The days of relying on a dog-eared notebook and a whiteboard in the shed are numbered for many sheep producers, with on-farm software stepping up to handle everything from animal records to grazing plans and even offering financial insights.

The growing suite of livestock and farm management apps can help producers track individual animals, manage mobs and pastures, and stay on top of compliance and audits.

Electronic identification is a key driver, with platforms increasingly able to capture eID data at the yards and turn it into breeding, health and performance records rather than just a tag number in the database.

Many systems also recognise patchy connectivity as a fact of life, offering offline functionality and later syncing so records can be captured in the paddock instead of being punched in back at the kitchen table.

Livestock overseer Jayden Gladman turned to FARMap after deciding he needed something better than a diary to manage the rotational grazing program on dryland lucerne for 3600 first-cross ewes at Serpentine, Victoria.

"We try and do 10 to 12 days of grazing in a paddock, and then it'll get its eight weeks' rest before it's grazed again," he said.

"I was looking for a better way to manage that than just trying to put it all down in a diary and looking back through it all."

Designed by former Hawkesdale, Vic, beef and sheep farmer Sam Baulch, FARMap allows producers to map properties, record livestock movements and treatments.

Keeping all quality assurance records in one place, it syncs data across phones, tablets and computers for a flat monthly fee with no charge for extra users.

Mr Gladman said he was attracted to FARMap by its simplicity, price and ability to generate reports for the accountant.

On a sprawling mixed enterprise with 8000 Merino and Poll Merino ewes, stud rams, wethers and an Angus herd near Warren, NSW, Haddon Rig general manager Olivia Falkiner juggles multiple digital tools but relies on Stockbook and AgriWebb for sheep work.

"We use Stockbook for livestock management and specifically for our Merino stud, to store and record generational data and help us make better breeding decisions," she said.

"We can track and store historical records to improve animal and flock performance including fertility (joining results, scanning, and weaning percentages), weight gain as well as physical characteristics and genetic backgrounds.

"Stockbook gives us the information to better understand the background of each animal, not just the sheep standing in front of us. As each animal is scanned, we're able to see its lineage and the genetic performance of itself and its ancestors ... so we can track and improve on the traits we're focused on over time. We can also see notes we've made about it when it's been through the yards previously, which saves time."

AgriWebb fills the paddock-side gap, helping their team track mobs, manage grazing and record health treatments, such as drenching and worm tests.

It also has proven a useful onboarding tool, helping new employees quickly get up to speed and find their way around the company's properties.

Not every operation wants or needs full individual animal management, and that is where Mobble has carved out a niche as a livestock-first, mob-based app.

Built "by farmers, for farmers" - founder Jock Lawrence grew up on the family farm at Avenel, Vic - Mobble focuses on simple mob tracking, farm mapping, rainfall, grazing and compliance records, with the ability to work offline and share information across the whole team.

Beyond the features, all digital tools have their pros and cons.

Ms Falkiner said one of her biggest frustrations was that most platforms operated independently, so data did not flow between them and costs from multiple subscriptions could quickly add up.

It's a common complaint from farmers.

In response, some providers are putting more emphasis on integrations and sheep-specific workflows, with the aim of linking production, pasture and financial data rather than building more standalone apps.

Other specialist tools include BreedElite, which combines pedigree and performance recording with hardware such as smart readers and auto-drafters, and MaiaGrazing - now Atlas Grazing - which uses digital grazing charts, analytics and "what-if" scenarios to help graziers plan moves, manage feed and respond to changing seasons.

This article appeared in Powering Up Profits and here