PDA For Dairy Operations

VANCOUVER - Jun 16/06 - SNS -- North American dairy producers now have available a rugged PDA for instantly entering data about individual cows in their herds.

Developed by Valley Agriculture Software and Otter Products, LLC. the device can be carried around by producers, allowing them to enter data for individual cows in the field.

"Just as doctors keep patient files, dairies can now keep records of each cow with our software solution called Pocket CowCard installed on a Dell Axim," explains William Avila, Project Manager of the Daily Herd Management Department of VAS.

For the past 19 years, Avila has helped managed the growing number of people in the company's hardware, marketing, fulfillment and inventory departments. He helps to implement dairy software which controls approximately 4 million dairy cattle.

The unpredictability of dairy work environments however, means PDA protection is a must. Although, Avila evaluated several cases on the market, some with a zip-lock bag approach, he chose the rugged OtterBox 1900 PDA case to protect delicate devices.

"The OtterBox 1900 protects handhelds from breaking," said Avila. "It safeguards the Axims from harsh environments where managers and dairy workers can drop them and easily corrode the screen."

Avila has made the waterproof, interactive OtterBox 1900 available to Valley Agriculture Software customers for the last three years.

"A few customers who didn't believe that they needed a protective case for their device, quickly changed their mind once they broke their Axim at the dairy," explained Avila. "The Axim costs around $500 plus software and other hardware considerations, which depending on the dairy size and software functions needed can range from $ 800.00-$4000.00. Drop it one time in the OtterBox, and the device has paid for itself."

Avila also suggests the optional OtterBox neck strap for hands-free carrying and convenience.

Dairy managers and workers can easily track the cows' information with the PDA and then sync that information onto their computers at the end of the day.

For those Dairies that use RFID, each cow has an RFID chip on its ear or leg and when the chip is scanned, users can listen with their headset through the top of the 1900 case that connects to the PDA which "talks" to them and tells them what needs to be done to each cow.

With the latest in dairy software and protective cases from OtterBox, customers can manage dairy records and add longevity to their expensive monitoring devices. The company is currently building presence in countries such as Canada, Mexico and Europe to provide systems to dairies across the world.