Apps that estimate cattle weight: how they work and how often they are wrong.
With the advancement of technology in the field, several livestock weighing apps which make the process faster, more practical and accessible. The name is misleading: these apps are lightweight. They they estimate The animal's weight is determined from body measurements, with a margin of error.
The most commonly used method is... barimetry — chest circumference and length measured with a tape measure — and there are paid solutions that estimate it from a photo. The number is used to track the herd, but It does not replace a calibrated scale. not for sale nor for administering medication.
Advantages of Applications
Ease of use in the field
The applications are designed to work directly from your cell phone, even in rural environments. With a simple and intuitive interface, anyone can learn to use them without difficulty.
Savings on equipment
For daily monitoring, there's no need to invest in expensive scales: a measuring tape and your cell phone are enough to give you an estimate.
Real-time results
With just a few taps, the producer can get a weight estimate directly in the app, optimizing management and decision-making.
Data storage
In addition to weighing cattle, many applications allow you to record information such as date, breed, age, and even weight changes over time.
Integration with farm management
Some applications offer extra features, such as integration with spreadsheets, automatic reports and connection with rural management systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, most livestock weighing apps work offline. You only need to connect to the cloud to save or update your data.
This is an estimate, not a weighing. It's useful for day-to-day livestock farming; for sales and medication dosage calculations, use certified scales.
Generally, it is necessary to inform the breed of cattle, estimated age and take an image capture with the cell phone so that the calculation can be made.
Yes. Apps usually support multiple breeds, adapting calculations based on the characteristics of each one.
Yes. Most applications have an internal database that allows you to monitor the evolution of your animals' weight over time.
