Technology to Increase Productivity, Reduce Costs, Diminish Risk and Return Value to the Farmer in the Egg Industry

Economic storms change business landscapes through driving behavioural change as organisations seek more efficient ways to operate. Technological development invariably lies at the heart of such changes because of its ability to streamline operations, reduce costs and better inform decision-making. At every stage in the breeder – rearer – egg-producer – packer – retail chain, fully integrated software provides the opportunity to plan production cycles, measure performance and forecast. The introduction of data visualisations on dashboards allows easy interpretation of data without the need to interpret tabular statistical results.

The Eggbase Software As A Service platform is well-established in the egg industry as an integrated performance management system and is readily customised to individual farms and packing stations. Eggbase unlocks the power of data and provides improved business intelligence by empowering producers to make data-driven decisions.

Cloud technology enables participants in the production/decision-making chain to share information and reduce time consuming administrative tasks.

Automated data entry from process controllers and from in-shed sensors reduces human error and releases employees to value-additive roles. Customised bench-marking graphs at all levels allow decision-makers to compare critical variables such as feed type, hen breed or mortality with equivalent datasets to assess farm performance and make commercial decisions. This may precipitate husbandry reviews and it allows the impact of decisions to be modelled in advance, reducing risk.

The Eggbase software provides the opportunity to compile audit documentation in a secure environment that can be accessed remotely by assurance bodies.

This saves farmer time, promotes biosecurity and is instrumental in reducing farmer stress.

Carbon-footprints are calculated automatically from performance and feed data and husbandry changes to reduce a flock’s carbon footprint can be modelled alongside production forecasts, thereby allowing the industry to move towards higher value products.

The software also allows data sharing between retailers, producers, feed suppliers, vets, geneticists and other stake-holders to facilitate complex discussions and far-reaching decisions. As data is so important, its security is a key consideration for Eggbase, whether it be cybersecurity or controlling access to business sensitive information. At the heart of business protection is the maintenance of password integrity coupled with permissioned data use. In every instance, whether the business can be identified or not, the data owner (the farmer) must give permission for their data to be viewed, included in performance comparisons or exported by a named third party.

Eggbase software subscription services come with technical and customer support and regular training opportunities ensure that subscribers remain up-to-date and use the software in the most effective way for their business. Field officers from data-sharing partners in the supply chain provide additional support.

The application of an integrated information management and data sharing system is an essential tool for the egg industry to manage the twin challenges of animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Given its growing importance to large organisations within the supply chain, data is on its way to becoming an income-generative farm product. Adoption of a farm-level software platform, such as Eggbase, to aggregate often disparate data and provide permissioned access to the supply chain, will increase productivity, reduce costs, diminish risk and has the potential to return value to the farmer.

Eggbase and CIEL

With CIEL’s support, Eggbase teamed up with researchers at SRUC to demonstrate the value and strength of their specific carbon footprinting tool.  Applying Eggbase’s technology to SRUC’s large database of historical egg production data generated from historical research trials enabled sight of the natural variation in the carbon footprint and the potential production efficiency range for each trial dataset.

This project helped provide the evidence needed to validate the Eggbase technology. The company has since teamed up with leading retailer Morrisons to help develop Morrisons’s Planet Friendly carbon neutral free-range eggs.

Discover more about Eggbase by visiting their website eggbase.co.uk