Sponsored by: ArmaTrac

Ian Wheal

Breedr, Exeter

Ian Wheal is on a mission to improve the livestock sector and the communication in the supply chain.

His company, Breedr, looks set to shake up the way farmers breed, rear, sell and buy their livestock.

Growing up on a mixed farm in southern Australia, Ian Wheal felt there was a better way to market livestock after feeling frustrated at limited influences farmers have at their disposal.

Working as a business consultant for big food brands such as Kraft and Coca-Cola, he had extensive knowledge of being involved with strong supply chains.

Breedr uses farm data to help producers breed and rear better so they can improving beef quality, meet supply chain requirements, and grow their profits.

Farmers feed their livestock data into the Breedr platform, which is integrated with several farm management tools. This can also be accessed via the Breedr app.

The platform enables farmers to monitor the performance of individual animals. For example, sire performance charts show which sires have fathered the fastest growing calves, helping farmers breed a more profitable herd.

Transparency

Environmental targets can also be worked towards, which could offer big opportunities in the future as retailers look for ‘greener’ meat.

Farmers sell their livestock via the Breedr Marketplace: The performance and history of individual animals is made available to other users, creating a transparent supply chain, so buyers (whether farmer, processor, or retailer) can purchase with certainty that they are getting a top quality animal.

The tool will also predict when a particular animal might be ready, so that farmers can forward sell, helping with cash flow.

Currently, Breedr is working with a group of 25 farmers, but has a waiting list and will be opening up to more users in October, with the aim of taking on 300 farmers by the end of the year.

At the moment beef cattle are included, but the company plans to expand to lamb and pork.