Every head.Every record.Every mile.
Field software that keeps one record per animal, from the first tag read to the last load. Built for calf raisers, dairies, cattle operations and haulers in the US and Europe.
Biometric EID Tag · In development
More data per head.None of the barn hardware.
Her official tag carries one number. Mule's ear devices are designed to add how she eats, rests, ruminates and moves, and to tell you each morning which animals to check first. You read it all with the phone you already carry: no towers, antennas or barn receivers to buy.
Pilot farms from 2027. Pilot equipment is lent free of charge.
What you get, and what it takes
- Official EID tag
- What it gives you:
- ID number
- What it needs on the farm: A wand or panel reader
- Most activity monitors
- What it gives you:
- Behavior
- Heat and health alerts
- What it needs on the farm: Towers, antennas or barn receivers
- Mule, as designed
- What it gives you:
- ID number
- Behavior
- Who to check first
- Heat load
- Treatments
- Moves and sale
- What it needs on the farm: The phone you already carry
- What they track
01 · Health
Know who to check first.
About a third of preweaned dairy heifers get sick at least once. Mule's devices are designed to learn each animal's own normal and put the ones drifting from it on a short list each morning. The light at the ear says look; you and your vet decide.
Source · USDA NAHMS Dairy 2014 · pub. 2021
- What it could be worth
02 · Cost
Designed to cost less to run.
Nothing to mount in the barn and nothing to retag. Companion by Mule pairs with the official tag she already wears, and when she leaves the herd it moves on to the next animal.
- Meet 840 by Mule
03 · Different
Nothing like it on the official list.
None of the official 840 ear tags APHIS lists today carries a battery or a sensor. 840 by Mule is being designed as the official tag with the sensing built in. Approval is planned, not filed.
Source · USDA APHIS, AIN devices with the 840 prefix · 21 Oct 2026
01 · What Mule does
The data layer for livestock.
Livestock data has lived on paper, in texts and in spreadsheets. Mule moves it into systems that follow the animal: one record per head, from the first tag read to the last mile, built around your operation and owned by you.
STATE ·
Fig. 01.1 · One calf, one record
Example data- EID
- 840 000 000 000 001 Scanned
- Source
- Dairy D-07 · born 14 Sep Imported
- Sire
- Angus · BX-118 Imported
- Colostrum
- 24% Brix · 4 L within 1 h Scanned
- Serum IgG
- Not recorded Gap
- Growth
- 41 → 67 kg · ADG 0.87 kg/d Scanned
- Treatment
- Day 11 · withdrawal date set Scanned
Every fact carries how it is known: scanned, imported or inferred. A gap shows as a gap, never an estimate.
02The chain of custody
From the first tag read to the last mile.
Six handoffs between birth and the rail. Most data is lost at the handoffs. Mule keeps it on the animal at every one.
- 01 · READTag readThe calf's EID is scanned at the dairy, with source and sire.EIDsire
- 02 · PENIntakeArrival counted against the manifest, graded, weighed.countgrade
- 03 · CAREHealthTreatments with drug, dose and withdrawal date.treatmentADG
- 04 · LOADLoadHead loaded, papers attached, the 28-hour clock starts.BOLCVI
- 05 · HAULHaulArrival times for both yards, route, time on truck.ETAtrail
- 06 · PROVEDelivery to railSigned count at the gate; closeout and carcass back on the calf.signaturegrid
03Why now
Fewer animals, worth more each.
Figures reviewed 2026-10-18. Prices move weekly.
HEAD
US cattle and calves on 1 January 2026, the smallest January herd since 1951.
Source · USDA NASS, Cattle · 30 Jan 2026
/CWT
Record price for 750 to 800 lb feeder steers at Oklahoma City, early May 2026. Record highs in spring 2026.
Source · USDA AMS via trade press · May 2026
Preweaned dairy heifers that get sick at least once. 5.0% die, at an average age of 24 days.
Source · USDA NAHMS Dairy 2014 · pub. 2021
5 Nov 2024
Since this date, official ear tags for interstate movement of dairy cattle must be visually and electronically readable.
04Where to start
Four ways into the record.
A · Calves
The first weeks decide the rest.
Colostrum, treatments and growth, recorded where they happen and carried with the calf when it sells.
BRIX · IGG · ADG
B · Cattle and herd
A lifetime record per head.
From the birth list to the carcass line, with closeouts tied back to source, sire and arrival grade.
CLOSEOUT · COG · GRID
C · Transport
Every load, signed for.
Head loaded against head delivered, arrival times for both yards, and the clock on every load.
BOL · ETA · 28 H
D · Biometric EID Tag
The ear tag that notices first.
An ID tag designed to learn each animal's normal and flag the ones worth a closer look. In development.
PILOTS 2027
In development · pilots 2027
Know which animal needs you today.
The Mule tag is designed to learn each animal's own normal from body and behavior signals, and to put a short list of animals worth a closer look on your phone each morning. It points; you and your vet decide.
840 · USA · Example
Illustration · fictional ID- Read
- OK · 0.38 s
- Pen
- 4 · calf program · day 11
- Status
- normal for her · confidence 0.92
- Synced
- 06:12 CST
05Case studies
Two halves of one chain.
One shows what the animal is and what it is worth. The other shows who had it, when, and in what condition on the road.
Case 01
Every calf, one record. From the dairy alley to the carcass rail.
Hundreds of calves a week · under 10 source dairies · 40 to 60 contract growers
TRUE COST PER HEAD · RECONCILED HANDOFFS · OUTCOME BY SIRE
Case 02
Every load, signed for.
About 10 customer yards · a roster of about 30 drivers · about 48 head a load
SIGNED BOL · HEAD LOADED VS DELIVERED · ON-TIME BY YARD
Clients are not named. Results to follow after the first full season, published with each client's approval.
06Built for the field
Built for no signal, gloves on.
- No signal
- Works with no signal; syncs when you are back in range.
- Gloves on
- Large targets, one-hand flows, readable in sun and in a dark barn.
- EID readers
- Bluetooth wand and panel readers feed the record directly.
- Your data
- You own the data and the code. Export anytime, in open formats.
- EU or US
- Hosted in the EU or the US, under the rules of the country the animals are in.
07Regions
Three countries, one record.
Every animal ID in Mule's markets opens with its country code. Each system speaks the registries and regulators of the country the animals are in.
Start a project
Tell us what happens to your animals today.
Tell us about your operation and what you want to fix. We reply within 1 business day.
Or write directly
juastins@icloud.comReplies within 1 business day. Call or email; what we agree is kept in writing, in your portal.