic losses due to liver condemnations and reduced growth performance (Nagaraja and Lechtenberg, 2007; Brown et al., 2018). 

Rumen lesions

Rumenitis, parakeratosis, and ulcers are signs of chronic digestive disorders linked to high-concentrate diets and subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA). These lesions compromise nutrient absorption and increase the risk of systemic infections, including liver abscesses (Plaizier et al., 2018; Owens et al., 1998). 

Lung lesions

Lesions from bovine respiratory disease (BRD), including pneumonia, pleuritis, and abscesses, are often subclinical yet significantly reduce average daily gain (ADG), carcass quality, and market value. Even mild lung lesions can result in $45 per head in lost carcass value and up to a 0.5 kg/day reduction in ADG (Griffin, 2014; Holland et al., 2010). 

Why integrating all three lesions matters

According to Rezac et al. (2014), the combined evaluation of liver, rumen, and lung lesions at slaughter provides a more complete picture of cattle health and management outcomes than any single organ assessment. Their study demonstrated: 

• Strong correlations between rumen damage and liver abscess severity, confirming the digestive-respiratory-health axis.
• Cattle with multiple organ lesions showed significantly lower performance metrics (ADG, carcass weight, feed efficiency). 
• Integrated scoring enables batch-level benchmarking, revealing systemic issues in feed, housing, or health protocols. 

This holistic approach allows producers and veterinarians to move from reactive treatment to proactive prevention, using lesion data to guide nutritional adjustments, health interventions, and management improvements. 

What the BoviSmart® app delivers

• Digital scoring of liver, rumen and lung lesions using validated systems (e.g., Texas A&M, Rezac et al., ROCAN Mexico, Prozesky South Africa)
• User-friendly dashboards for veterinarians, nutritionists and producers
• Global benchmarking across countries
• Expert panel validation with recommendations for continuous improvement
• Data aggregation for meaningful insights and conclusions

Next steps

The BoviSmart® app is now available for rollout in the US, Mexico and South Africa. Training and onboarding support will be provided to slaughterhouse teams and veterinary partners. Future versions will expand to additional markets and will include: 

• Predictive modeling to identify risk patterns and guide interventions
• Expert panel validation and recommendations for continuous improvement

Let's turn lesion data into decisions - and decisions into healthier, more profitable cattle. 

From post-mortem lesions to logic: use the BoviSmart® app for smarter beef production.