witch livestock app / software programs do you run ?

[Dachie]

Will that work on a phone in a field without any signal, eg is it a app with a full local database of all the data or a website?

It is a website. I am lucky I have 4g covering the whole farm sow works everywhere for me. But in the very near future there is an app coming as well. I have seen a prototype of it and it will be accessible offline

 

[Chicken richard]

If u have the app/ software on ur phone. When u find an ewe u can't scan the tag with a phone?? Can a stick reader communicate to the app and search the data?? Or do u have to use eyes and type search the tag???

 

[mo!]

Very happy Farm Matters user here, Neil is very responsive and has made additions to the software when asked. We handle all our beef finishing records using EID and weighing, it very easy to export data into excel to analyse it too.

 

[Farm Matters Ltd]

Thanks for everyone’s kind words I really appreciate it as said we have just evolved over the years and will continue to listen and learn and enhance our products and services.

we have a function in the software called “console” screen. This has proved very popular as people install Farm Matters on a rugged tablet and set it up at the crush. They can then Bluetooth to the weigh scales and reader and get live data capture and feedback. Really good for weighing quickly and seeing data on a large screen. You can get rugged windows tablets for very reasonable money these days with great spec. Just the other day a valued customer got a great spec for less than £400 including vat ! So for anyone interested it’s another great option.

as said there is a wealth of options out there, Herdwatch, Agriweb, Shearwell, Farmplan, and lost more to choose from some are app based some not it just comes down to fitting your budget and farming methods.

most importantly just have a play and always know you can get in touch anytime

 

[Farm Matters Ltd]

Top tip for any cattle keepers out there especially fattening … get yourself a barcode reader if you haven’t already ! Saves literally hours scanning in and out passports … there is one on Amazon called a Terra for about £23.89 and worth every penny I am sure there are many more out there but just found that one works great for the price

 

[Extreme Optimist]

Thanks for everyone’s kind words I really appreciate it as said we have just evolved over the years and will continue to listen and learn and enhance our products and services.

we have a function in the software called “console” screen. This has proved very popular as people install Farm Matters on a rugged tablet and set it up at the crush. They can then Bluetooth to the weigh scales and reader and get live data capture and feedback. Really good for weighing quickly and seeing data on a large screen. You can get rugged windows tablets for very reasonable money these days with great spec. Just the other day a valued customer got a great spec for less than £400 including vat ! So for anyone interested it’s another great option.

as said there is a wealth of options out there, Herdwatch, Agriweb, Shearwell, Farmplan, and lost more to choose from some are app based some not it just comes down to fitting your budget and farming methods.

most importantly just have a play and always know you can get in touch anytime

I bought a refurbished Linx 1010 Windows Tablet on Ebay for £80 and it manages perfectly well. Cattle Console is brilliant for recording by the crush - weights, PD days, Pelvic measuring, medicines and notes. Saves a huge amount of time. Works well with EID too.

 

[Cowabunga]

I use Herdlync, which was previously owned by Cogent.

Home - Herdlync

herdlync.com

I have no affiliation with them whatsoever and limited experience of other products but I find it great. They specialise only in dairy herd management as far as I know and it is cloud based, very quick and easy to use and has an app for mobile devices which synchronises with the main site. The main program simply runs on the Chrome browser.
There may be better systems out there but I wouldn’t know. This one is constantly improving without having to download software updates because no software is held on the farm’s computer, although data can obviously be saved to it, like anything from reports to to-do lists and whatever, as pdf [Adobe Acrobat] or .csv which opens in any spreadsheet like Excel or Numbers or others, your choice.

Herd data is held on the mobile app, so lack of mobile signal is not an issue whether looking for data or entering it.

 

[ringi]

You can get rugged windows tablets for very reasonable money these days with great spec. Just the other day a valued customer got a great spec for less than £400 including vat !

Very important option as using using Microsoft Windows Software permits a large monitor (or two or three!) to be used in the office while having the identical software on the rugged tablet in the field.

Remember there is no need to have a windows tablet that supports 4g data as it is cheaper to use a phone as a hot spot when a connection outside the office is needed.

 

[Cowabunga]

Very important option as using using Microsoft Windows Software permits a large monitor (or two or three!) to be used in the office while having the identical software on the rugged tablet in the field.

Remember there is no need to have a windows tablet that supports 4g data as it is cheaper to use a phone as a hot spot when a connection outside the office is needed.

I’m an Apple user and use two screens often. I often have Chrome and Safari browsers with multiple tabs, open at the same time as various other programs for spreadsheets etc. I’m a bit spoilt with 64GB of RAM so most data is able to be held in RAM as I work. I could run the other computer [iMac] independently if required and gain another 12GB RAM but I have to swap between keyboards and mice then.

Must admit that I don’t tend to enter data on the tablet or phone, finding it faster to enter on notepaper and then enter data on the desktop machine. If I’m doing PD’s and some are negative and require fertility treatment, for instance, I find it too much to enter all that plus cyst right or left and extricate or Prid and so on and also operating the crush and finding the cow’s brand number.

 

[ringi]

One difference between Windows tablets and Apple tablets is with Windows the tables run the SAME software as the desktops and Windows tablets are designed to run desktop software.

With cows as the numbers tend to be much lower then sheap it makes totally sense to write most information on paper and to type it in later once returned to the office.

bit spoilt with 64GB of RAM

That is VERY spoilt!

 

[Cowabunga]

One difference between Windows tablets and Apple tablets is with Windows the tables run the SAME software as the desktops and Windows tablets are designed to run desktop software.

With cows as the numbers tend to be much lower then sheap it makes totally sense to write most information on paper and to type it in later once returned to the office.

Yes, I seldom have more than 50 cows to write up at a time and don’t have the staff to enter data and handle tablets while doing all the other stuff.
With my system there is no software for the herd program on the office computer at all. Nothing. It is all in ‘The Cloud’ apart from when I’m using it, when it is then just another browser window. That might be an issue if the internet failed for a long time but it could still be run on the app, with or without mobile or wi-fi signals. With a signal, data is synchronised with the Cloud computer, not directly with my desktop computer. So any mobile browsing capable device anywhere there is wi-fi can be used with my system as long as I remember my login and password. Even internet cafes or similar.

 

[TlymarT_028]

Sorry to bring this all back up!

Currently looking at either Agriwebb or FlockFinder
Want something that: has an app, easy to use, data capture and analysis options ie. births, scanning, weights, meds usage etc.
Has anyone had experience or got any opinions/differences between the 2? Any advice more than welcome

 

[EAndrews]

We looked at Breedr, Herdwatch, FlockFinder and AgriWebb. Ended up with AgriWebb because it just covered more of what we needed (including grazing) and allowed us to have all the holdings under one account for the same cost. I think FlockFinder are quite new so there is less on offer with functionality at the moment.

 

[Beretta]

This thread has just become topical again for a number of Farmplan customer. Farmplan are merging their animal programs into Herdwatch. Having had a very brief discussion with Herdwatch and waiting to see the program with animals added, I still have the feeling that a large portion of cattle manager functions will be lost and we are taking a big step backwards. Question is what are other Farmplan user’s thoughts.

 

[Downtrodden Dad]

This thread has just become topical again for a number of Farmplan customer. Farmplan are merging their animal programs into Herdwatch. Having had a very brief discussion with Herdwatch and waiting to see the program with animals added, I still have the feeling that a large portion of cattle manager functions will be lost and we are taking a big step backwards. Question is what are other Farmplan user’s thoughts.

Watching and waiting with interest as I am in the same situation, I haven’t moved in the past because I’m a dinosaur and don’t like “different “. I don’t want to lose all the history I’ve stored over the years even though most of it is probably defunct now.
Lots of people seem to be using farm matters because of Niel and his backup.

 

[twizzel]

This thread has just become topical again for a number of Farmplan customer. Farmplan are merging their animal programs into Herdwatch. Having had a very brief discussion with Herdwatch and waiting to see the program with animals added, I still have the feeling that a large portion of cattle manager functions will be lost and we are taking a big step backwards. Question is what are other Farmplan user’s thoughts.

I’ll welcome the medicine recording side of things with herdwatch; farmplan was a pain in the backside to use on slowly the computer alone (I never kept up to date with putting med records on the computer), and when we upgraded to cattle manager and got the app, it still didn’t allow me to input medicine stocks without opening the computer programme first. Cattle manager app is way behind ilivestock, herdwatch etc. I want to add medicine stock through the app, when I use it, not add it to the computer, sync with the app etc.

I will try herdwatch but if we don’t get on with it will swap over to ilivestock which is what I use for my sheep.

 

[Beretta]

Watching and waiting with interest as I am in the same situation, I haven’t moved in the past because I’m a dinosaur and don’t like “different “. I don’t want to lose all the history I’ve stored over the years even though most of it is probably defunct now.
Lots of people seem to be using farm matters because of Niel and his backup.

Agree with everything you said, according to my kids I am a computer dinosaur . Having had a quick look at the other programs you cannot get detailed animal and group gross margins and also I could not find where you print off transport certificate and abattoir declarations. Will wait and see.

 

[Cowpoke82]

I’ll welcome the medicine recording side of things with herdwatch; farmplan was a pain in the backside to use on slowly the computer alone (I never kept up to date with putting med records on the computer), and when we upgraded to cattle manager and got the app, it still didn’t allow me to input medicine stocks without opening the computer programme first. Cattle manager app is way behind ilivestock, herdwatch etc. I want to add medicine stock through the app, when I use it, not add it to the computer, sync with the app etc.

I will try herdwatch but if we don’t get on with it will swap over to ilivestock which is what I use for my sheep.

Is ilivestock app based like herdwatch or can you have it on a computer ?? I like having cattle manager on my desk top , agree that cattle manager app is useless though

 

[Breedr]

Is ilivestock app based like herdwatch or can you have it on a computer ?? I like having cattle manager on my desk top , agree that cattle manager app is useless though

If you're looking for a Farmplan alternative, why not try Breedr? We have a mobile app that works on iPhones, Android and tablets and desktop software so you can use it on your computer as well.

These benefits and much more!

• Herd and flock management, take all your animal records with you
• Paperless compliance create movements and medicines with your phone camera
• Track weights and analyse your performance from your phone or computer
• Create new births on your phone with or without phone signal
• Access our UK customer support team via phone, chat or email plus a 45-minute setup session when you sign up

More info online on our website https://www.breedr.co/pricing or email [email protected].

 

[Cowpoke82]

If you're looking for a Farmplan alternative, why not try Breedr? We have a mobile app that works on iPhones, Android and tablets and desktop software so you can use it on your computer as well.

These benefits and much more!

• Herd and flock management, take all your animal records with you
• Paperless compliance create movements and medicines with your phone camera
• Track weights and analyse your performance from your phone or computer
• Create new births on your phone with or without phone signal
• Access our UK customer support team via phone, chat or email plus a 45-minute setup session when you sign up

More info online on our website https://www.breedr.co/pricing or email [email protected].

Thank you @Breedr , I’ve already tried your software an unfortunately when looked into some of our data wasn’t able to be transferred