You've reached the Virginia Cooperative Extension Newsletter Archive. These files cover more than ten years of newsletters posted on our old website (through April/May 2009), and are provided for historical purposes only. As such, they may contain out-of-date references and broken links.
To see our latest newsletters and current information, visit our website at http://www.ext.vt.edu/news/.
Newsletter Archive index: http://sites.ext.vt.edu/newsletter-archive/
CowSense Herd Management Software Available Through Virginia BCIA
Livestock Update, June 1999
Scott Greiner, Extension Animal Scientist, Beef,, Virginia Tech
The Virginia Beef Cattle Improvement Association has reached an agreement with Midwest Microsystems whereby association members may purchase CowSense Herd Management Software at a discounted rate. CowSense is a computer software program that enables beef producers to efficiently compile and organize cow-calf production data for use in management and breeding program decisions.
Two software packages are offered. The CowSense Commercial version includes fields for calving records, individual calf weights (including calculating adjusted weights and ratios), treatments, sale records, and measures of reproductive performance. This software program generates information on an individual animal, lifetime basis and may be used for culling decisions based on cow and bull performance. The CowSense Purebred version includes these features along with additional options for pedigree and registration information.
Through the offering of this product to its membership, Virginia BCIA promotes its mission of improving beef cattle breeding and management programs. Participating producers will have the opportunity to submit herd summaries generated by computer software to Virginia BCIA on a yearly basis (all data will be kept confidential). These summaries will be compiled to create state and area statistics that will be made available to participants. These summaries will allow individual producers to make comparative analysis, and be beneficial to the improvement of beef cattle systems in Virginia.
Virginia BCIA members may purchase CowSense at a 25% discount off the retail price (retail price $395 - Commercial, $495 - Purebred). Yearly membership dues for Virginia BCIA are $40. For more information, or a product order form, contact the Virginia BCIA office at (540) 231-9163.