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General
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| General |
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| Q. | How can I register for Beeftrak? |
| | Click the Subscribe Now link on any page of www.viewtrak.com and fill in the registration form. A customer support representative will contact you shortly to confirm your registration details and give you a tour. |
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| Q. | Is Beeftrak compatible with handheld data collection readers? |
| | Yes. All that is required is for the animal to be tagged with a radio-frequency identification tag or bar-coded ear tag. |
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| Q. | What kind of computer do I need to have? |
| | Beeftrak is accessible via the Internet from anywhere, anytime. All you need is a standard web browser and Internet connection. |
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| Q. | What kind of reports will I get? How often can I see a report? |
| | As soon as you have data entered you can start to generate inventory reports and projected marketing reports. |
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| Q. | Will I be able to see information from both previous and future owners? |
| | The information collected by prior owners will automatically appear in the animal file. Anyone who has owned the animal, registered and entered information on Viewtrak regarding that animal will be able to access information even after it has left their possession. Unique animal identification allows cross referencing to user name and PIN numbers so that only those who actually owned that animal will have access to the data available for that animal. |
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| Q. | What happens if a tag gets lost? |
| | Beeftrak allows for replacement of tags and can deal with multiple identification systems. For example, you can identify animals by their breed registration. Many times it is possible for Beeftrak software to rebuild a data file from partial information. |
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| Q. | Do I have to enter information for each animal if they all get the same treatment? |
| | No. Data can be entered for groups of animals as identified in the Beeftrak system. |
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| Q. | Can carcass data be viewed on Beeftrak? |
| | Beeftrak is compatible with the systems in place in all major processing plants. As animals pass through the system and processors subscribe to Beeftrak, more of this information will be available. |
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| Q. | What detail does Beeftrak get into when it comes to weights, health, price? |
| | Weights and health are key areas. Price reporting is currently linked to the CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange). |
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| Q. | How can we identify the calves in the records? |
| | Animals will be tagged with unique ear tags – in Canada these will include the CCIA number in machine-readable (barcode) and human readable numbers. In many cases, the breed registration association will supply the unique number. The Beeftrak system is also compatible with radio-frequency identification (RF-ID) tags. All machine-readable tags can be read with a handheld or stationary scanner. |
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| Q. | How can I add animal information into Beeftrak? |
| | Animal information is initially entered into the system through the "Add Animal" function, accessible from the top menu. A form will capture all the information on a specific animal. This information will be saved into the Beeftrak database for future use. |
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| Q. | How can I search for animals? |
| | Bring the animal search page by clicking on the "Search Animals" top menu option. Then, enter your animal search criteria and press the "Search" button. Note that the box located at the left of this animal search page allows you to enter any combination of CCIA tag number (normal format or bar-code format, if you are using a scanner), Management ID, Beeftrak ID, registration number or registration name. Animals can also be searched by type, status, birth date, etc. |
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| Q. | How can I modify animal information? |
| | You first need to open the target animal file. This is accomplished by searching for this animal using the "Search Animal" function, accessible from the top menu. From the search results, simply click on the "View" link to open a specific animal's file. You can then click on the link "Click here to modify". |
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| Q. | How can I cancel an animal? |
| | If you created an animal by mistake, simply modify the "Animal Beeftrak Status" to "Cancelled". |
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| Q. | How can I record an event against a set of animals? |
| | First, search for the animals involved in that event. The search results page allows you to further refine your selection of animals by unchecking those that should not be associated with the event that you are about to record. Then, select an event at the bottom of the search results page, and press the "Record" button. |
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| Q. | How can I modify event information? |
| | You first need to open the target event file. This is accomplished by searching for this event using the "Search Event" function, accessible from the top menu. From the search results, simply click on the "View" link to open a specific event's file. You can then click on the link "Click here to modify". |
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| Q. | How can I cancel an event? |
| | If you created an event by mistake, simply modify its status to "Canceled". |
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| Q. | What is the difference between 'event group information' and 'event individual information'? |
| | To save your data entry time, events can be recorded against a set of animals rather than on a per-animal basis. The 'event group information' relates to the event information that is applicable to each animal still associated to an event. The 'event individual information' relates to the event information that is applicable only to a specific animal. These two types of information can be combined to save even more data entry time. For example, the weighing and weaning events allow you to capture an average weight at the group level, and an individual weight for each animal associated with this event. This average weight is used as a default weight, which can be overridden at the individual level. |
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| Q. | When I edit an event, I can check or uncheck an "Associated" checkbox. What is the purpose of that checkbox? |
| | At event creation time, a number of animals are associated with it. You might realize later that one or more animals were associated with this event by mistake. To indicate that an animal should no longer be associated with an event, simply uncheck the checkbox. |
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| Q. | When I cancel an animal or an event, or when I dissociate an animal from an event, why is this information still visible to me? |
| | The Beeftrak database does not allow the destruction of information, as it can eventually be used for auditing purposes. Every change made to the data is kept in the database. |
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| Q. | How can I create a lot of animals? |
| | You can create a lot, and later associate one or more animals with a lot, on two different Web pages: in the "Add Animal" page and in the search results page. |
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| Q. | Animal information seems to change automatically from time to time. Why? |
| | Animal information might change automatically because Beeftrak supports automated transitions on a number of dynamic indicators. For example, applying a castration event against a bull calf will automatically change the animal type to steer. |
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| Q. | What are the most important automated transitions? |
| | The following events generate automated transitions. Death: animal status changed to "Dead". Processing: animal status changed to "Processed". Weaning and weighing: animal weight updated. Weaning: bull calf becomes a bull, steer calf becomes a steer, heifer calf becomes a heifer. Dehorning: dehorning flag set. Castration: bull calf becomes a steer calf, bull becomes a steer. Artificial insemination and natural breeding: heifer calf becomes a heifer. |
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| Q. | Can I override the animal information changed by an automated transition? |
| | Always. Any information that you confirm when you modify an animal file has precedence over changes made by automated transitions. |
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| Q. | What happens when an event is canceled or modified, or when an animal is dissociated or associated with an event? |
| | Changes made to animals through automated transitions are recomputed automatically by Beeftrak. If you cancel a weaning event, for example, a heifer will return to its initial type of heifer calf. |
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| Q. | How can I obtain a list of my animals on paper? |
| | First, search for the animals you are interested in. On the bottom of the search results page, select the option to produce the "Summary Report". Only selected animals will be included in that report. |
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| Q. | How can I evaluate the current or future value of my animals? |
| | First, search for the animals you are interested in. On the bottom of the search results page, select the option to produce the "Market Forecast Report" and follow the instructions that will appear on the next page. |
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| Q. | How can Viewtrak determine the current or future value of my animals? |
| | Viewtrak has a direct link with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. We update our database with their information every night. |
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| Q. | How can I manage my Beeftrak account? |
| | Use two options that are available from the top menu, "My Profile" and "Administration". |
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| Q. | Beeftrak allows me to create additional user accounts. Why? |
| | You are encouraged to create a Beeftrak user account for every person that will use Beeftrak to manage your animals. Sharing a Beeftrak user account with another herd is strongly discouraged, as this will prevent you from collecting accurate auditing information. |
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| Q. | Who should I call if I need more information? |
| | Please call or email our customer support representatives. You will find our contact information by clicking on the link "About Us" on every page. |
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