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When Is A Scale
Not A Scale?
When It’s An
Ernie™ 700
Scott Reynolds,
a DVM at the
Broken Bow
Animal Hospital
in Broken Bow,
Nebraska,
handles most of
the cattle
within a 70-mile
radius of this
central Nebraska
farm community.
It’s a big job
helping care for
15,000 to 20,000
animals per
year.
Along with the
usual care
supplied by
DVM’s, he helps
his clients
collect data -
everything from
sex, age, and
pregnancy,
whatever is
deemed important
by the rancher –
and it varies by
the season.
Spring and fall
are our busy
seasons,” he
said, “and the
information a
rancher needs to
run his business
changes with the
season.”
“We started
trying to
collect the data
from ear tags
with wireless
readers then
tried those
small handhelds.
We had lots of
problems.
Battery life
was terrible,
some of the
equipment wasn’t
sturdy enough,
and data entry
on those little
handhelds while
wearing gloves
was just about
impossible.
Screen view and
service were
also problems
with the
equipment.
Breakdowns
during the very
busy calving
season were
unacceptable.
Last year, he
tested the
Gallagher ernie™
700. “I’d known
about the
company for 4 or
5 years and saw
their equipment
in the area,” he
said.
Although its
primary function
is as a scale,
Reynolds liked
the fact that it
was designed to
capture other
data. “We could
quickly
reprogram it to
record any kind
of data our
clients wanted,”
said Reynolds.
“It’s a very
flexible piece
of equipment and
reprogramming it
is simple.”
The scale is
moved constantly
from farm to
farm and
subjected to
some times harsh
treatment.
Although it’s
rugged enough to
withstand a lot
of abuse,
Reynolds was
concerned at
first about
service if he
experienced a
problem.
I had some
service problems
with equipment
from other
companies,
especially when
I would get
caught in one of
those automated
answering
systems,” he
said, “but what
I liked about
Gallagher was I
could call them
and talk to a
real person
right away.
I’ve been
impressed with
their service
and
responsiveness.”
We use ernie™
like a very
durable lap top
and it works.
With EID
continuing to
grow, it will
become more
important to
us.”
Just a few of
the ways an
ernie can help
you.
 A.I.
Book
During A.I.
season, an ernie
can keep track
of all your
breeding
details. When
A.I. is
complete, the
information can
be downloaded
from your ernie
to your computer
to create one
spreadsheet with
all your A.I.
Records
Calving Book
Make calving
easier by using
an ernie to set
up the fields of
information you
want to collect.
Simply enter
the data and
download your
calving records
into your
computer. Saves
you hours of
hand entering
your records.
Preg Checking
An ernie can
also help with
preg checking.
Set up the
fields you want
to collect and
enter the data.
After
downloading to
your computer,
you have one
easy to read
spreadsheet with
detailed
information on
each animal
being
monitored.
Hay
Use an ernie to
help track your
hay crop cutting
and quality by
entering the
data into
customizable
fields. You can
then use that
information to
better track
where the
different
cuttings and
quality of feed
are being used.
 Crop
Monitoring
An ernie can be
used as a
monitoring
device for any
field crop —
corn, beans,
peanuts, cotton,
any crop —
simply build the
template for the
information you
want to collect
and monitor.
Garden/Farmers
Market
An ernie works
great to collect
and maintain
planting,
production and
sales
information on
your personal
garden or your
Farmers Market
garden.
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