For years, cattle producers in America had kept cattle records using notebooks. Stacks of the books and papers, some dating back more than 50 years, contained handwritten notes about the producer’s cattle and memories of where their operations had been and their current location. Every detail counted when it came to managing a profitable herd. However, manual record keeping had its own limitations. Without a cattle record keeping software it was difficult to access cattle records when they were needed. Since cattle records are critical when it comes to making data-driven decisions to improve overall herd profitability, for many producers the bottom line profit suffered as a result of less organized record keeping.
Angus Black Book:
To digitize manual record keeping for its over 25,000 members, the American Angus Association, America’s largest beef breed organization, wanted a mobile solution that would fully automate cattle record keeping and ranch management for commercial and non-commercial users. The association wanted to give cattle producers the ability to connect with and share valuable information on their animals anytime and anywhere. This was made possible through the Angus Black Book mobile app; a livestock record keeping app where producers can maintain consistent records that can assist with better decision-making and improved herd or flock value.
Offered by the American Angus Association and developed by Folio3 Agtech the Angus Black Book is a cattle record keeping app, allowing cattle producers to collect the information they need to submit back to the office and track important milestones. The app includes sections for managing pastures, cattle and operations, in addition to a section for reminders and reports. All of the information contained in the black app makes it easier for cattle producers wanting to improve the quality of their herds.
Pasture Management:
Angus Black Book gives producers the option to enter as many pastures as they have on their operation. Cattle can be assigned to a pasture, and it allows producers the option to make subgroups within the pasture. For example, producers can filter out calves in a particular pasture and update records of the whole group together. Additionally, the app can document the group of calves moved to a different pasture, the steers castrated and the details of shots given.
Cattle Management:
From the recently weaned calves, some might get sick. The producer can make a subgroup of calves that have fallen out of a verified natural program. The app also gives the option to document the health treatment given to the calf that fell out.
Breeding season can be another great time to get started using the Angus Black Book mobile app. The app allows producers to choose from six different fixed-time artificial insemination (AI) protocols, and select the products to be used. The app even gives reminders for the date and time to give shots and pull CIDRs.
It allows to add a clean-up bull to the breeding records and sends a reminder to schedule a pregnancy-check date. It will prefill for 283 days for that animal’s due date. Bulls can be added by registration number, tag number or radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag. The breed of bulls and cows can be documented, and that includes crossbred animals. Up to three breed percentages can be entered.
Keeping track of vaccinations that the animals have received can be a daunting task. That has been addressed in Angus Black Book mobile app. Producers can choose to designate a group of animals that have received a health treatment or pick out an individual animal. The history portion gives the ability to see everything that has happened to an animal from birth to leaving operation.
Operations Management:
Ranch owners can use the app to assign tasks to their workers and track task progress in real-time. Workers can use the app to enter cattle records while in the field or at cow side and update their tasks and checklists through the app. Anyone with a smartphone can use the app. The app also works offline so staff workers can add necessary data while in the field and upload it when the internet service is back.
This revolutionary digital solution also helps cattle producers who wish to enroll in value-added programs such as AngusSource or Angus Link. It also a great way to advertise the value of your cattle operation throughout the year. Livestock producers can email real-time reports to customers as and when needed and share data-driven results at shows and conventions.
Digitizing Cattle Record Keeping:
It takes time and effort to make every cow herd and calf crop profitable in the marketplace today. We at Folio3 understand the myriad challenges associated with ranch management and the risks and limitations that manual cattle record keeping and livestock management practices add to that mix. Our mobile based cattle management software solutions are designed specifically to address these challenges, by digitizing and automating cattle record keeping, cattle tracking, livestock & ranch management processes, thereby simplifying day to day ranch operations and FSIS compliance procedures, and helping cattle producers make timely, informed decisions that increase profitability.
