Alberta Beef Magazine - BeefNews.com

ComputerAid builds leading edge software for the cattle industry by Bonnie Warnyca
May, 2010

Since 1986, ComputerAid Professional Services Ltd., a software developer in Okotoks, Alberta, has worked alongside the western Canadian feedlot industry to build software solutions to extract the highest possible profit from each individual animal that enters the feed yard. As the technology has evolved, users have been able to both reduce processing costs and identify new marketing opportunities.

ComputerAid co-owners Ralph and Yvonne Tollens met while both worked in the oil and gas industry. Yvonne grew up on a large cow/calf operation in British Columbia and earned a Commerce degree at UBC while Ralph received his BCom from U of A. with a focus on IT. Together they decided to combine their passions and create a software solutions company for the cattle industry.

"One of our earlier ventures was when four major Alberta feedlots hired us to review and analyze all the feedlot software in North America. They wanted software that was easy to use, provide access to all historical data, not restrict the operations of the feedlot and be expandable for future developments. Nothing fit that tall order, so we proposed the development of a new software package. The result was the Daily Gains (DG Professional) released in 1996. We've been evolving that software ever since."

Today, more than one million cattle pass through ComputerAid software and their clientele includes 1,000 head to 100,000 head feedlots. ComputerAid releases several new programs and upgrades annually and is proud to be the number one software company in the Canadian cattle industry. "We don't work in isolation when developing a software program," Tollens tells us. "We engage experts in each area of the industry from veterinarians, bankers, nutritionists, feedlot operators etc. We understand the need to collect useful applied information and then the need to turn the data into an economic return."

Tollens and her team believe that the key to a successful, competitive future for the Canadian cattle industry lies in full traceability. "We are fortunate in this country to have a national mandatory tagging system which has some standards," she says. "The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency's tag system has provided a baseline and a central data base to review the information. We're still getting some of the bugs out of the system, but now that we can identify one characteristic, we can add any number of characteristics with which to extract a premium from selective markets."

One wrong UTM identified animal in a load, say bound for Japan, would result in the loss of a whole day's kill which would be an expensive mistake. That is just one example of the increasing reliance on technology in order to advance our export business.

Tollens makes a compelling argument for using traceability and applying it to a cow/calf operation. She says, "We have to start encouraging characteristics to flow down the chain by paying more for them. We've overcome a huge technological hurdle by developing a system to identify each animal. Feedlots have been using technology to sort animals upon arrival for individual markets for quite some time now. Whether it is selecting an animal for a hormone free market or an age verified market, cow/calf producers need to adopt the mentality of marketing each animal on its merits and package their animals accordingly. Software technology can take their performance records to any level they wish to go. As value chains grow there will be a premium paid for verified, reliable genetic traits or unique production protocols and records that are auditable."

Time and again we've heard the argument that producers shouldn't get into traceability just because it is mandatory. Maybe the technology card is one that will produce that long-awaited extra currency.

Tollens believes once the packers see enough volume bound for a premium market, they also will come on board. "Compared to the U.S., Canada has broadly-based technology across a large group of people and this puts us ahead," explains Tollens from her technological vantage point. "Our company motto has always been: The right piece of information in the right person's hand to make the right decision at the right time. When the American border opened to UTM cattle, we worked with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to make sure that the software was in place to meet all the regulations to deliver the cattle across without incident."

After more than 20 years in the software development business, Tollens is acutely aware that every advancement in technology must spell value for their clients. "It's one thing to identify the needs in the industry, and quite another to build software that works in such a rough environment," says Tollens. We've built software that allows for instantaneous decisions. Feedlots process up to 160 animals per hour and their profitability lies in making quick calculated decisions about where to pen each animal bound for an identified market."

"Our software was recently reviewed by a group from the European Market (EU) who has strict standards that must be met in order to export cattle into that market. They said our software in conjunction with the advanced protocols and animal handling facilities at Butte Grain Merchants is the best they had seen in the world."

ComputerAid was the first to incorporate wireless technology into their customer's feedlots. "We had to find a way to connect the central server in a feedlot to the scanners, scales, readers and the treatment hospitals. We found the solution that was being used to manage traffic lights."

Last year, working with funding support from Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, ComputerAid built a program called Ranchers Mobility. This software allows producers to collect the information from the CCIA tags in the field onto the new Smart phones. By typing in the last two digits of the tag number, the animal's birthdate is automatically registered on the phone. If the phone is out of cell range, the information is automatically uploaded into the central server when it enters cell range again. ComputerAid also uses Smart phone technology to deliver information from the feedlots to the Nutritionists, Veterinarians, and Feedlot Owners and they can now receive daily reports of prices for incoming cattle and continually check markets through their Blackberry no matter where they are in the world.

"If we are ever going to get this industry out of selling commodity, we have to make a decision on every animal and assess its individual worth in the global marketplace," continues Tollens. "For instance, one group of animals in the herd may fit into a package for the EU or Japan or to the U.S. Producers are now seeing the value in overlaying their performance characteristics with marketing opportunities."

Tollens and the ComputerAid team must not only make sure that the software is in place for today's needs, but the R & D arm of the company headed by Ralph Tollens is always working to the future. Tollens urges producers to access some of the funding in the federal/provincial Growing Forward program to upgrade their on farm technology. ComputerAid has already developed software for the cow/calf producers such as Ranchers Advantage and Ranchers Mobility. Quietly she suggests that this is an area where governments could really support and fast-forward the industry by helping to fund new technology for farms and ranches.

The latest and most advanced software just released by ComputerAid is called DIG!. Feedlots need to find more money in their operations. DIG! is an easy-to-use tool to help clients mine gems of profit from their databases. DIG! allows users to ask questions such as: Which cattle buyers source the profitable animals for my yard? Where and when should I buy my commodities to gain extra margin? Which animal types make me the most money? DIG! is a new and innovative tool designed to take the feedlot industry to new levels.

Looking ahead, ComputerAid has incorporated the Verified Beef Program into every level of its software. They've built screens behind the software that can be turned on when the industry is ready to add this layer to their list of attributes to market their beef to the global community.

Tollens spends much of her time traveling to keep abreast of the needs and challenges within the global industry. She sits on many prestigious boards and roundtables with a front row seat in the ever changing marketplace. "The more technology is shared across the whole industry, the greater opportunities there are for our industry and the more leveraged we are ahead of our competitors. We are Canadians selling into a global marketplace and we need to stay focused on that."

Industry Question

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