From it’s inception in 1966, Valacta has focused on providing Canadian dairy producers with an accurate analysis of their herd to improve their productivity and profitability. To live up to this mission, they needed to migrate their solutions to a mobile world. That’s when they turned to Shockoe.
Best Hooves Forward
With no digital platform for recording information in the field, farmers were relegated to outdated analog methods to monitor hundreds of thousands of cattle. This left sizable gaps in security, accuracy, and efficiency. These gaps became Shockoe’s primary focus.
“The idea of planning and building a solution like this from the comfort of your office is simply not feasible. Bad weather. Big gloves. No cell service. A (literally) mobile dataset…you can’t account for these things unless you put on a pair of boots and get into that field.
– Designer, Shockoe Team Member
Protecting the Herd
Valacta made clear that they took treatment of livestock data as seriously as an insurance company might take the patient records of its policyholders. From the onset, it was necessary for Shockoe to build in several layers of security and encryption to safeguard cattle information from potential threats.
A Finished Product
Now, dairy farmers in the field can input and review herd data from wherever they may be. No need for pen and paper notes that can easily be lost or damaged before making it into the hands of visiting technicians. Likewise, hefty external hard drives are no longer necessary, nor does the information need to be physically transported hundreds of miles to the Valacta headquarters in Montreal.
Protecting Customers
Shockoe is now working with the University of Montreal and Valacta to find new uses for the collected data. Our aim is the prevention of contaminated milk from entering the supply chain with an emphasis is on early detection and treatment of the animals.
“Shockoe met their commitments and went above and beyond the original requirements. Their expert guidance on best practices was a strong contribution.”
– George Clyde, IT Manager, Valacta
