Sheep producers and farm advisers are set to be wowed by the predictive power of the Sheep CRC’s latest flock-management app, ASKBILL, which will be released to industry on Monday.
The web-based app, www.askbill.com.au, has been designed to draw on information generated by biophysical models that use daily downloads of climate data and forecasts to provide estimates for individual farms of the risk of flystrike and parasite infection, likely pasture production, livestock nutritional requirements and feed budgets, and risks associated with extreme weather events.
A select group of producers and consultants has been given a sneak preview of the new app, including Cootamundra-based farm adviser Anthony Shepherd, of Sheepmatters, who said several of his clients were champing at the bit to subscribe to the app.
“ASKBILL is not about telling producers how to manage their flocks, but complementing their existing knowledge and management strategies by understanding well before it happens that there could be a risk in the future – they can then be on the front foot with management strategies, rather than reacting after the damage has been done,” Mr Shepherd said.
“ASKBILL will help prevent risks from things like flies and worms or cold snaps, and that will also help the bottom line.”
The easy-to-use app has been developed by the Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovation (Sheep CRC) in collaboration with the Data to Decisions CRC, the Bureau of Meteorology and the University of New England.
Sheep CRC CEO, James Rowe, said ASKBILL would complement producers’ grazing knowledge by providing detailed data about livestock, and pastures, and predicting opportunities and threats to their individual business from the weather, pests or disease.
“These predictions are the critical information producers need for making more precise farming decisions, for protecting the wellbeing of your flock and for maximising its productivity,” Sheep CRC CEO James Rowe said.
The web-based app, www.askbill.com.au, will go live on Monday May 22 when the Sheep CRC will begin a limited offering of the ASKBILL platform as part of a pre-release user feedback program – a vital step in putting the finishing touches to the product prior to ASKBILL’s full commercial release later this year.