Tonga Station
Tonga Station is a cattle station near Mansfield in north east Victoria, run by Mark Calvert-Jones and Tony Scott. The Tonga operation is both a breeding and steer trading operation with the breeding occurring on Tonga Station itself and the trading operation centred on the Blackheath property about 20 minutes drive away. Sapien Technology has fitted out the two sets of yeards with RFID reading equipment - AllFlex race readers and Ruddweigh 800 scales - and koolcollect software.
koolcollect has very quickly become an integral part of all cattle handling. This is largely due to its ease of use in the field. As the animals walk into the crush, their NLIS tag is scanned and weight is recorded by koolcollect software beside the crush. koolcollect is used to record all weights and treatments for the trade steers which are backgrounded for the feedlot market. Both Mark and Tony have no problems with using the software to collect data. "We regularly weigh all animals so that we can accurately project which animals will be sent to the feedlot for optimum price," says Mark. "koolcollect makes our life so much easier."
koolcollect saves Tonga Station valuable time and effort in other ways, especially when combined with an AllFlex Stick Reader. During pregtesting time, as the vet pronounces an animal 'empty', Mark can simply scan a tag pinned to the wall to record this status in koolcollect. No manual computer entry is required. this labour-saving system also allows the empties to be drafted off at some later stage if required.
Recently Mark and three other properties in the area did some trialling of vaccines for a feedlot, individually treating each animal. This information was easily input into koolcollect on the run. "If we didn't have koolcollect, there is no way we would have even thought of getting this information," says Mark.
Sapien's technology allows Tonga Station to easily analyse data and make informed choices. The systems in place allow for carefully considered decisions and marketing strategies to be made in the most appropriate environment of choice, be it the yards or the office. koolcollect offers them a comprehensive solution to data collection challenges that results in Tonga Station not only saving time and effort (and money!) but creating value within the enterprise.
Tonga Station has felt the benefits of Sapien's expert knowledge of the right technology for the task at hand, and continues to look for ways to take best advantage of all that Sapien has to offer them.
