The case of Chiru Estancia S.A.

Chiru Estancia S.A. a cattle farm in Traill, Santa Fe, Argentina; was the ground base of the e-livestock system, where the need for it was originated.

Its development was started in the year 2000 and it has been operating in that farm since 2002, date from which a constant improvement programme has been taking place. The system is now a great productive management and traceability solution for Chirú Estancia S.A.

Such solution provides management with a series of on-demand data that ranges from the electronic identification of animals since their birth, to their departure from the farm for the slaughter process. This stream of data will soon be extended to reach the final consumer, providing the information of the piece of meat product; reason why we must keep history records in a way that allows certifying industrial and productive processes that guarantee the quality, known as traceability.

The main objective of introducing this technology is to improve productive management and to also assure the real traceability of the animals that are sold; this is achieved by using a reliable electronic animal identification because it keeps updated the data-registry of industrial and productive processes in a reliable way, meeting international requirements and soon reaching the consumers through a database that can be accessed and consulted before deciding the purchase of a given meat product. Thus verifying any information related to the origin, health, sanitation and other factors pertaining to the quality and credibility of the products.

By implementing this system, the farm benefits from being able to measure and compare productive and reproductive information in any given moment. This enables the cattle manager to select the right handling techniques and then monitor them in order to prevent or modify any situation, adjusting the different factors that affect the production along the entire livestock breeding cycle. This adds to the possibility of selling at higher prices due to the enhanced traceability, a key issue if we take into account the general worldwide exports market tendencies regarding health and quality controls and how Argentina has been increasing its participation in it. This participation is expected to keep growing in the coming years by the opening of new markets, the continuous growth of internal consumers, and the products' health status as well as other elements that make up a scenery destined to keep the number of exports up.

Particularly in Chiru Estancia S.A, by adopting the above mentioned concepts of productive management and traceability, the farm is in best conditions to increase its meat production in a sustainable way, thus accelerating the achievement of the previously-set productive and rentability objectives.