Useful Apps

[MalPeterson@HighDesert]

Certain apps on my phone are used regularly. Heres one i use to get measurements i can save, really great for a pocket grazing chart to calculate cow days per acre etc. Its great to show people where salt or mineral are, water points, how long a fence needs to be, etc. Its free, but like all free things, theres a huge add on the start up page, you need to click the small banner in the upper right corner.

 

[Ranching.FYI Admin]

I recently got this one. Haven’t had much time to play with it yet or even open it honestly. Anyone else ever use it?

 

[MalPeterson@HighDesert]

I recently got this one. Haven’t had much time to play with it yet or even open it honestly. Anyone else ever use it? View attachment 12

I tried that out this morning. I couldnt find local markets for me, but, to have a place where there are markets posted all in one place seems awesome. I think the tools that would be most useful were for their paid platform. Really interesting app regardless

 

[KLBruce]

I’ve used the cattle market mobile app in the past. Now that I’m intending to do sell/buy I think I’ll use it a lot more. It doesn’t have a couple of my main sale barns because they don’t use a usda reporter but does have the larger barns in my area.

 

[Rick Koehn]

What are you using for grazing and livestock management? I have been using a grazing chart for forage management and an excel spreadsheet for cow or stocker records.

There seems to be a number of apps available for this now, some seem to more suitable for grazing management and others only on livestock. Is there an app that combines both in one?

Here is a few of the options that I've seen out there: CattleMax, Ranchr, AgriWebb, PastureMap.

I am leaning more towards PastureMap as I am more interested in the details of grazing management and don't need too much detail on the livestock side, but I would still like to be able to track some basics as in bull turn in date, calving dates, workings etc. on a herd basis or individual animal basis.

Pro's or Con's of any of the apps or other record keeping software out there?

 

[Camblin]

MaiaGrazing is an app you should consider. We use it to keep track of our grazing, it has a great forecasting tool that helps you run scenarios of projected stocking rate with projected rainfall. MaiaGrazing

 

[nelson]

I would like to put mention of ValueOfGain.com out here also. If the cattle market is of any impact at all on your profitability this is an excellent tool to keep current with regional and local market trends. This website's primary focus is for Bud William's style Sell/Buy Marketers, with the ability to use your own entity's cost structure calculated against real-time USDA reported feeder cattle auction reports. For those that prefer a visual look, the over/under valuations are given in a chart format, and if you rather have numbers only there is a section that gives the total over/under value, the value of gain, and the max bid price for entire sections at a glance from the report.

Disclaimer: I am the developer and owner of this website. It is a paid access tool, with a 30 day free trial period. If you run into something that you do not understand and/or is not explained in the help section tutorials I will be more than happy to talk through that with you. Either reach out to me thru a support enquiry on the site, or message me on this forum. ~ Nelson Koehn

 

[Leon martin]

Thank you for the website. one question I had if when I pit my numbers in is the relative value. An the bid. Threshold ?

 

[nelson]

Thank you for the website. one question I had if when I pit my numbers in is the relative value. An the bid. Threshold ?

The Relative Value is total dollar amount over (+) or under (-) valued for each entry against the Sell Market (weight and price) at your cost of production.

The Bid Threshold is the maximum price that can be paid for each weight and still cover your costs. When the Buy Price matches the Bid Threshold the Relative Value will be $0.00.

When you are able to buy a replacement for less than the Bid Threshold the Relative Value will be a negative number, or under-valued, which is the Excess Profit in the trade.

These numbers are all based upon the Sell Market. You need to know what you are using for the Sell Market numbers and compare with equal. If you are using a #1 steer for a Sell, then on the chart you can look at the #1 steers as an equal value comparison. The option is given to look at a second comparison on the chart, and if you do keep in your mind the spread between the two. For example if you are looking at #1-2 steers or #1 heifers for the second comparison there will be a negative spread between the two, and also against the Sell Market. And the reverse applies if you are using a heifer value in the Sell Market, then the steers will be a positive spread.

 

[JustinDow]

What are you using for grazing and livestock management? I have been using a grazing chart for forage management and an excel spreadsheet for cow or stocker records.

There seems to be a number of apps available for this now, some seem to more suitable for grazing management and others only on livestock. Is there an app that combines both in one?

Here is a few of the options that I've seen out there: CattleMax, Ranchr, AgriWebb, PastureMap.

I am leaning more towards PastureMap as I am more interested in the details of grazing management and don't need too much detail on the livestock side, but I would still like to be able to track some basics as in bull turn in date, calving dates, workings etc. on a herd basis or individual animal basis.

Pro's or Con's of any of the apps or other record keeping software out there?

I have personally used both AgriWebb and Cattlemax. Customer support is very good for both. I played around a bit with PastureMap a long time ago but can’t provide useful input. Cattlemax is probably the best and most user friendly if you were just looking for cattle records. I think they have improved some other things since I left the platform but last I knew they couldn’t track grazing records much at all. One downside is there isn’t an app. It’s all internet based. If you have cell service it works well on your phone but couldn’t be used offline.

AgriWebb is a very complete program. It tracks grazing records and individual or mob based livestock records. It also has a map(gps) based task feature and inventory management. They have been working hard to improve the grazing side. I’d definitely take a hard look at it if you’re in the market. It has an app that will work on or offline.

I have a friend that uses pasture map in a grazing operation. If you need a reference on it I can get you in contact with him.

 

[JTAYLOR]

I would like to put mention of ValueOfGain.com out here also. If the cattle market is of any impact at all on your profitability this is an excellent tool to keep current with regional and local market trends. This website's primary focus is for Bud William's style Sell/Buy Marketers, with the ability to use your own entity's cost structure calculated against real-time USDA reported feeder cattle auction reports. For those that prefer a visual look, the over/under valuations are given in a chart format, and if you rather have numbers only there is a section that gives the total over/under value, the value of gain, and the max bid price for entire sections at a glance from the report.

Disclaimer: I am the developer and owner of this website. It is a paid access tool, with a 30 day free trial period. If you run into something that you do not understand and/or is not explained in the help section tutorials I will be more than happy to talk through that with you. Either reach out to me thru a support enquiry on the site, or message me on this forum. ~ Nelson Koehn

Nelson, I don’t imagine there is any version for Canadian producers? Or is there a way to link reports from any local area?

 

[nelson]

Nelson, I don’t imagine there is any version for Canadian producers? Or is there a way to link reports from any local area?

I would really like to add in a Canadian component, but I haven't been able to find an agency that does universal reporting. If you have some pointers for me on that I would love to hear it.

You are welcome to use the My Market tool for what you are looking for though. I think this is an under valued tool on the site. With my market you can set up as many classes as you like, which could be steers/bulls/heifers, or could be different auction barns, or could be your own inventory. Once you have the classes set up, and especially if you put in weight breaks to your choosing, say 50 or 100 lbs, then it easy to roll up or down the price of each weight to match. This can be done from the auction report afterwards, or if are in the barn watching you could do this live.

And I think if you are familiar with working in cads and kgs you can ignore the lbs and use the cad price in kgs and the report should be correct. Let me know if this isn't tho!