Angus New Zealand breeders are proving quick to get the hang of using the new Helical performance data platform and are very positive in their feedback, says PBB Registry Manager Lisa Young.
The platform is a user-friendly software interface for breeders to submit, store and report on the genetic and performance records for their registered Angus cattle.
“We have had lots of data submissions since the start of the month when we went live and breeders are saying they are finding the platform intuitive and easy to use.”
The Support Hub set up on the Angus website has How to Guides and Tip Sheets and Lisa is thrilled with the way breeders have been using them and figuring the submission process out for themselves.
“Its great to see people so actively wanting to learn.”
The timing for ADL (Animal Disposal LIsts) input was brought forward to be the first job breeders could do under the new regime.
“Its going really well so far.”
Calf registrations will be next cab off the rank, Lisa says.
“We wanted the process to build – so do the easy stuff first.”
“Calf regos and weights submissions were opened in mid September.”
Angus breeder Lucy Berquist from Martin Farming, Angus breeders in the Nelson region, was quick and enthusiastic in her praise of the new system of inputting data.
“I think overall it’s incredibly used friendly, I loved the displays – it all looks so modern and clear and easy to follow.”
She said it seems to have been a relatively smooth transition and even though she declared herself ‘not very tech-savvy’, she managed to input the data without having to refer to the tip sheets on the Hub.
Looking up animals is also fast and easy she said, adding that overall it was a great experience.
“This has the potential to save us quite a bit of time across the recording season,” she said.
Overall Lisa Young says there are many advantages of the new Helical platform.
Streamlined data submission includes user-friendly processes developed with breeder input; comprehensive herd insights provides a customized dashboard providing complete visual snapshots of herd performance; a One-stop-shop experience means all the tools and insights needed are in one powerful and intuitive platform; regular updates provide new features and functionality driven by customer feedback and breeder input.
A very important part has been taking onboard Angus breeder feedback and adjustments have been made to the platform since the start based on those suggestions, she says.
“The beauty of Helical is that for Angus, it feels like their own platform, as modifications have been made based on their requirements.”
Dan Garrick, owner and developer of the Helical platform says he is pleased with the super positive feedback.
“We have had constructive suggestions around accessibility and ease of moving around – we are refining the amount of information available, and working so that breeders are not overwhelmed with data.”
One of several key innovations in the platform is the ability to really easily configure and modify the systems for each client.
“We will continue to innovate and give breeders new tools in their toolbox, because our aim is to assist the breeding societies to meet their goals. This contrasts with legacy data systems that have been roadblocks to making life easier for the breeders.”
The Garrick’s original US company, Theta Solutions, developed the original database system in 2017, by Dan, who trained in aerospace engineering and his father Dorian, whose expertise is in animal breeding and genetics.
It complemented Bolt, which was the first animal evaluation product they had developed.
Bolt software takes all of the data stored in breed society databases including pedigree info, animal performance records, and adds in the DNA SNP data which is used by evaluation software to produce genomically enhanced breeding values.
Bolt is used by many international breeding groups including two of the three largest North American beef cattle evaluations, and by DairyNZ for the national NZ dairy evaluation.
The first iteration of Helical was a product for storing the DNA SNP data that farmers were collecting.
It was directly integrated with genotyping laboratories to avoid manual work in retrieving that data, and allowed societies to utilise multiple genotyping providers. Parentage verification and discovery services were then added to the system, followed by storage of pedigree information.
“There was a need for a more flexible and accessible data storage platform and there were not a lot of other modern players in the space globally, so we built a platform from scratch to efficiently handle all of the data, especially the DNA data, and built and integrated a web interface for it.”
“We are the only company in the world that has built both the evaluation software and a modern database software system with either product, or both, capable of being licensed by any organisation for their own internal or external use.”
“It means we have a good understanding of how everything needs to fit together.”
“For Angus NZ we export all of their data to Breedplan and then import the results (EBVs) back into Helical so that breeders can extract the results and customise the reporting that they need.”
The technology has been named a finalist in the 2025 Rotorua Business Awards in the Technology and Innovation category and the winner will be named in October.
Dan and Dorian have lots of ideas about continuing to add efficiency and value to breeders’ lives.
“The interface is designed to be super easy to get their data into the system, ideally they spend as little time as possible – where we would love to get to is where nobody needs to handle any data manually – because it’s not just the time involved, but that’s where errors creep in.”
“We are also working on integrating with companies who deal with electronic data capture, like Gallaghers, so the information can be shared from smart scales to their web systems and flows through to Helical.”
“There are lots of moving parts but we are working on making it seamless and see it as a big opportunity to reduce the amount of time spent recording on farm.”