Bridging the gap between cattle producers and cattle data, genetics and EPD’s is the goal for Leoma Donsbach, owner and founder of Data Genie. However, this hasn’t always been the case.

Born and raised in the foothills of California, Leoma grew up involved in agriculture through her parents’ feed store and their 160-acre family property. This upbringing grew her interest in agriculture and livestock, leading her to pursue a large animal veterinary path. Her decision was based on a pure love for the animals she grew up interacting with on their family land.

“When you grow up with animals, you learn to love animals,” Leoma said.

She continued to pursue this love at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on the pre-vet track. During that time, she was a member of the animal units program and lived on site. This was not only a huge cost savings but provided the opportunity for great hands-on experience. She was originally placed in the sheep unit, where she learned about rangeland management and how the land works with producers.

“If you take care of the soil and the grass, they’ll take care of you on the backside,” Leoma reflected.

Following this experience, Leoma was placed in the beef unit and used her rangeland management knowledge to grow her ability to manage cattle and the land they utilize. However, the beef unit also helped Leoma find and expand her passion for animal breeding and genetics which gave her the insight to switch from the pre-vet track to cattle genetics, and she soon accepted a job at the American Simmental Association in Montana.

Although this was originally intended to be only a year-long experience, Leoma has now been in Montana for 20 years and has continued to grow her love of all parts of cattle production. She developed new skills as she worked with producers toward genetic goals, pedigree and data management, and found a need in the cattle industry.

“It was during my 12 years at the American Simmental Association that I recognized the need and the gap in the cattle industry between academia and producers,” said Leoma.

This led her to found Data Genie in 2015, a cattle producer’s tool for all things data, genetics and pedigrees. Set to bridge the gap between science and everyday ranching while maximizing the data and the management of said data to better understand cattle performance and leverage it for producer success.

“I found the gap was not typically in the quality of data being received. It was in the transition of data from the farm to the evaluation and application of the data,” said Leoma. 

She continued building Data Genie by gaining experience and working with Allied Genetic Resources and Neogen on the genomic part of the business. Leoma made it a priority not to reinvent how the industry was doing things, but instead bring producers and industry individuals together, building collaborative solutions that led to success. She has been working fulltime at Data Genie since 2022 while also running a commercial cow-calf operation, Donsbach Ranch, with her husband, Kirk Donsbach, in central Montana, allowing her to apply her scientific work to her own daily practices.

“We operate a commercial SimAngus cow herd managed in two distinct breeding groups: maternal and terminal. This approach allows us to select complimentary bulls for each group based on their specific purpose and the needs of our females,” said Leoma.

She is excited for the future and believes the cattle industry is more coordinated and collaborative than ever. She encourages her fellow producers to seek what is best for their individual operation by asking two simple questions:

1. How can we capitalize on the information that’s being translated to us to make more informed decisions moving forward?

2. How can we produce more with less as resources could be slim in the future?

Leoma continues her expansion of cattle genetics data and her efforts with Data Genie while maintaining her and her family’s cow-calf operation using intentional decisions to maximize opportunities.