This video explains how to import animal records from your previous system into Fusion on or just before transition day.
Time: 4:25
If the system you were using before Fusion can export animals currently in the feedlot, it’s a good idea to import them into Fusion on transition day. Having your current animals already in Fusion makes the transition much smoother. Fusion can import CSV and tab-delimited files.
Let’s walk through how to import the animals. First, we’ll open the Animals list window. You can find it by going to Fusion Chuteside and selecting List Animals from the Animals menu. Or, you can click this button in the Setup Assistant. Once the window is open, we’ll click the Modify button and choose Import From File.
Next, we need to point Fusion to the file you’re importing. After you select the file, Fusion will parse it and show you the contents in a list. Since we’re bringing in brand new animals (not updating information for existing animals), we’ll need to use this popup to select which location the new animals will be assigned to.
In the list of imported data, we’ll want to deselect the first row, as that’s usually a header row we don’t want to import. After that, we’ll click on each column header we want to import and tell Fusion which field it should match it to. For example, we’ll click on the RFID column header and tell Fusion to match it with the RFID field. At least one column needs to be matched to a value, not just imported, so Fusion can make sure it’s not accidentally creating duplicate animal records.
Let’s go ahead and match up the other columns. Keep in mind, you don’t have to import every column if you don’t want to. If you click on a column header, you’ll see a list of possible fields you can import into. Some fields require specific values. For instance, the Sex field in Fusion only accepts “Female,” “Male,” or “Mixed.” If the system you’re exporting from uses different labels for this field, you might need to do a quick search-and-replace in Excel before importing it into Fusion.
If you’re importing a date field, you’ll need to tell Fusion what format the date is in when you match it up. Let's finish matching up the rest of these columns.
Once you have everything mapped how you want it, click the Import button and choose Test Validity. This lets you check for errors without creating any records in Fusion. For example, let’s say we get three errors telling us that “Harris MT” doesn’t exist as a contact. No problem — we can just create that contact and test the validity again. This time, everything checks out.
Before you do the actual import, think about whether you’ll be importing this type of file again in the future. If so, it’s smart to save your setup as a preset. Here’s how: Click the Presets button and choose Manage Presets. Then, click the plus (+) button to create a new preset based on the current setup. If you’d like to rename it, click on the name, wait a moment for it to go into edit mode, and enter the new name. Once that’s done, click Done to exit the presets. Next time you import this type of file, you can just click Presets and select your saved preset, and all your column mappings will load automatically.
If this is transition day, we’re ready to import the animals, so we’ll click Import and choose Import to create the new records. Once the process is complete, you’ll see the new animals listed in the Animals list window.
We recommend doing a practice run a few days before the actual transition day. This gives you a chance to create a preset and spot any adjustments you might need to make to the file before the real import. Then, on the day before or the day of the transition, export just the current animals from your old system, make any necessary edits, and do the real import.
It’s worth noting that this import tool isn’t just for creating animals during the transition. You can also use it to update existing animals with new information, like carcass data. If you’d like more details on how to do that, check out our documentation or give us a call. We’re happy to help!
