Feeding loads: more flexibility to make decisions on-the go

We have implemented some key features like the reusability of every load & drop order, and being able to define Custom Targets on the truck.

When it comes to feeding, most cattle farmers value being able to plan ahead of time and keep records of the plan, so that they can be consistent over time and be automatically reminded of the plan without having to think of it all over again every day. But that’s the standard situation, and of course Cattler is prepared to support the feeder right from the start.

But cattle feeding is also all about exceptions, and reality shows that the unexpected is always around the corner. Many times we have to make decisions on the go when we go to feed a pen and cattle haven’t yet eaten the previous drop as much as we would presume. Or when we have to reorganize our typical feed round because some pen was sent to the chute and we hadn’t realized it. Or there’s also farmers that will decide on the spot what pens are they going to feed and how much; just right there.

So we recently launched at Cattler some changes in the behavior of every load & drop order, and we can summarize them in two points:

- Reusability of every load/drop order: so far the orders disappeared once we used them (and then they reappeared the next day), so we couldn't reuse them. Now we still see them there when we finished (with a 'Done' green status), and we can get back to the order and retake either the load (if we want to use it several times) or the drop (for example if we had to interrupt the job halfway and later on we go back). So we can navigate the order back and forth and reuse it as many times as we want until the day finishes. Check the image below where you can see the summary of one load & drop session and right there you can either tap on 'load' or on 'drop':

- Custom load targets: On every load/drop order, we can also specify a custom load target that might be smaller than the whole order size. Let's say for example that we like to decide what pens to feed as we go. So, we could create an order with all the pens and deliveries involved in a certain ration for the whole day, much more than the capacity of our feed truck.

Then, right before beginning to load, we can edit the target and add a Custom target for a portion of the complete, let's say 20% of the total order. You will then see an upper progress bar (for the whole order) and one lower progress bar, for that custom order, like in the picture below. Then, we drop the loaded amount in whatever pens or proportions of deliveries we want, and when we finish we can reuse that order and set a new custom target, and thus go along the day completing every target for every pen in the way we prefer. Nice, right?

Give it a try and tell us what you think. We are all about feedback! I want to subscribe