Argentine Agtech Startup 'Cattler' Is Gaining Ground Among US Beef Cattle Operators

The company is already present in over 10 US States and five other countries, growing organically more than 20% per month over the last nine months.

Saratoga, CA /PRNewswire/ -

• Cattler is one of the newest digital platforms for the cattle industry, specifically focused so far in feedlots, and it's growing fast in the Midwest and Canada: more than 20% per month in 2023.
• With a special ability to interact with any livestock and feed equipment in place like scales and EID readers, and a focus on rapid adaptation to feedback from their farmer customers, the company has been in a constant rally of updates for over a year, quickly improving and adding features at a relentless pace.
• Initially focused as a feeding program (video) for farmer feeders, it has widened the scope to become an all in one platform, placing a big bet on individual management and Animal Health, with novel features in these areas, like a pen rider feature, animal treatment functionalities (video) and a Cattle Processing Chute feature, all integrated into the same app.
• More recently it has begun to partner with other companies in partnerships to offer other products to the farmer through this platform. An example of this is a new insurance feature, in partnership with the insurance company Stockguard, through which Cattler is providing LRP (Livestock Risk Protection) for farmers via the app (video).
• Along with institutional and strategic investors, Cattler has received funding from cattle feeders: 'Having our members invest in the company is a great validation not only for us but also for the industry as a whole. It is really our users who not only help us create the product but most importantly want to see us succeed', states Ignacio Albornoz, one of the founders and the CEO of the company. Cattler has raised around $1.5 million over the last three years, mainly from cattle feeders, Angel Investors and Venture Capital companies, both in the US and Argentina, where the founders are originally from.
• The company has been selected by two top tier accelerators in the US: Plug and Play, an early investor in companies like Google, Paypal and Dropbox, and Thrive Agrifood, part of SVG Ventures, a fund specialized in agriculture.
• Cattler Corporation is a US company founded by three argentinians: Ignacio Albornoz, Martín Garbulsky and Ezequiel Conti. The company initially worked developing imagery-based sensors and automation for the ag industry, especially for the cattle industry, and later on transitioned to focus only in the beef cattle industry, and on the platform, leaving other products and prototypes as side projects that complement the main business, which is the Cattler platform. Coming from the sensor and automation environment, the team previously had very good experience interacting with devices from other companies, like scales and EID readers, so that has given them an edge in the hardware side.

Context

• Even if nationwide survey data do not exist on digital adoption within the livestock industry, private estimations from vendors in the space and beef extensionists like Alfredo DiCostanzo, from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, confirm that over the last eight years, adoption of dedicated software for beef cattle operations seems to have more than doubled in North America, especially in the cattle feedyard segment. The transition between generations at family-based farms is having a profound impact in the market. More and more young farmers that grew up using smartphones, tablets and laptops are managing the farm with better tools than spreadsheets or handwritten paper.

Some testimonials
Jeff Bullerman, MN
'We have been waiting for this for years', says Jeff Bullerman, 39, from the cabin of his feed mixer truck at his farm in Adrian, MN, as he waits for the previous truck to finish loading. Jeff is referring to Cattler, the cattle management app that he uses for his farm. Seconds later he will proceed to load and feed a set of pens as he does every day at 7 am, controlling the whole process from his tablet.

Bullerman symbolizes well the archetype of the progressive farmer that is always looking for new tech; in this case, for his feedyard. The feedlot encompasses two locations with capacity for 3,800 head, which he manages together with his father and his cousin Ted.

'You know, I have always felt like an early adopter; that's what some people like to call it. But, for me it is just so obvious that you need to use this type of technology if you are taking your business seriously'.

'Up to 2021 there was just one serious player in the digital market for this size of feeder farm' adds Bullerman; 'in fact I used that platform for quite a while, ever since their inception. But then Cattler appeared on the scene and I saw clearly where they were going, how they approached the technical stuff... I saw the potential and jumped into it right away. And now I'm just one of many around the area that are either switching from other programs or jumping from pen & paper'.

Nick Czarnick, NE
Nick Czarnik, 30, from Genoa, Nebraska, has been taking over the reins of his family farm gradually over the last couple of years.

'At first I began to make some decisions on the cow-calf side of our operation, and after a while I focused on the feedyard, trying to add something new to how we were going about things.'

For around half a year, Nick has been soaking up the experience of working with software, being able to share input as well as following the pace of the app's new features.

'We always knew there was a better way to handle the farm, but I just needed to find a program that was also simple and friendly for my dad to use daily. They have recently released the Animal Health and the Processing Chute sections, which are a game changer for us".

Justin Rinkes, KS
This seems to be the key for Justin Rinkes, a farmer feeder from Holton, northern Kansas. 'At the farm everything was pen and paper since ever' remarks Rinkes. 'We genuinely had no idea what we were missing out from a dollar perspective, how much we were just letting slip away. This thing has helped us to keep the wheels turning. Just the magic of having it all in my phone is great; less energy in memorizing information and more in improving things that I discover through the data'.

Rinkes signed up with Cattler in late 2022 and has been using it every day since. 'There's days I notice I have been using it all day, between more mechanical tasks like feeding, alerts I receive on the phone, the economics of one lot or perhaps a treatment that we give using the app to pull up that animal'.

About Cattler
Cattler Corporation is a US company founded by three argentinians: Ignacio Albornoz, Martín Garbulsky and Ezequiel Conti. The company initially worked developing imagery-based sensors and automation for the ag industry, especially for the cattle industry, and later on transitioned to focus only in the beef cattle industry, and on the platform, leaving other products and prototypes as side projects that complement the main business, which is the Cattler platform. Coming from the sensor and automation environment, the team previously had very good experience interacting with devices from other companies, like scales and EID readers, so that has given them an edge in the hardware side.

For more information about the company and the founders, please visit this link.