Agriculture · head to head
Datamars Livestock vs Farmers Edge

Datamars Livestock
Agriculture
EID tag, weigh scale and livestock data platform behind the Tru-Test brand
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Datamars Livestock the software exists to sell tags, readers and scales, so its feature depth in breeding, financials and grazing planning is well short of dedicated herd management systems.; Farmers Edge farmers Edge priced its FarmCommand platform per acre rather than per seat, with tiers from $1.50 CAD per acre for basic imagery-only monitoring up to $6.00 CAD per acre for variable rate fertility prescriptions, meaning cost scales directly with farm size rather than user count (archived pricing page, 5 April 2020)
- They diverge on capability: Datamars Livestock covers EID and visual tag management, Farmers Edge covers Satellite imagery.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Datamars Livestock and Farmers Edge actually diverge.
| Attribute | Datamars Livestock | Farmers Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | $29/month |
| Pricing model | quote | subscription |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Windows | Web, Ios, Android |
| Founded | Unknown | 2005 |
Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Agriculture).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Datamars Livestock
- EID and visual tag management
- Weigh session capture
- Average daily gain
- Auto-drafting
- Traceability records
- Bluetooth reader sync
- Treatment and animal events
Only in Farmers Edge
- Satellite imagery
- Weather stations
- Variable rate
- Carbon credits
- Soil sampling
- John Deere
- CLAAS
- Major equipment brands
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Datamars Livestock
- A beef finisher drafting cattle to a target weight automatically at the crushnot Farmers Edge
- A sheep producer tracking lamb growth rates by sire to inform ram selectionnot Farmers Edge
- A New Zealand farm needing NAIT-compliant movement records generated from the same scans used for weighingnot Farmers Edge
- A grazier comparing average daily gain across mobs on different paddocks or supplementsnot Farmers Edge
Farmers Edge
- Precision agriculturenot Datamars Livestock
- Carbon programsnot Datamars Livestock
- Data analyticsnot Datamars Livestock
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Datamars Livestock
- The software exists to sell tags, readers and scales, so its feature depth in breeding, financials and grazing planning is well short of dedicated herd management systems.
- A migration to new cloud software is scheduled from January 2026 for Tru-Test indicator and reader customers, which puts historical Data Link desktop records at risk if they are not exported deliberately before support changes.
- Hardware lock-in is real: the automatic capture that makes the platform useful depends on Datamars and Tru-Test devices, and a farm with Gallagher scales gets a much thinner experience.
- Software being bundled with hardware means it has never been priced or sold on its own merits, so there is no published cost, no clear upgrade path and no leverage if the bundling arrangement changes.
- Traceability support is country-specific and uneven, so a farm outside the main New Zealand, Australian, UK and North American markets may find its national scheme is not directly supported and needs manual file preparation.
Farmers Edge
- Farmers Edge priced its FarmCommand platform per acre rather than per seat, with tiers from $1.50 CAD per acre for basic imagery-only monitoring up to $6.00 CAD per acre for variable rate fertility prescriptions, meaning cost scales directly with farm size rather than user count (archived pricing page, 5 April 2020)
Pricing, plan by plan
Datamars Livestock
On request- Datamars Livestock$undefined/year
- Historically bundled with purchase of Datamars and Tru-Test hardware
- Tag, reader and weigh indicator hardware is the actual cost
- Cloud platform terms changing with the January 2026 migration
Farmers Edge
$29/month- FarmCommandFree
- Custom pricing
- Satellite imagery
- Variable rate
- EnterpriseFree
- Custom pricing
- Carbon programs
- Full suite
Which should you pick?
Choose Datamars Livestock if
- You need eid and visual tag management.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
- You also want weigh session capture.
Choose Farmers Edge if
- You need satellite imagery.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want weather stations.
Questions people ask
- Is Datamars Livestock or Farmers Edge better?
- Neither clearly leads. Datamars Livestock starts at On request and Farmers Edge at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Datamars Livestock or Farmers Edge?
- Datamars Livestock starts at On request and Farmers Edge at $29/month.
- Does Datamars Livestock or Farmers Edge run on more platforms?
- Datamars Livestock runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. Farmers Edge runs on Web, Ios, Android.
- What is Datamars Livestock best used for?
- Datamars Livestock is most often used for a beef finisher drafting cattle to a target weight automatically at the crush, a sheep producer tracking lamb growth rates by sire to inform ram selection, a new zealand farm needing nait-compliant movement records generated from the same scans used for weighing, a grazier comparing average daily gain across mobs on different paddocks or supplements. Of those, a beef finisher drafting cattle to a target weight automatically at the crush and a sheep producer tracking lamb growth rates by sire to inform ram selection are not what Farmers Edge is typically brought in for.
- What can Datamars Livestock do that Farmers Edge cannot?
- Datamars Livestock covers EID and visual tag management, Weigh session capture, Average daily gain, Auto-drafting. Farmers Edge covers Satellite imagery, Weather stations, Variable rate, Carbon credits.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Datamars Livestock: Do I have to pay for the software?
It has historically been included with purchase of Datamars and Tru-Test hardware. The January 2026 cloud migration is the point at which to confirm what the ongoing terms are.
Datamars Livestock: What happens to my Data Link records?
They need to be migrated to the new cloud platform. Export your historical weigh sessions before the transition rather than assuming everything carries across.
Datamars Livestock: Will it work with Gallagher scales?
Not natively in the way it works with Tru-Test hardware. You lose the automatic session sync that is the main reason to use it.
Datamars Livestock: Does it handle NAIT and NLIS?
Yes, for New Zealand and Australia respectively, generating movement and identification records from the same EID scans used for weighing.
Related pages
More on Datamars Livestock
More on Farmers Edge
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- Farmers Edge vs Cropio
- Farmers Edge vs Davis Instruments WeatherLink
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