In Central Queensland, Carlie and Lauchie Ward run Namgooyah Grazing, with 5,500 head of cattle across just under 45,000 acres. “We have a place at Marmor and a place at Emerald that we breed on,” Carlie explains. “And then Dingo is where we background everything, where we basically run feeder steers and sell directly to the feedlot.” 

The property at Dingo is brigalow melon hole country with some blackbutt ridges. “We have predominantly buffel grass pastures,” Carlie says, “but we’re trying to introduce some more legumes and also some leucaena.”

Like many producers, the Wards are always looking for ways to innovate and future-proof their grazing enterprise. A member of AgForce, Carlie watches developments in the industry closely, including the drive to digitisation. When looking at a tech solution to help streamline operations and turn production data into actionable insights, she found a good fit with AgriWebb.

Tech Adoption Made Simple

“I am a big advocate of AgriWebb. One of my favourite things is how it looks [the interface] and the easy functionality, which is really important when you’re trying to get uptake with team members,” Carlie says.

“Software can have a lot of potential, but if the people you work with won’t use it and data isn’t entered, it’s of little value.”

Carlie has found AgriWebb to be an intuitive, user-friendly platform allowing users to record farm operations, such as livestock movements or cattle treatments, through a mobile device while in the field. Records are synched across the cloud so everyone in the enterprise is on the same page. 

“When I look at any paddock on AgriWebb, it’s really easy to interpret what’s going on really quickly,” Carlie says. “We have multiple enterprises, and for me, being able to get a bird’s eye view of where everything’s sitting is vital.”

No More ‘Winging It’ Crushside

One of the motivations behind adopting AgriWebb was improved data collection. “We were trying to generate a lot more data to help us make decisions that were actually informed instead of just winging it all the time,” Carlie says.

Namgooyah has been with AgriWebb since 2016 and moved from the mob-based programme to the individual animal management programme in 2021. 

“We moved into Wagyus, so the need to increase the individual recording really went up,” Carlie explains. “But now that I’ve done it, I really would struggle to go back.”

Using individual animal management means, among other things, that weights recorded through the Ward’s Tru-Test hardware are instantly transferred to the AgriWebb platform. Based on this data AgriWebb can produce powerful animal insights, such as average daily gains and projected weight over time. This empowers the Wards to make well-informed and timely crush-side decisions.

Livestock Reconciliation you can Bank On

Carlie appreciates that, with the power of individual animal management, she has a firm handle on exactly where all cattle are, both on the property, and in terms of development: “One of the key benefits of it is that once an animal gets entered into AgriWebb, we have to track it right to the end. The outcome is that my numbers are getting much more accurate as time goes on.”

AgriWebb’s automatically generated livestock reconciliation report gives you a comprehensive look at starting and closing figures. “We’re always looking at new finance opportunities and strategic goals for the business, whether it is feed budgeting or marketing our feeders, so for us to be able to get an accurate reconciliation is paramount,” Carlie says.

“I feel like with the banks, we’re being asked for this sort of information all the time now. Our goal is to have everything tracked in real-time so that on any day of the week, I can go in and get an overview and know exactly what’s going on on every farm.”

Carlie also sees AgriWebb playing an essential role in the long-term future of the farm. “My goal personally is to not always be in the office, and I would like to get our system to a point where anyone can manage it,” she says. 

“AgriWebb is a tool that will help us get there – it’s basically like a succession plan, and it’s something that anyone with a little training can manage and succeed at.”

To find out how AgriWebb can streamline your record keeping and harness farm data to empower decision making, get in touch for a free demo today.