Australian cattle exporter designs cost saving herd management software app

Nov. 24, 2011 - PRLog -- Australia’s leading Mobile Developer, iApps, have just released a new mobile application that streamlines the mustering and herd management process for station workers and is gaining worldwide popularity amongst major livestock exporting nations such as Argentina, U.S.A, Brazil, New Zealand and Canada.

Already revolutionising traditional herd management and livestock farming, iHerd was developed alongside a prominent Queensland station owner whose family has generational ties to the Australian livestock industry.

The iHerd story began after James Lockie Wilson (1880-1956) was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force post WWI, where he partnered with P.J.C McDouall to purchase calliope cattle station near Gladstone, Queensland. With McDouall, the two bought Callingual, Rannes and Balcomba Station on the Mackenzie River (542km2), and by the 1930’s ran 45,00 head of cattle including several butter factories.

James Lockie was also responsible for the formation in 1936 of the Central Coastal Graziers' Association (affiliated with the U.G.A.), which catered for the specialist needs of beef producers.

Survived by two daughters and his son Rodney, Calliope Cattle Company and the Wilson clan have kept the family’s enterprising legacy alive by designing the world’s first mobile herding software application for the iPhone and iPad.

Calliope Cattle Station owner and manager, William Wilson, has finally been able to bring his ideas to life. For decades he’s envisioned using technology to simplify the herding, treatment, and mustering of livestock for station owners with large properties.

“Being raised on a 50,000 hectare station with ample tools and machinery left plenty of time to create inventions that made our life easier. It wasn’t until the mid eighties that we got our first computer and it it was then that our family began developing programs to improve our stations internal processes.  

"My father, Rodney Wilson, developed Calliope Cattles first herd management program for the MSDOS system back in eighty-six, and we continued to use that same program for twenty or so years. All of a sudden around 2006, everything started to become wireless and mobile, then the iPhone came along at the beginning of 2008 and it just clicked. iHerd was not going to become software, but a mobile application that could be used effectively whilst on the job."

William asks, "why would you restrict yourself to a clunky and stationary desktop pc, shell out another couple of thousand dollars for herd management software, and still have to manually upload your property details onto that computer after a day out on the station? Even worse is when you return back to the homestead and you’ve lost your paddock book, meaning you’ve got to re-tally and potentially re-muster, something that’s not easy when you’ve got 50,000 on a single property", said Wilson.

Developed in partnership with Australia’s leading Apple Developer, iApps, iHerd made its debut on the iTunes app store last September and has been downloaded by station owners and managers around the world.

iApps Chief Executive, Rick Hoy said, “iHerd is a shining example of how wireless mobile technology and applications can be used to decrease costs, increase profits, and boost productivity. Our team is working alongside some of the biggest players in the agribusiness, developing industrial scale applications that save an average of twelve working hours per month through streamlining internal processes. When you look at these figures over 12 months, the savings are phenomenal.

“Working with the Wilson family to develop iHerd has given our company great insight into some of the frustrations felt by the farming community as a whole. “We’re in process of securing a federal R&D grant so that we can use mobile applications to help avoid and predict natural disasters such as the 2011 Queensland floods, including researching applications that will help increase Australia’s agricultural output through streamlining processes.

It is a truly exciting period for Australian Agribusiness and we look forward to developing more applications with the needs of Australian farming community in mind”, said Hoy.

iHerd is the leading herd management software application available exclusively for the iPhone and iPad. For more information on the cost saving benefits of using iHerd on your property, please visit http://www.iherd.com.au, or follow us on Facebook to receive news and promotions.

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iApps, a member of the Apple Developer community, is an Australian based company specializing in the design of applications for the Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and other Mobile Device technologies.

We provide software design and development services for iPhone, Mobile, Mac and the Web. And the iPad, naturally.

Our customers include individual consumers, corporate, SME's and industry clients. Our teams of innovative and experienced industry professionals combine their technical skills with their innate ability to 'think outside the square' to deliver high quality, effective and user-friendly applications.

iApps work in partnership with recognized leading industry experts to develop software that meets the needs of the business and achieve greater profits by increasing the productivity and efficiency of employees, whilst reducing costs.