COLT Technologies Enters Deals with Feedlots in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Abroad to Install and Implement its TekVet System for Improved Cattle Health and Consumer Food Safety

COLT Technologies™, a Utah-based developer of agricultural technologies, today announced it has signed deals with major feedlot operations in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah, several of the nation’s top beef-producing states, as well as several foreign producers, to begin implementing its TekVet System™.

The TekVet System is an automated radio frequency (RF) wireless solution designed to constantly monitor the core temperature of beef and dairy cattle, while also providing the capability of real-time tracing and tracking of historical information.

“Since the company first unveiled its technology more than 18 months ago, we have fielded interest from all over the world,” said D. Bret Smith, chief executive officer of COLT Technologies. “Countries, governments, universities, colleges, research institutions and livestock producers have been paying close attention to the work we’re doing. We’re very pleased to announce agreements in these major beef-producing states and foreign countries.”

At the core, the TekVet System immediately identifies the first signs of sickness through a wireless smart device that monitors an animal’s core temperature. This consequently reduces the time necessary for producers to identify and react to animals demonstrating signs of sickness and quickly initiate treatment regimens faster than ever before, while also helping prevent the spreading of disease to the rest of the herd. As a result, producers using the TekVet System are able to lower the cost of caring for sick cattle, while also assuring that the animal will have the best chance of returning to normal production as quickly as possible.

“The TekVet SmartSensor™ attaches to an animal’s ear while the sensor’s proprietary thermistor sits in the animal’s ear canal and is not affected by ambient temperature,” said Richard Keene, chief technology officer of COLT Technologies. “The SmartSensor then relays an accurate reading of the animal’s core body temperature a distance of 300 to 500 feet, as opposed to inferior transponder technologies that only transmit data 18 inches. A TekVet SmartReceiver™ picks up this vital information and the data is back-hauled via the Internet to the company’s TekVet SmartManagement™ network data center. The information is then accessed and used by managers via the Internet to better care for sick animals, or reviewed by regulatory agencies for trend analysis, or tracked by investors who, for the first time, can now monitor their investment and herd performance real-time via the Internet.”

The need for animal identification and tracking capabilities has been openly acknowledged by the beef industry, as well as by Secretary of Agriculture (and former Nebraska Governor), Mike Johanns, who, in an April 2006 press release, estimated that implementation of any such government-directed plan would be available in 2009, at the earliest.

“With all respect to Secretary Johanns, we beg to differ,” Smith said. “The government is saying that it will take another three years for this technology to be ready, but COLT already has the end-to-end solution. We have purposely completed our testing and readied our technology for market under the radar. We have no doubt that our TekVet System will exceed the wishful thinking of bureaucrats and completely revolutionize the way the beef and dairy industry tracks, traces and monitors the health condition of every animal. It’s here, it works, and it is now available for immediate delivery. There is no need for the public to sit on its hands and wait for the government to devise a solution to ensure the safety of America’s beef and meat products; COLT has already done it.”

“Recently, while monitoring our cattle at our feedlot in Delta, Utah, the TekVet System alerted us that one of our animals was registering a temperature of 104.9 degrees Fahrenheit, and we thought for sure the SmartSensor device was malfunctioning,” said Greg Smith, manager of Sugarville Feeders. “However, once we located the animal and administered a rectal probe, the temperature reading from the TekVet SmartSensor had been exactly right; we had ourselves a sick cow. Since that time the TekVet System has helped us identify additional sick animals by alerting us of temperatures that are outside of normal thresholds, and we’ve been able to immediately separate those animals out of the herd. It’s safe to say that this technology really does work as they said it would.”

“Traditional methods of identifying sick cattle haven’t changed much at all until now,” said COLT Technologies’ Bret Smith. “Now, just by monitoring the temperature of the animals, producers can get a very accurate sense of how those animals are feeling. They don’t have to wait for the appearance of the visual symptoms like runny noses, lethargic behavior and moist eyes. They now can treat the animal before those things ever happen and greatly reduce the chance of it infecting others. We also recognize that the threat of disease-tainted meat is a worldwide reality, whether through natural or more vicious means, such as bio- or agro-terrorism.”

COLT’s Smith adds that the implications of this technology will drastically impact the process of raising beef in the United States and abroad.

“No longer will beef producers need to give a preventative antibiotic inoculation to animals as they arrive on a feedlot,” he said. “Now, the only animals that get shots will be the sick animals that actually need the medication. Ultimately the beef and dairy products produced will be healthier, all natural and more valuable, since the animals won’t automatically receive artificial and unnecessary inoculation.”

About COLT Technologies
Formed in 2003, COLT Technologies, LLC is a privately funded Salt Lake City-based developer and manufacturer of agricultural technologies. The company focuses on the application of wireless technologies to lower production costs, increase profits and improve product safety in the livestock industry. For more information on the company, visit its Web site or call 801-335-0500.

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COLT Technologies, TekVet System, TekVet SmartSensor, TekVet SmartReceiver, TekVet SmartManagement, and TekVet SmartNetwork are each trademarks of COLT Technologies, LLC.