Managing Livestock Is Not Just About Counting Animals

A livestock farm may start with a few animals, a farm register and some Excel sheets.

As the operation grows, management becomes much more difficult.

Animals move between different stages and locations.

Breeding events need to be recorded.

Feed is consumed every day.

Vaccinations and treatments need to be completed on time.

Births, mortality and culling affect the animal population.

Weight and growth need to be monitored.

Medicines and feed need to be available when required.

Farm expenses continue to accumulate.

Animals are eventually transferred, sold or processed.

At that point, management needs answers to some basic questions.

How many animals do we actually have?

Where are they?

What stage are they in?

Which animals are performing well?

How much feed are they consuming?

What is the mortality rate?

What is the cost of raising an animal?

Which farm or group is profitable?

These questions become difficult to answer when information is maintained in different farm registers, Excel sheets and individual systems.

Livestock Management Software provides a structured way to manage animals, farm activities, feed, health, breeding, inventory, cost and performance from one connected system.

What Is Livestock Management Software?

Livestock Management Software is a farm management system designed to record and manage the operational activities involved in raising livestock.

Depending on the type of livestock business, it can help manage:

• Animal registration
• Animal identification
• Groups and batches
• Breeding
  Pregnancy
• Birth
• Weaning
• Growing
• Feed consumption
• Weight
• Health
• Vaccination
• Medication
• Mortality
• Culling
• Animal movement
• Farm inventory
• Farm expenses
• Sales
• Costing
• Management reporting

The objective is not simply to replace the animal register with a computer.

A useful system should help management understand what is happening on the farm and how those activities affect production and cost.

Why Livestock Farms Move Away from Excel

Excel is useful and will continue to be useful for analysis.

The problem starts when Excel becomes the main livestock management system.

One person maintains animal records.

Another maintains feed consumption.

The store team has an inventory sheet.

The veterinarian has health records.

Finance has expense information.

Management receives another report at the end of the week or month.

The numbers may not always match.

For example, the farm register may show 5,000 animals while the latest management report shows 4,920.

The difference may come from:

• Births not recorded
• Mortality posted late
• Transfers not updated
• Animals sold but still appearing in the farm register
• Incorrect opening population
  Duplicate entries
• Delayed data entry

When the information is connected, each movement can update the relevant animal or group record.

Individual Animal and Batch Management

Not every livestock business manages animals in the same way.

Some animals need to be managed individually.

Others are managed in groups or batches.

For example, breeding animals may require individual identification and history.

Growing animals may be managed by batch depending on the farm process.

A Livestock Management System should support the level of tracking required by the business.

Animal Registration Creates the Basic Farm Record

Every animal or group should have a clear identity.

An individual animal record may include:

• Animal ID
• RFID or tag number
• Breed
• Gender
• Date of birth
• Source
• Farm
• Location
• Current stage
• Mother
• Father
• Weight
• Health status
• Breeding status
• Current status

This creates the base record for future activities.

RFID and QR Based Animal Identification

Large farms need a practical way to identify animals.

RFID, QR codes or other tagging methods can help connect the physical animal with its digital record.

A farm user can identify the animal and access relevant information such as:

• Animal details
• Age
• Location
• Breeding history
• Health history
• Vaccination
• Weight history
• Movement

This reduces dependence on manually searching long animal registers.

Animal Lifecycle Management

Livestock management is a lifecycle process.

An animal moves through different stages depending on the livestock type and purpose.

The system should maintain the animal’s current stage and previous history.

For a pig farming operation, for example, the production cycle may include stages such as:

• Gilt
• Service or AI
• Gestation
• Farrowing
• Weaner
• Grower
• Finisher
• Sale or transfer

Breeding animals may continue through multiple reproductive cycles.

The software should follow the actual livestock process rather than forcing every farm into one generic workflow.

Breeding Management

Breeding is one of the most important areas of livestock management.

Missing a breeding activity or expected event can affect future production.

The system can maintain information such as:

• Animal
• Breeding date
• Service or AI date
• Sire
• Dam
• Pregnancy status
• Expected birth date
• Actual birth date
• Number born
• Live births
• Stillbirths
• Litter information
• Breeding result

This creates a complete reproductive history.

Breeding Calendar and Due Dates

Farm teams should not have to calculate every expected date manually.

Based on the breeding event, the system can help provide visibility into upcoming activities.

For example:

• Pregnancy checks
• Expected farrowing or calving
• Vaccination
• Weaning
• Rebreeding

This gives farm managers a forward view rather than relying only on historical records.

Parity and Reproductive Performance

For breeding livestock, reproductive cycles need to be monitored over time.

In pig farming, parity can be an important part of sow performance.

Management may want to review:

• Number of completed parities
• Piglets born
• Live births
• Stillbirths
• Piglets weaned
• Mortality
• Litter performance

Time between reproductive events

This helps identify animals that are performing well and animals that may need management attention.

Birth Management

Every birth changes the livestock population.

The system should capture the birth event and update the relevant records.

Depending on the farm, information may include:

• Mother
• Birth date
• Number born
• Live births
• Stillbirths
• Gender
• Birth weight
• Offspring IDs
• Location

The new animals then become part of the farm population.

Weaning Management

Weaning is another important livestock event.

The farm may need to record:

• Weaning date
• Number of animals
• Weight
• Source animal or group
• Destination group
• Destination location
• Mortality before weaning

This creates continuity between birth and the next growing stage.

Growing and Finishing Management

After weaning, animals move through their production stages.

Management needs to understand:

• Population
• Age
• Weight
• Feed consumption
• Mortality
• Health
• Location
• Expected sale date
• Performance against target

This helps the farm identify batches that are progressing normally and those that require attention.

Weight and Growth Tracking

Animal count alone does not tell management whether production is going well.

Weight is an important performance indicator.

The system can maintain:

• Previous weight
• Current weight
• Weight date
• Average weight
• Weight gain
• Growth trend
• Target weight

This can be managed individually or by group depending on the operation.

Planned Growth Versus Actual Growth

Management can compare actual animal growth with the farm’s expected performance.

If a group is below target, the farm can investigate possible reasons.

These may include:

• Feed
• Disease
• Environment
• Genetics
• Stocking
• Management practices

The software does not replace the farm manager or veterinarian.

It gives them better information to investigate the issue.

Feed Is One of the Biggest Livestock Costs

Feed represents a major part of the cost of raising livestock.

Yet many farms know how much feed they purchased without having a clear picture of where that feed was consumed.

Livestock Feed Management should connect feed issues with:

• Farm
• Location
• Animal group
• Batch
• Stage
• Date
• Feed type
• Quantity

This allows management to see where feed is going.

Feed Consumption by Animal Group

Suppose 10 MT of feed is issued from the store.

Knowing that 10 MT left the warehouse is not enough.

Management needs to know:

• Which farm received it?
• Which group consumed it?
• What stage were the animals in?
• How many animals were present?
• What was the growth during the same period?

This turns a store transaction into useful farm management information.

Feed Cost and Animal Performance

Two groups may consume similar quantities of feed but achieve different production results.

Management can compare feed information with:

• Weight gain
• Mortality
• Animal population
• Age
• Production stage
• Cost

This helps identify performance differences between farms or animal groups.

Feed Inventory Management

Feed needs to be available when the animals need it.

The system can maintain:

• Feed item
• Location
• Available quantity
• Receipts
• Issues
• Transfers
• Consumption
• Reorder requirement

Farm managers can see feed availability while the procurement team can see future requirements.

Medicine and Vaccine Management

Health activities need proper records.

Livestock Management Software can maintain:

• Medicine
• Vaccine
• Animal or group
• Date
• Dosage
• Reason
• Treatment
• Veterinarian
• Next due date
• Withdrawal period where applicable

This provides a more complete animal health history.

Vaccination Planning

Vaccination should not depend entirely on someone’s memory.

The farm can maintain its vaccination schedule and upcoming requirements.

The system can help identify:

• Animals due
• Groups due
• Vaccine required
• Required date
• Completion status

This supports better farm health management.

Treatment History

When an animal has repeated health problems, previous treatment information can be useful.

A digital animal record can maintain treatment history so authorised farm and veterinary teams can review what happened previously.

Mortality Management

Mortality affects both production and cost.

Every mortality event should update the farm population.

Information may include:

• Animal or group
• Date
• Farm
• Location
• Stage
• Cause
• Quantity
• Age
• Remarks

Management can then review mortality trends rather than only a final monthly number.

Mortality Analysis

A total mortality percentage may hide the actual problem.

Management should be able to analyse mortality by:

• Farm
• Location
• Batch
• Stage
• Age
• Period
• Cause

This can help identify whether a problem is isolated or appearing across several groups.

Culling Management

Not every animal leaves the farm through a normal sale.

Animals may be culled because of:

• Age
• Poor performance
• Health
• Breeding performance
• Physical condition
• Other management decisions

The system should maintain the reason and update the animal population accordingly.

Animal Movement Between Locations

Animals may move between:

• Farm
• House
• Pen
• Section
• Production stage
• Another farm
• Holding location

The system should maintain the movement history.

Management can then identify both the current location and previous movements of an animal or group.

Farm to Farm Transfers

For businesses operating multiple farms, transfers need proper control.

The process can maintain:

• Source farm
• Destination farm
• Animal or batch
• Quantity
• Transfer date
• Transport details
• Receipt confirmation

This helps keep livestock population accurate at both locations.

Livestock Population Reconciliation

Management should be able to reconcile the animal population.

A simple population movement may include:

• Opening animals
• Plus births
• Plus transfers in
• Minus mortality
• Minus culls
• Minus transfers out
• Minus sales
• Equals closing animals

This provides a basic control over farm numbers.

Monthly Livestock Stocktake

Physical stocktaking is useful even when daily records are maintained.

The farm can compare:

• System population
• Physical population
• Difference
• Reason
• Adjustment

This helps identify recording gaps and strengthens farm controls.

Farm Inventory Goes Beyond Animals

Livestock farms also manage operational inventory.

This may include:

• Feed
• Medicine
• Vaccines
• Disinfectants
• Consumables
• Equipment
• Packaging
• Other farm supplies

A connected system provides visibility into both animal operations and the materials used to support them.

Farm Store Management

Each farm may have its own store.

The system can maintain stock by location so management knows:

• What is available
• What has been received
• What has been issued
• What has been consumed
• What is nearing expiry
• What needs replenishment

Procurement Based on Farm Requirements

Purchasing should not begin only when the farm runs out of material.

Expected animal population and production plans can provide visibility into future requirements.

Procurement can plan:

• Feed
• Medicine
• Vaccines
• Farm supplies
• Other consumables

This gives purchasing more time to work with suppliers.

Farm Expenses Need to Be Connected with Production

Feed is not the only livestock cost.

Farm expenses can include:

• Labour
• Medicine
• Vaccination
• Utilities
• Transport
• Maintenance
• Veterinary services
• Consumables
• Other overheads

If these expenses are maintained separately from farm operations, management may know total expenditure but not the actual cost of raising animals.

Cost Per Animal

A useful livestock management system should help the business understand cost at the level required by management.

Depending on the business, this may include:

• Cost per animal
• Cost per batch
• Cost per kg
• Cost per stage
• Cost per farm

The calculation can include relevant direct and allocated costs according to the company’s costing policy.

Batch Costing

For animals managed in groups, batch costing can provide a practical view.

The batch can accumulate costs such as:

• Opening animal value
• Feed
• Medicine
• Vaccination
• Labour
• Farm expenses
• Other applicable costs

Management can then compare cost between batches.

Mortality Affects Cost Per Saleable Animal

Mortality is not only a biological KPI.

It has a financial impact.

Costs have already been incurred on animals that die.

As the saleable population reduces, the cost carried by the remaining output may increase.

Connecting mortality with costing gives management a clearer picture of its financial impact.

Farm Wise Profitability

A business operating several farms should know whether performance is consistent.

Management can compare:

• Animal population
• Feed consumption
• Mortality
• Weight gain
• Production
• Cost
• Sales
• Profitability

Farm wise comparison can highlight locations that need attention.

Batch Wise Profitability

The same analysis can be performed by production batch.

Management can review:

• Total cost
• Cost per animal
• Sale quantity
• Sale value
• Margin

This connects operational performance with financial results.

Animal Sales Management

Eventually, livestock may be sold.

The sales process may include:

• Customer
• Animal or group
• Weight
• Quantity
• Selling price
• Delivery date
• Location
• Transport

The sales transaction should update the relevant livestock records so that sold animals no longer appear as active farm population.

Weight Based Livestock Sales

Many livestock transactions depend on animal weight.

The system can maintain the relevant sale weight and commercial information according to the company’s process.

This helps connect operational animal data with the sales transaction.

Animal Traceability from Birth to Sale

Traceability is increasingly important for organised livestock businesses.

The system can maintain a history covering:

• Birth
• Parentage
• Farm
• Movement
• Feed
• Health
• Vaccination
• Weight
• Production stage
• Sale

This creates a digital history of the animal or group.

Multi Farm Livestock Management

A central system becomes particularly valuable when a business operates several farms.

Head office can review information across locations while each farm records its own daily activities.

Management can compare:

• Population
• Mortality
• Feed
• Growth
• Breeding
• Health
• Inventory
• Cost
• Performance

This reduces dependence on collecting separate spreadsheets from each farm.

Mobile Livestock Farm Management

Farm activities happen in sheds, pens and fields, not at the head office desk.

Mobile based data entry can help farm teams capture information closer to where the activity happens.

Depending on the process, users can record:

• Animal identification
• Movement
• Weight
• Feed
• Mortality
• Health
• Breeding
• Birth
• Farm observations

This reduces the delay between an activity happening and management receiving the information.

Offline Data Collection Can Matter in Remote Farms

Some livestock farms operate in areas with inconsistent internet connectivity.

Where the implementation supports offline working, farm users can capture operational information and synchronise it when connectivity becomes available.

The exact approach depends on the deployment and farm environment.

Management Dashboard

A livestock dashboard should not simply display attractive charts.

It should help management identify where attention is required.

A useful dashboard may include:

• Current animal population
• Births
• Mortality
• Culls
• Breeding status
• Expected births
• Feed consumption
• Weight performance
• Health activities
• Farm inventory
• Cost per animal
• Farm performance
• Sales
• Profitability

Exception Based Management

Senior management does not need to inspect every animal transaction.

The system should help identify exceptions such as:

• Mortality above target
• Feed consumption above plan
• Weight below target
• Vaccination overdue
• Low feed stock
• Unexpected population variance
• Breeding event overdue
• Farm cost above plan

These are the areas where management action may be required.

Livestock Reports That Management Actually Needs

Depending on the livestock business, useful reports may include:

• Animal Register
• Animal Movement Report
• Breeding Report
• Pregnancy Report
• Birth Report
• Parity Report
• Mortality Report
• Culling Report
• Feed Consumption Report
• Weight and Growth Report
• Vaccination Report
• Treatment Report
• Farm Inventory Report
• Animal Population Report
• Batch Cost Report
• Farm Cost Report
• Sales Report
• Profitability Report

The exact reports should follow the company’s operation rather than a generic software template.

How NAVFarm Supports Livestock Management

NAVFarm is designed to manage farm operations and can support livestock businesses across animal management, farm activities and business transactions.

Depending on the livestock operation and implementation scope, NAVFarm can support areas such as:

• Animal registration
• Individual and batch management
• RFID or QR identification
• Breeding
• Gestation
• Birth
• Farrowing
• Weaning
• Growing
• Finishing
• Animal movement
• Feed consumption
• Weight
• Mortality
• Health
• Vaccination
• Medication
• Farm inventory
• Procurement
• Farm expenses
• Costing
• Sales
• Traceability
• Offline Mobile data entry
• Management reporting

For businesses using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, NAVFarm can connect farm operations with inventory, purchasing, sales, accounting and financial reporting.

NAVFarm can also be designed to exchange relevant operational information with an existing ERP where integration forms part of the implementation scope.

A Practical Pig Farm Example

Consider a pig farming business operating several farms.

A gilt enters the breeding process.

The service or AI activity is recorded.

After pregnancy confirmation, the animal moves into gestation.

The expected farrowing date becomes visible to the farm team.

At farrowing, the litter information is recorded.

Live births and mortality update the animal population.

Piglets move to the weaner stage.

Later they move through grower and finisher stages.

Feed consumption is recorded against the relevant groups.

Weight is captured periodically.

Mortality updates the active population.

Farm expenses continue to accumulate.

When animals are ready for sale, the business can review their population, weight, cost and sales information.

Management can see the complete cycle rather than collecting separate reports from breeding, farm stores and finance.

A Practical Cattle Farm Example

Consider a cattle operation managing animals individually.

Each animal has a unique identification number.

The animal record contains breed, age, location and parent information.

Breeding events are recorded.

Pregnancy is monitored.

Calving information updates the animal history.

Vaccination and treatment records are maintained.

Weight is captured periodically.

Feed and relevant farm costs are recorded.

If the animal moves to another farm, the movement is recorded.

When the animal is sold, the sale closes the active farm lifecycle while preserving the history.

Management can trace the animal from entry or birth through its complete time on the farm.

What to Look for in Livestock Management Software

Before selecting Livestock Management Software, businesses should check whether it supports their actual livestock process.

Important capabilities may include:

Individual animal management

Batch management

Animal identification

RFID or QR support

Breeding

Pregnancy

Birth

Weaning

Growth

Weight

Feed

Health

Vaccination

Medication

Mortality

Culling

Animal movement

Multiple farms

Farm inventory

Procurement

Costing

Sales

Traceability

Mobile entry

Dashboards

ERP integration

The system should adapt to the livestock lifecycle rather than treating animals like normal inventory items.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Livestock Management Software?

Livestock Management Software is used to manage animal records, breeding, health, feed, weight, movement, farm inventory, cost and other livestock farm activities in a structured system.

Can livestock software track individual animals?

Yes. Individual animals can be maintained with unique identification and relevant lifecycle information where individual tracking is required.

Can livestock software also manage animals by batch?

Yes. Group or batch management can be used for livestock operations where managing every animal individually is not practical.

Can RFID be used for livestock tracking?

Yes. RFID or other identification methods can be connected with animal records depending on the farm’s tagging and technology setup.

Can livestock management software manage breeding?

Yes. Breeding events, pregnancy, expected birth dates, actual births and reproductive history can be maintained according to the livestock process.

Can the system track feed consumption?

Yes. Feed issues and consumption can be recorded against farms, groups, batches or other relevant dimensions according to the farm process.

Can livestock software calculate cost per animal?

Yes. Relevant farm costs can be used to calculate cost at animal, group, batch or farm level depending on the costing method implemented.

Can livestock software manage multiple farms?

Yes. A central livestock management system can maintain operations across multiple farms and locations.

Can NAVFarm integrate with an ERP?

Yes. NAVFarm can work with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and can also exchange relevant information with an existing ERP where integration is included in the solution design.

Better Livestock Management Starts with Better Farm Information

A modern livestock business cannot be managed effectively by knowing only how many animals are on the farm.

Management needs to understand the complete picture.

Where are the animals?

What stage are they in?

How are they growing?

How much feed are they consuming?

Which animals are due for breeding or birth?

What is the mortality trend?

What medicines and vaccines have been used?

What does each animal or batch cost?

Which farms are performing better?

When animal records, feed, health, inventory and costs are maintained separately, answering these questions takes time.

NAVFarm brings livestock operations into a structured digital process and can connect farm information with the wider business and ERP environment.

For livestock businesses still managing animal records, breeding, feed, mortality and farm performance through separate registers and Excel sheets, a Livestock Management Software can provide much better control over daily operations and management reporting. To see how NAVFarm can work for your livestock business, request a demonstration using your actual animal lifecycle, farms, breeding process, feed management and reporting requirements