Media Release: SmartShepherd Announces Availability of their World First Pedigree System for Sheep and Cattle Armidale, NSW, Australia – October 9th, 2017 – SmartShepherd, an agricultural technology company, announced today the availability of the revolutionary SmartShepherd System, which automates the collection of maternal pedigree data for livestock.
With a mission to empower farmers to breed better livestock. SmartShepherd has developed a smart tag which substantially decreases the barrier of entry to full pedigree recording and reduction of inbreeding. The SmartShepherd system functions with all large free-range livestock, including sheep, cattle and goats.
A recent field trial at Centre Plus, Tullamore, Central NSW has delivered a result of 96% accuracy when compared against existing farmer pedigree records, and this was accomplished within 48 hours. SmartShepherd Co-Founder and CEO Dave Rubie said, “We are very pleased that we have been able to surpass the industry expected accuracy within 48 hours of the smart tags being attached to the sheep, and are excited to make our world-first solution available to livestock farmers.”
Centre Plus ram breeding nucleus manager, Mark Mortimer said, “I was able to get the same results in 2 days with the SmartShepherd tags that I would normally expect to get in 15 to 20 days with the pedigree match maker system. I think the real advantage of the SmartShepherd system is that you are not reliant on the sheep coming into water to get your tag read. In wet years I have struggled to get our current system to work. I can see the SmartShepherd system working in all environments and any time of the year.”
The Co-founders of SmartShepherd believe their success is due to their winning combination. Dave Rubie worked at Sheep Genetics Australia for 12 years, where he used his extensive technology and breeding expertise to assist farmers in improving breeding outcomes. Glenn Vassallo is a respected IoT (Internet of Things) expert who has worked at Microsoft and the leading IoT platform company ThingWorx, he has also received awards from Texas Instruments for his work with microcontrollers.
Glenn Vassallo said, “I think the results speak for themselves, and are a testament to what can be achieved when the livestock industry and the technology industry combine forces. We are looking forward to building on our success and demonstrating what Australian innovation is all about.”
SmartShepherd is taking inquires and orders from their website – http://www.smartshepherd.com.au |
