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Genet-Assist - herd management software
Herd Genetic Analysis & Management System
for Windows 98, ME, XP, NT, 2000, Windows Vista
Windows 7 and Windows 8

Herd management software
Program Description
View Sample Program Screens
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[Genet-Assist]
Takes the guesswork out of beef herd management.
Keeps all Birth, Weaning and Yearling data, Actual and Adjusted Weights.
Tracks and displays Ancestry, keeps Health and Production cost records.
Displays the age of each calf for Age Verification purposes.
Writes Age Verification Reports in approved format
for upload to the Age Verification Site of the CCIA.
Greatly simplifies compliance with Age Verification requirements.
Writes a Pedigree Certificate for any animal in the database.
Calculates Birth, Weaning and Yearling ranks & Indexes.
Calculates and displays ADG, WPDA's, Ranks and Indexes.
Provides all required worksheets and a great variety of reports.
Will handle any number of breeds and management groups in the same herd.
Genet-Assist accepts unlimited ultrasound data for any number of tests.
Prints reports to make it useful to commercial and purebred producers.
Comes with Excel templates for PDA data collection.
Probably the easiest to use of all cattle software.
Still only $249.95 Cdn plus tax.
FREE demo available upon request.
Provides the Ultimate in Data Collection - Check it out!
Where are we going with the National Cattle Identification Program and Id Tags?
Read an excerpt from the Winter 2006 CCIA News
International Year Codes
NEWS - About Age Verification
Using a Bluetooth Reader to simplify data collection.
Home page  Genet-Assist Page

 




The need for a comprehensive beef herd management program has never been greater.
Proper herd management is the only thing that can save us from another BSE disaster like the
one that we just had. What we really need is a traceback system like the one developed by
the CCIA where every animal that goes to market has had its birth registered in a national
registry. With such an Age Verification system the age of any calf could be determined by
going into the national database and keying in the RFID number of the calf. All cattle
producers should have complete access to the database so anyone can verify the
age of any calf - not just their own but anyone else's as well. If the recent Liberal
government had mandated a cattle registry of this kind instead of the gun registry
we would have saved a lot of money and a great many headaches. Cattle
management is more than just feeding calves - it also comes with the
responsibility of proper record keeping so everyone knows all there is
to know about every animal in the sale ring.


 
The following was taken from a recent FBC Market Advice Weekly Report
Week ending April 20, 2006
*** AGE VERIFIED BEEF THE TICKET TO JAPAN...A significantly larger amount of Canadian beef could be shipped to Japan if more animals were age verified. Brad Wildeman, vice president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association says the "what's in it for me" syndrome has led to many producers not registering their animals with the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency's database.
 
The CCIA and the National Cattle Identification Program

Excerpt from the Winter 2006 edition of the CCIA News
The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency is pleased to announce the completion
of the next phase of our Database Enhancements and we would like to thank you for
your  continued support of our National livestock identification and tracking program.
Julie Stitt, CCIA Executive Director explains that, "These database enhancements,
identified postBSE, ensure that Canada will remain a global leader in animal identification
 and tracking".  Producers can expect more user friendly features when Age Verifying,
the ability to retire tag numbers, check tag inventories, as well as the ability to conduct
 personal reporting inquiries. "The Canadian Cattle Identification Program is one of the most
comprehensive identification and tracking programs in the world and with these enhancements,
 the CCIA will continue to meet and exceed domestic and international requirements for animal
identification and Age Verification which ensures we have a solid infrastructure for one national
 animal health  and food safety traceback database for all livestock species in Canada", said
Nadine Meade, Project  Manager of CCIA Database Enhancements. With additional modules
being completed in the  coming months, the CCIA will continue to strive to enhance the system
and ensure it remains user friendly. In 2005, the CCIA increased its participation by
delivering over 150  presentations nationally and over 30 internationally. The CCIA hosted
various international delegates in order to open new markets and evaluate animal identification
and tracking globally. By participating in various international events the CCIA is committed
to the goal of overall global harmonization in animal identification. Most recently the CCIA
assisted in the generation of cattle Birth Certificates for one of the first shipments of
Canadian beef entering Japan.

Reader Funding Program?
The Canadian Radio Frequency Identification (CFRID) Funding Program application
deadline is the end of March 2006. For more information and eligibility criteria
 please visit www.canadaid.ca under "Links".

Age Verification and the Canadian Cattle Industry
Age Verification is the association of animal birth date information with an Animal
Identification Number (Single Tag or Tag Group). This voluntary, free of charge
program allows producers to submit information and have it readily available as
required by domestic or export markets by visiting www.canadaid.ca and clicking
on the Age Verification link.
Once birth date submission is complete, producers can choose to generate specific
 birth certificates as needed. Producers who do not have internet access can assign
 a third party user to submit on their behalf. For more information on Age Verification,
please contact the CCIA at 18779092333.
Note: When purchasing your CCIA tags for the 2006 calf crop, please request that
the tags are in sequential order. This will make your birth date submission easier.

When will cattle require RFID tags?
As per CCIA policy, as of September 1, 2006 all cattle permanently leaving their
Herd of Origin must be tagged with a CCIA  approved RFID tag. In order to
facilitate the transition to RFID, full enforcement will commence December 31, 2007,
at which time the barcoded tags will be permanently removed from the list of CCIA approved tags.

How many CCIA approved RFID tags are there?
Currently there are seven CCIA approved REID tags. All CCIA approved tags
have the following attributes:
- A CCIA identification number unique to the individual animal
- CCIA Trademark (3/4 Maple Leaf and "CA" letters)
- Demonstrate exceptional retention and readability
- Are yellow in color with a yellow backing stud (unless otherwise approved)
- Meet all requirements in the Canadian National Standards for RFID technology
All CCIA approved REID tags manufactured as of January 1, 2006 will also have  
the CCIA  Trademark (3/4 Maple Leaf and "CA" letters) on the tag backing.
                           Above article taken from the Winter 2006 CCIA News

Producer Note Re: PIN numbers
Cattle producers who buy RFID tags are assigned a 6-digit PIN number. When RFID
tags are  packaged they are numbered in sequence. As they are sold, the vendor keeps a
record of the PIN number  of the producer and the first and last number of the tags in
 the package. The list of tags sold is sent in on a regular basis to the CCIA where a
permanent record is kept. That is how the traceback aspect of the program works.
It is actually a very well planned system that should serve cattle producers well in
the years to come and as. This is just another example of a well conceived 'Made in Canada'
solution to a global problem.

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Use of PDAs for Data Collection
PDAs can be used effectively to gather herd data in the field, in the corral or in
the calving barn.  The Genet-Assist program comes with Excel templates that can be
 loaded onto a PDA in preparation for Birth, Weaning, or Yearling data collection.
The following screen pic shows the Birth Data template. Similar templates exist
for Weaning & Yearling data collection.

Excel Weaning Data template                                   PDA with Yearling Data Template

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Using a Bluetooth RFID reader to simplify data collection.
A  Bluetooth RFID reader may be used to read cattle identification tag
numbers into an Excel Spreadsheet on a PDA or notebook computer as they
come into the chute  for weighing at weaning or yearling. The Id tags are
read, the cattle are weighed, and weights are put on the same line with the
tag  numbers. On the Office PC, cattle are called up by RFID tag number
and weights are entered to bring the records up to date. A LightningROD
reader from ID-ology.com in Eau Claire, WI will transmit up to 300 feet
to a bluetooth equipped notebook computer.
A PDA (with Class lll Bluetooth) would pick up the signal up to 30 feet away.
Either way, the recording device can be some distance from the cattle chute.
Automatic entry of RFID numbers would be a huge advantage in data collection.
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Genet-Assist Program Sample Screens
Program Configuration
Cattle Maintenance
Bred Cow/Heifer Maintenance
Breed Maintenance
Group Maintenance
Genet-Assist Reports
Rank & Index Calculations
Rank & Index Calculation in Progress
PDA Data Collection
Home Page  Genet-Assist Page









 
System Configuration
The first step in setting up the Genet-Assist herd management program would be to fill in the System Configuration screen below. In it you would put the year and specify whether to make age-of-dam adjustments on birth and weaning weights. You would enter your CCIA Pin Number (used in Age Verification Reports uploaded to the CCIA). You would show your preferred date format, the next customer number, and whether you want weaning weights adjusted to 200 or 205 days. You would show the preferred order for rank and index in reports (increasing or decreasing). As well, you can choose the default destination for Genet-Assist reports.  If you choose 'File' you will have to give the default file type. This can be Tab Delimited, Comma Separated (or Comma Delimited - the format used in Age Verification Reports to the CCIA), Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Multiplan, or Document Interchange Format. The type will depend on where the file will be used after it is written. The yellow fields show the date the two reports shown were last exported. This information is shown in case you don't remember if it was done and when.
Home Page  Sample Screens





 
Cattle Maintenance Screen
It is here that most cattle data is entered into the database. Animal Tag, Reg No., Tattoo, CCIA No., (Which is also the RFID No.), Name, Sire Tag (program gets the name), Dam Tag (program gets the name), Sex, Breed, Birth Weight & Date, Weaning and Yearling Weights & Dates. By setting the order to Birth Date (top right) , and for 1992 calves, by putting in a starting value of 1992/01/01 the computer will show the first born and the date. After that when you take <Next>, the computer will show all 1992 calves in the order they were born. Putting in data for the 1992 calves is made easy with this trick. For Age Verification purposes, the age (as of today) in days and months of 1B is shown near the bottom left on the screen . 1B is shown here to be 5170 days or 172 months old.
Home page  Sample Screens



 
Bred Cow/Bred Heifer Maintenance
The Bred Cow/Bred Heifer Maintenance screen provides a place to register bred females and to enter Service Sire tags and exposed and observed breeding dates. Pressing <Enter> when the cursor is on an animal tag brings up the screen overlay shown below.  The white fields in the overlay are the data entry fields.
Home Page Sample Screens


 
Breed Maintenance
Each breed in the herd is put into the Breed Maintenance screen along with the data shown below. The numbers are readily available from breed associations. The Age-of-Dam in this case goes 0 to (912 days) 2-1/2 years, 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 years, 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 years and over 4-1/2 years. The adjustments are then used to show adjusted weights.
Home page  Sample Screens






 
Group Maintenance
Groups shown below are already in the database but the cattle producer may wish to put in management groups to show animals given special treatment, like West pasture, Irrigated Pasture, Dryland Pasture and so on. When rank & index calculations are done, special groups like these are grouped separately for the purpose of calculation. Also, in the Group Code Information screen check boxes are used to indicate what particular information is associated with each group member (gestation period, service sire, bred cow/bred heifer).
Home page  Sample Screens





 
Genet-Assist Reports
The Genet-Assist program comes with a great variety of worksheets and reports. A worksheet like the 'Pre-Calving List' which shows all bred cows and heifers, would be used in the calving barn to enter calving data. When calving is done, the worksheet is taken into the office and data is entered into the computer and the Birth Weight Rank & Index calculation is done. The Age Verification Report may be uploaded directly to the Age Verification Web site of the CCIA to satisfy their reporting requirement.
Home Page  Sample Screens





 
Rank & Index Calculations
After Birth, Weaning, or Yearling weights and dates for the entire group of calves are entered, the appropriate rank & index calculation is done. The computer groups all animals of the same breed together, then within each breed animals are separated by management group. Within each of those groups, animals are grouped as to age so no animal is more than 90 days older or younger than any other in the group. Males are kept separate from females when the calculations are done. Animals are compared to others that are equal in every respect. The calculation is a very complex one and may take some time to complete on a slower computer. The calculation may be re-done any time anything changes.
Home page   Sample Screens






 
The screen below shows a rank & index calculation in progress. Shown are five groups that will be considered. At the moment a calculation is being done for Purebred Charlais heifers born in 1992 - males in the Middle (B) age group.
Home page  Sample Screens


 
International Year Codes
Year codes used in tagging animals have been arrived at internationally.
The codes given below do bot include I, O, Q, and V. It is suggested that,
for the year 2004 tags might read P1, P2, P3, and so on for the first,
second, third calves born in 2004.
1990 - Z      2000 - K      2010 - X
1991 - A      2001 - L      2011 - Y
1992 - B      2002 - M      2012 - Z
1993 - C      2003 - N      2013 - A
1994 - D      2004 - P      2014 - B
1995 - E      2005 - R      2015 - C
1996 - F      2006 - S      2016 - D
1997 - G      2007 - T      2017 - E
1998 - H      2008 - U      2018 - F
1999 - J      2009 - W      2019 - G
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