Identification and Quantification of the Benefits of Integrated e-business Systems for Beef Cattle Producers

Summary

​Background
Livestock Recording.COM Pty Ltd (LR.COM) was the developer and 50% owner of the Intellectual Property (IP) of the livestock recording Internet application developed under MLA Donor Company project PSHIP.074. MLA was the owner of the remaining 50% IP for the application. Livestock Recording Australia Limited (LRA) was the exclusive licensee for the application in Australia.
LR.COM was a very comprehensive internet based livestock and carcase information solution that covered most of the red meat supply chain from producer to feedlot, and included tracking through slaughter to the boning room.
There were extensive links to other industry systems such as NLIS and Breedplan, as well as integration with on farm technology such as weighing units, RFID and handheld data input devices.
Research & Development
The original stage 1 project budget of $268,488 increased to $482,328 and was followed by a stage 2 project with a budget of $859,440. Total MDC expenditure has been $1,341,768.  In addition, there have been other investors such as Telstra who provided around $400,000 for communications costs.  
The project started in late December 2000, and with various delays, the software development extended through to the end of 2004.
Outcomes
By 2006. it was becoming clear that that despite the best efforts of LRA, the system was not commercially successful. Key factors included:
A business model that could not cover the operating and support costs.
Lack of support by producers and key industry organisations.
Lack of telecommunications infrastructure supporting on-line access from remote, producer, locations.
The system was shut down at the end of 2009.