Cleveland Ag feedlot's 'Pen pilot' Innovation

Clever ideas and innovations that have been incorporated into day-to-day feedlot operations are encouraged to enter the ALFA Innovation Competition, proudly supported by Integrated Animal Production (IAP).

The winner and runner-up will be determined by popular vote and announced at BeefEx, held on 22 - 24 September 2026 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.

To vote for your favourite entry, simply click the 'heart' button on the post (this indicates a like i.e. vote). The top four most 'hearted' entries will be offered a complimentary full delegate ticket to attend BeefEx 2026. 

The entry with the most votes will be announced as the winner. The entry with the second highest will be awarded the runner up. Voting is open from August 07 - August 21. The decision made will be final.

cleveland AG feedlot's 'pen pilot' Innovation

What is your innovation?

PenPilot is a feedlot management app that allows pen riders to record daily tasks, including ridden pens, cattle pulls, trough cleaning, notes, and maintenance issues. It stores the information digitally, creates an end-of-day report, and keeps outstanding maintenance jobs active until they are completed.

How does the innovation/idea work?

PenPilot is a feedlot management app that allows pen riders to record daily tasks, including ridden pens, cattle pulls, trough cleaning, notes, and maintenance issues. It stores the information digitally, creates an end-of-day report, and keeps outstanding maintenance jobs active until they are completed. What issue/challenge is your innovation solving? PenPilot solves the challenge of inefficient and inconsistent record keeping for feedlot pen riders. Many daily tasks, such as recording ridden pens, cattle pulls, trough cleaning, and maintenance issues, are often tracked on paper or across multiple systems. This can lead to missed tasks, lost information, and poor communication between staff. PenPilot provides a single digital platform where riders can record their work in real time, ensuring important information is stored accurately, easily accessed, and shared with the rest of the team.

Cost of Innovation:

The app was developed using free software, including Visual Studio Code, Expo and React Native for coding assistance. There were no direct development costs other than the time invested in designing, building, and testing the application. If the app were developed commercially, costs would include developer wages, testing, maintenance, hosting, and future updates.

Decided by popular vote, the top four most popular innovations will receive a full delegate ticket to BeefEx 2026 at the Gold Coast this September. The overall winner and runner up will be announced at BeefEx, receiving a prize of $2,500 and $1,000 respectively.

Vote for your favourite innovation!

To vote for your favourite entry, simply click the 'heart' button on the post (this indicates a like i.e. vote). The top four most 'hearted' entries will be offered a complimentary full delegate ticket to attend BeefEx 2026. 

The entry with the most votes will be announced as the winner. The entry with the second highest will be awarded the runner up. Voting is open from August 07 - August 21. The decision made will be final.

With thanks to our long-term supporter of this award, Integrated Animal Production (IAP)