Agri and veterinary businesses can use mobile apps to replace paper on the farm, report to government systems without re-keying, and see machine data from anywhere. ERS IT Solutions has built a bovine TB testing app for vets, taken over the calf feeder monitoring portal and apps for JFC, rebuilt APHA's veterinary medicine app and built a live forestry auction platform. We have been trading since 1983 from Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, with 25+ in-house developers.
How can agri and veterinary businesses use mobile apps for TB testing and farm equipment monitoring?
For TB testing, an offline app guides the vet through each step on the farm, checks the data as it is entered and produces the file the Department of Agriculture system expects. For farm equipment, a portal and app turn machine data into alerts and reports a farmer can act on that day. ERS has built both, described below.
What farm conditions demand from software
- No signal. Yards, sheds and outfarms often have no mobile data, so apps must work fully offline and sync later.
- Gloves, rain and sunlight. Touchscreens fail with wet gloves and are hard to read outdoors.
- Strict reporting formats. Regulated work must be submitted in exact formats, and a rejected file can mean a repeat visit.
- Machine data. Equipment produces a steady stream of readings that are only useful if they arrive reliably and are shown clearly.
Bovine TB testing on the farm: AAA Vet Care
TB testing is a regulated, two-stage process over several days, for vets working across farms in Ireland and the UK. AAA Vet Care's process was paper-heavy and error-prone, and results had to go to government systems in strict XML formats.
ERS built an offline-first Android app for field vets:
- Physical device keys for navigation, because vets often wear gloves, with touch input limited on key screens so rain cannot trigger it.
- High-contrast black and white screens that stay readable in bright light.
- Herd data imported from Department of Agriculture XML before the visit, and stored on the device during the test.
- Compliant XML generated automatically when the test is complete, ready for upload.
- Built-in validation for missing tags, approximate dates of birth and incomplete tests, so problems are caught on the farm.
As the case study puts it, the app "supports veterinarians where they need it most, on the farm". Read the AAA Vet Care case study.
Calf feeder telemetry: JFC Agri
JFC makes automatic calf feeders that record feed intake, feeding frequency, drinking speed, missed feeds and machine status. A previous vendor had built a portal and iOS and Android apps so farmers could see this remotely, and JFC needed a new owner for that live system without disrupting customers.
ERS reviewed the existing system, then took over development and support of the portal and both apps. We made the machine data pipeline more reliable and refined the calf-level and machine-level reports. The brief was explicit: "The objective was not to replace the system, but to ensure it could be supported, enhanced and evolved." Read the JFC case study.
Veterinary medicine reference: APHA Compendium app
The Animal and Plant Health Association (APHA) maintains Ireland's national database of veterinary medicine datasheets, used by vets, distributors, pharmacists and regulators. Its app "had reached the end of its technical life", users needed it offline on rural farms, and there were no analytics.
ERS rebuilt it from the ground up for iOS and Android, with an API sync from the APHA Data Portal. It works fully offline after the first sync, keeps the categories users already knew, and adds an anonymised analytics module. ERS provides ongoing support. Read the APHA case study.
Forestry land and timber auctions: Tradeforus Forestry Services
Forestry lots are complex: assortments, haulage, destinations and reserves. Tradeforus Forestry Services needed a transparent, auditable live auction that generic auction tools could not run.
ERS built a public website, bidder and seller portals and an admin back office. Bidders register an Expression of Interest before they can bid, live auctions use colour-coded countdowns, and a final "shoot-out" is limited to the top bidders. Sellers see whether reserves are met in real time, and every action has an audit trail. Read the Tradeforus case study.
What ERS would do for an agri or veterinary business
- Walk the job. Spend time where the app will be used: the yard, the crush, the van.
- Design for offline first, and decide what must sync and when.
- Get the reporting format exact from the start, with validation before anything is submitted.
- Pick the right device. Rugged Android hardware with physical keys suits some jobs, a phone suits others. See native vs cross-platform.
- Plan support for the yearly Apple and Google updates, so the app keeps working each season.