AUSTRALIAN cattle producers today get to choose a solution from several significant software vendors, each delivering some form of livestock management system.

Most of these produce a good product – several specialise in particular production phases and others emphasise farm or grazing management over dedicated livestock production.

Only one livestock software vendor offers a product suite which genuinely delivers comprehensive operational and management tools covering livestock joining plans right through to feedlot exit and beyond.

Bumpy road to commercial success

Chief executive of Elynx Pty Ltd, Scott Ferguson, reflected on the journey which has allowed a small Australian company to grow from its ‘feedlot software specialist’ origins late last century, to its current market position where it not only dominates intensive production contexts but also has made big inroads into the pastoral sector. These days the company’s brands, such as FY3000, StockaID, FeedBunk3000 and StockMate are well known across the industry, but Elynx took some tumbles on the road to commercial success.

“Initially, we had no subscription model when selling our products,” Mr Ferguson said.

“We had historically relied on ‘one off’ sales and an expanding client base to maintain viability. In the software game, that just isn’t sustainable. Annual or monthly subscriptions provide the means for continuous product growth and development,” he said.

The switch to a subscription model and to charging for ongoing technical support was made just before Mr Ferguson took over the reins at the company eight years ago.

“In my first weeks in the seat, I endured no small amount of abuse from those unhappy with the transition,” he said. “I had sympathy for their position, but Elynx had to adopt the longer-term view. It worked.”

Feedlot entry

Elynx cut its teeth in the feedlot space and did well there for two reasons, Mr Ferguson said.

“Firstly, the algorithms and logic underpinning our feeding software were based on the expertise of leading nutritionists and veterinarians. The science was solid and the processes underpinning feedlot production understood.”

The second reason he cited had to do with the marriage of individual animal management data with lot and mob based data.

“I think we were one of the first companies in the world to really get that union right,” Mr Ferguson said, “and that paved the way for us to make the transition across into the extensive production arena.”

Expansion into backgrounding

Several years ago, one of Australia’s large vertically integrated beef producers asked Elynx to consider developing a product to support its backgrounding operations. StockMate was conceived, but it was a difficult birth.

“I will always be appreciative of the support and patience of our trial clients and early adopters,” Mr Ferguson said. “They stuck with us as we navigated issues to do with device connectivity, flaky internet, satellite latency and data load management.”

“There were failures with some of those initial deployments and we had to head back to the drawing board a number of times but, in the end, the patience of these clients was, I believe, rewarded in full. These same companies now rely on StockMate to manage hundreds of thousands of cattle.”

Mobile App

The StockMate mobile App was initially developed for crush-side data capture, operational viewing of critical animal histories and with a capacity to apply smart draft rules. The App was a companion to the StockMate Cloud. After a session in the yards data could be synced from the tablet to the Cloud as soon as the user had signal.

“At the time,” Mr Ferguson said, “getting something to do that reliably and often in low signal, low latency parts of the country was ground breaking.”

StockMate quickly grew, going from a dedicated backgrounding tool, to embrace the requirements of graziers and, more recently, commercial cattle breeders and studs. It is also, slowly but surely, edging into the feedlot space.

The product’s NLIS interface is now exceptional and customised reporting capacity across the Cloud interface, powerful. Crush-side performance is fast, robust and delivers everything from forecasting tools to instant animal histories; auto-gate integrations and inventory management to photo capture and nomination of follow-up actions and treatments.

The StockMate breeding module delivers the capacity to plan, implement and report on multi-type livestock breeding modes. The system incorporates a Financial module that takes the user through to Gross Profit reports on groups of animals and for individuals.  These functions are just the tip of the iceberg.

One of Elynx’s strengths generally, is that its products reflect industry stakeholder input and cater for a depth of detail, range of function and nuanced contexts.

Elynx’s CEO noted that a high proportion of Australia’s largest beef producers have indicated that they now regard Elynx software as being indispensable to their businesses and Elynx as partners rather than simply suppliers.

What of the feedlot application suite?

“It’s on a journey too.” Mr Ferguson said. “Elynx has a team of specification writers, developers and testers developing the equivalent of FY3000 for the cloud. We’re calling the prototype FYX, but haven’t yet determined an end name for the product.”

“That’s going exceptionally well but is a massive project. In the end StockMate will offer the individual animal management requirement, not just for the pastoral space, but also for feedlots. We are building that function into StockMate now and, in the end are looking to a seamless integration between StockMate and FYX.”

 

Elynx at Beef 2024

Elynx will have a strong presence at Beef 2024. Team members will be available daily to answer queries, conduct product demonstrations and discuss best practice usage of both StockMate and Elynx’s Feedlot Suite.

Visitors are invited to meet with Elynx staff at Site R10 in the Robert Schwarten Pavilion.

• Existing StockMate users may wish to be given a preview of the Carcase Data feature scheduled for release later this month or to discuss recent performance enhancements and functional upgrades which are applicable to both crush-side and cloud interfaces.
• One of the particular focus areas will inevitably be StockMate’s Breeding module tools which have received strong reviews from ‘Mum and Dad’ producers, dedicated studs and large pastoral companies.