Identification and data solutions company, Datamars, has acquired Australian based Precision Pastoral Pty Ltd. (PPPL) in a move which Datamars CEO, Klaus Ackerstaff says has the potential to revolutionise sustainable livestock production globally.

PPPL, and its founder and owner Tim Driver, are the brains behind the innovative remote walk over weighing solution that has helped transform productivity across large cattle stations in the vast outback of Australia.

As a grazier/livestock producer in the region Tim was acutely aware that, while producers understood the importance of weight as a critical productivity measure, most only have the opportunity to weigh cattle once or twice a year. “The hassle of weighing in large remote areas, the lack of appropriate (and often costly) infrastructure along with the stress and weight loss of the animals that can occur when they are off feed during the weigh process all act as barriers to gaining this valuable information.” explains Tim.

The Remote WOW (Walk Over Weighing) system is a unique combination of hardware, software and animal ‘self’ training that enables producers to autonomously identify, weigh and draft individual animals without on-site intervention.

“It means cattle can effectively weigh themselves – without a human in sight” says Tim.

“It delivers real time insight via the cloud into how livestock are progressing towards target weights, together with early warnings of poor performance and health issues. This is achieved while removing the issues associated with bringing livestock to the yards and reducing the burden that manual weighing places on a livestock producer’s time and labour resources.”

This level of insight means producers can make better informed, targeted decisions regarding feed and health treatment. It allows for far more efficient resource use and the ability to plan the best time to sell based on growth trajectories and market pricing.

“Livestock producers around the world are under huge pressure to be more productive with less. Increasingly, high stakes decisions need to be made and these are best based on data and insight, not just instinct. That’s where this solution really makes a difference.” says Datamars CEO, Klaus Ackerstaff.

Datamars has been working in close partnership with PPPL for over 2 years and its world leading Tru-Test weighing equipment and Datamars Livestock cloud software already form an integral part of the Remote WOW solution.

“Bringing PPPL into the Datamars family means we can work more closely to integrate this solution with our wider livestock portfolio and use our global footprint and expertise to help bring the technology to livestock producers around the world. The success and feedback we’ve had from Australia has been incredible, and we know many producers in other parts of the world – NZ, Latin America, South Africa, Europe and North America – experience similar barriers” explains Klaus.

“We’re committed to sustainable livestock production and we’re no stranger to bringing innovative technologies and products together – both in livestock as well as other sectors that are poorly served with data – to form integrated solutions that serve our customers’ needs in a seamless, connected way. This step is a powerful fit with our vision and our goal of putting powerful, practical data in the hands of our livestock customers so they can make better informed decisions and drive measurable success. Our Datamars Livestock solutions improve livestock producers’ ability to produce high quality protein and, importantly, they also strive to make their lives easier.”

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Datamars, formed in 1988 and based in Switzerland, is the company behind Tru-Test weighing and EID solutions, Speedrite and Stafix fence and farm management solutions and Z Tags RFID solutions. It’s also the world leader in industrial textile and companion animal RFID based data solutions. As a global company, Datamars has three R&D hubs, six major production hubs and market based commercial operations in over 21 locations worldwide.