There is a company based out of Hancock County, Indiana called Verility, Inc. that is currently developing new breeding technology for pork producers and is working to revolutionize the livestock industry.
“It is so much like having a digital microscope and a skilled lab technician in the palm of your hands,” says Liane Hart, Co-Founder and CEO of Verility, Inc., referring to the company’s new Fertile-Eyez software program that’s being developed to evaluate sperm and ovulation quality in livestock.
Fertile-Eyez is an app that can be downloaded onto your phone so you can check to see when your livestock are fertile, so you can speed up the breeding process. That app is expected to be available in 2024 to test boars, sows and gilts – and will soon be developed as well for other livestock species.
“It’s actually already been validated in humans,” says Hart. “That’s actually where it started, and to a contact of mine, asked the question, ‘Do you think there’s any application in animal health?’ Being a fellow breeder and geneticist, my eyes lit up when I saw the technology. My jaw dropped at just how easy it was to use, as well as affordable. and so I, with an empathic yes, said of course this would have a lot of application. This would bring our industry much farther faster.”
Hart, who is a graduate of Columbus East High School in Columbus, Indiana, received her both her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science and Masters degree in Equine Science from Purdue University.
She says the software is so easy that anyone can download it and use it right there on site at their farm.
“You don’t have to be a skilled laborer to be able to use them like you do the big cumbersome, expensive machines that are out there that actually can still be not very accurate,” according to Hart.
She says if you’re a pork producer, the software could help put more money in your pocket.
“If you just look at sows and gilts that aren’t getting pregnant, which is 15 percent of the time on average, that is actually the equivalent of $1.2 billion that is being left on the table each and every year,” says Hart. “Any percentage point that they can improve upon that allows them to really fuel the food-supply chain and their pockets, as well as producers.”
Most of all, Hart says the software is a win-win for livestock producers and the entire food industry.
“The more that we can benefit animal health the better off our food supply will be moving forward and I’m all for it,” says Hart.
Click BELOW to hear C.J. Miller’s news report on Indiana-based Verility, Inc. and how the company plans to revolutionize the livestock industry.
Click BELOW to hear the FULL PODCAST interview with Liane Hart, Co-Founder and CEO of Verility, Inc., as she discusses the Fertile-Eyez software that is being developed for use by 2024.
