My Dad's old paddock book... sufficient for its day. But what are the 'must haves' of livestock systems in the digital era?
By Scott Ferguson
This is branded content for Elynx
After my father's passing a few years ago, my siblings and I sadly sorted through the artifacts of a life well lived. As each item surfaced there were moments of quiet reflection; sometimes tears and occasionally bursts of laughter.
It's a tough but necessary job that faces most of us sooner or later. As we packed boxes and filled bins, we came across the now faint echoes of my parents' early years on their post-war selection in the South Burnett, Queensland.
Much of the memorabilia had to be discarded, but in there along with his old felt hats, the now silent stock whip and a fob watch that stopped ticking twenty years ago, we came across cash books and manuscripts, lease documents and long faded, moth-eaten livestock records.
Each item was reminiscent of a simpler, but no less tough, existence on the land.
My attention was drawn to his stock records. Handwritten, cloth bound 'paddock books' were more than sufficient for the time.
Every line documented the ins and the outs, the calvings and the losses in an era when values were expressed in pounds and shillings and properties exchanged hands for three figures, not seven, eight or even nine.
Occasionally, in my travels around the country I still come across old 'paddock book' keepers but they are now a rare breed. Sadly, the march of technology and the scale of twenty-first century operations means handwritten records are now rarely fit for purpose.
Mandated electronic identification (eID) tag technology, the need to capture weights and performance metrics, increased regulation and licencing requirements demanded rapid, exponential change from an industry that has proven itself up to the task.
Late last century, a new generation of cattle producers made the switch to spreadsheets and exulted in the convenience and ready access to data made possible by digital records.
Dedicated livestock management systems emerged that were transformative, but often clunky. But that was then...
The 'must haves' of livestock management systems in the mid-2020s
These days, I serve Australia's cattle industry through Elynx, one of the country's leading livestock management software providers.
Because of our penetration across all production sectors of the industry, we have developed a clear view of the requirement that today's producers have of their software systems.
When purchasing livestock management software for your operation it's critical to undertake a requirement analysis. Know what you need and ensure the software you are considering will deliver. For example:
- Do you require individual animal management data and records or is mob-based management sufficient?
- Are the production stages required by your operation, including breeding, grazing, backgrounding and lotfeeding, all covered by the software vendor? Can the software be used crush-side, and offline, if necessary, to capture performance measurements, treatments and animal husbandry processes and does it integrate readily with all common animal management devices such as eID readers, weigh-scale indicators, barcode scanners and auto-gates?
- Will the software allow you to apply smart rules to draft and sort animals? What about flagging stranger animals, creating follow-ups for future action and the facility to capture notes and photos of injured animals?
- Does the software allow for easy, full two-way integration with the National Livestock Identification Scheme database?
- Will it show you the history of every animal at a glance? For example, will the software show every movement, every treatment and key metrics, such as withholding periods and average daily gain?
- Is the software scalable? Will it keep pace with you as your operation grows?
- Does the vendor offer a nationwide support network? Do the support staff know cattle? Are they available through the working day?
- Is the software constantly being updated and improved? In particular, does the vendor listen to producers and respond with changes necessary to meet current demands.
- Are the report options fit for purpose and do they provide both helicopter and granular views of your operation? How well does the data coming out of the system support decision making at all levels?
- If you are running a feedlot, can the software accommodate all core production functions: commodity and vendor management, individual and lot-based animal moves, animal husbandry treatments, ration preparation and distribution, financials and reporting?
- What 'edge cases' can the system handle? For example, is it hard to manage a pile-up of animals in the crush or weigh box? Are you able to map fields and customise the import of carcase data from your processor? Can you forecast output to meet future market obligations? Are inter-property transfers easily managed?
When approaching a software vendor, I'd suggest producers be vigorous in pursuing answers to these questions and more.
There are multiple options out there and not all, like the paddock book of old, are now fit for purpose.
And, by the way ......
Elynx gets to tick the box on every one of the questions set out above with both our StockMate product, designed for extensive production, and our comprehensive Feedlot production suite.
As a result, Elynx software now supports production on almost all of Australia's largest feedlots and across the largest pastoral companies in the land. It doesn't stop there.
Our products are totally scalable and also affordably meet the needs of small and mid-size family and corporate operations.
Reach out to us at Beef Australia 2024 in the Robert Schwarten Pavilion, Site R10. I look forward to meeting you.
Scott Ferguson is the chief executive officer of Elynx Pty Ltd
This is branded content for Elynx
