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Firm ready to market cycles monitor [Greeley Tribune, Colo. :: ](Greeley Tribune (CO) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) April 20--As Greeley-based DVM Systems prepares to launch technology that will allow ranchers and dairy operators to track ovulation cycles in their female cattle, the company is ready to ramp up its marketing efforts, locally and globally. For the majority of its nearly five years in business, the company primarily has been in the research phase of developing boluses that track temperatures in cattle and so far help ranchers and operators monitor potential illnesses and calving. Kevin Wild, the company's CEO and one of five founding investors of DVM, said the next steps for the company are to launch its breeding alerts and focus more on distribution. "We're at the point where we'll be ramping up," he said. "We've appreciated the support of a lot of people in the Greeley area." Developed by Greeley native Wade Webster, a doctor who works in Seattle, the bolus sends data to a system they call TempTrack, which sends alerts via email or even text to a user when a temperature indicates possible illness or that a calf is about to be born. Wild said the system boasts an "80 percent sensitivity and 80 percent specificity." "Basically we will give an alert for calving 12 to 36 hours before a calf will be born," he said. Soon, the system also will send alerts when temperatures indicate a heifer or cow is ovulating, helping with the breeding process. Scott Asnicar, another founding investor who serves as the company's managing member and vice president of business development, said thus far, the company has worked with universities -- including Colorado State, University of California Davis and Purdue University -- to develop the best product possible before sending it full bore to consumers. "We know there are other people marketing similar technology around the world who haven't invested nearly the resources and time in building the scientific basis for this, and we think that will be one of the things that differentiates us in the marketplace," Asnicar said. "We're providing much more reliable and accurate alerts than some of the competition might." The company has already gone global, with distributors set up outside the United States in Canada, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, France, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand and Russia. Asnicar said they also have systems working in Italy that monitor water buffalo that produce milk used in mozzarella cheese. "There are a number of applications that we expect to roll out in the future," he said. "Right now, we're focusing on dairy and beef cattle." Wild said the company -- founded by Webster, Wild, Asnicar and Bud and Rob Stanley -- hopes to keep the system simple to use and affordable for even small dairy operators and ranchers. Wild said the system only take a few minutes to learn, and users can access as much or as little data as they want. "It's also a very scaleable system," Asnicar added, saying that TempTrack can be adjusted to fit all sizes of operations on pretty much any budget. Wild said the breeding alerts are set to launch later this year, in the third quarter. He said the system, which was named a Top 10 New Product of the Year at the 2013 World Ag Expo, really is aimed at complementing the illness monitoring, breeding and calving practices of each operation, which in turn helps keep costs down for operators and beef and dairy prices down for the consumer. "It's exciting and challenging for us to be involved in that part of the industry that not only supports the welfare of the animal but helps farmers simplify their overall efforts and bottom line," Wild said. "We know there are other people marketing similar technology around the world who haven't invested nearly the resources and time in building the scientific basis for this, and we think that will be one of the things that differentiates us in the marketplace. We're providing much more reliable and accurate alerts than some of the competition might." -- Scott Asnicar, a founding investor of DVM Systems ___ (c)2014 the Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.) Visit the Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colo.) at www.greeleytribune.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |