Be clear about
your records.

Start with the report you need

Milk production, reproduction, parlor performance and feed reviews draw on different records. Identify your first question, then discuss the sources, fields and history needed to answer it. Review the existing connection paths to prepare for that conversation.

A website inquiry is enough to start. You do not need to attach farm records or share passwords in your first email.

Clarify ownership and permitted use

Ask for the terms that apply to your operation: ownership of source records and generated reports, the purposes for which records may be processed, and any use for benchmarking or sharing outside your team. This page is an onboarding discussion guide; it does not establish those contractual terms.

Identify the people who need access

List the owner, herd manager, veterinarian, nutritionist and other advisors who should participate. Discuss which records each person needs, who approves access and how access will be removed when a working relationship ends. Exported reports and emailed copies also need a sharing plan.

Ask how AI features handle records

If you plan to use AI features, request the applicable details before using farm records: which providers process prompts and records, what is retained, whether any data can be used for model training and what controls are available. Do not infer an AI-data policy from a feature description.

Agree on retention and leaving the service

Discuss the records you can export, available formats, how to disconnect each source, how deletion requests are handled and what happens to backups and shared report copies. Confirm the applicable timelines and any exceptions in your service terms.

Check that the numbers mean the same thing

Validate animal and pen identifiers, units, reporting dates and metric definitions against source reports. Agree how missing records and stale connections will be identified so your team can judge when a report is ready to use.