cattle management software

CattleMax has even found its way into academic life with schools like Cal Poly State University utilizing the software to keep records on cattle at their school farm and animals used for research projects.

Cal Poly transferred their cattle records from another software program in 2001 after finding CattleMax more user-friendly. With more than 300 registered and commercial cattle to track on their facility and with many students keeping records, Cal Poly needed an easy-to-use and efficient program.

Senior beef cattle specialist and professor Mike Hall is in charge of Cal Poly’s beef cattle operation. He said Cal Poly has used RFID for individual animal identification for a number of years and that they keep extensive records on their cattle, all of which are accommodated by CattleMax.

“We have been using AI for the past 12 to 15 years,” he said, “every animal on our facility is bred through AI or ET. We do a lot of ET with our commercial cows, and have developed a good market for commercial recipient cows.”

The ability to record AI and ET breedings in CattleMax has helped them maintain accurate records on their herd.

Hall said that Cal Poly is currently in the middle of several large projects. They are relocating and improving their beef facilities, running an annual bull test and working extensively with National ID. He is currently working with a USDA grant to research and provide an economic analysis of implementing National ID in the state of California.

“Producer outreach for animal identification is going to be our major focus for the next couple of years,” Hall said.

With all of these projects, and the extent of cattle information to be recorded, Hall needed one person to be responsible for entering data. Leoma Box, a secretary in the animal science department, was designated to enter animal records into the software.

“My favorite feature of CattleMax is how easy it is to enter calves quickly, even embryo calves,” she said.

Cal Poly uses the total inventory report most often to track the cattle on their farm, but Box said she has found other record areas useful as well.

“The program has made it possible to access individual cow history at the click of a button, leading to more informative culling decisions,” she said.

Box said CattleMax has helped make the records on their commercial cow herd more accurate and accessible than their previous record keeping method.

She said she particularly enjoyed the breed association interface available in the Registered Cattle edition when she was registering Cal Poly’s Simmental calves this year.

“Thanks to the program, all of the data needed was easy to retrieve, making the registration process less painful,” she said.

Box said she has recommended CattleMax to many of the producers they work with.

“I believe that CattleMax is very user friendly and that their ranches could benefit from using the software,” she said.

She suggested that once producers purchase CattleMax, they should learn to use the custom reports feature.

“Once you figure out what you want, the program does all of the work,” she said.

Box also has confidence in CattleMax to meet the future needs of Cal Poly as they continue to increase the use of technology in their cattle operation, including their work with RFID and National ID.

“CattleMax has helped to bring Cal Poly’s commercial herd record keeping into the 21st century,” she said, “and with the continuous improvement of their software, CattleMax manages to keep producers on the cutting edge of new technologies, such as RFID.”

For more information on the Cal Poly State University animal science department and any of their projects, visit them online at http://animalscience.calpoly.edu or http://bulltest.calpoly.edu