CQ University’s Livestock Management Team is set to launch a game changing livestock management tool at Beef Australia this week
The CQ University’s DataMuster platform is a new automated livestock management system designed to assist graziers with mustering, monitoring and management challenges.
After seven years of research and development, CQ University believes the product is ready to be implemented.
CQ University professor of agriculture Dave Swain says DataMuster can cut down on labour costs for farmers and enhance herd management decisions by monitoring cattle weight and suitability for market, detecting when a cow has calved and recording genetic data.
“The challenge facing the North Australian beef industry remains the same as it did a century ago –identifying superior genetics which can thrive in harsh and remote environmental conditions, with limited human intervention,” Swain says.
“DataMuster seamlessly integrates multiple strands of technology into a single monitoring and reporting platform. The animal is scanned and the information on the animal’s weight and the time it accessed water is then sent from the paddock-based sensor system to DataMuster, enabling cattle producers to record performance and genetic information on their animals without the need for mustering and conventional weighing,” Swain says.
Swain also says DataMuster provides modern solutions to age-old problems.
“With a fully integrated DataMuster system, graziers can monitor their property, each of their animals and even the amount of water in remote troughs, all in real-time from the homestead,” he says.
Farmers can see DataMuster in action at CQ University’s Belmont property tour on Wednesday (9 May) and in-turn express their interest in participating.
The app will also be on show throughout Beef Week at the CQUni stall, site P4 on Porterhouse Promenade.