Distynct-ly successful

Iowa's startup's internet-based system provides remote monitoring for livestock farmers.

Sometimes the best technology is also the easiest to install and use. This concept of rapid deployment and easy-to-understand data sent directly to a farmer's smartphone or home computer is at the heart of Distynct, an internet-based smart alarm system for livestock buildings.

"The value proposition we offer to livestock owners, and swine producers in particular, is that [they] can get remote visibility of their farm ..., of their barns; know exactly what's going on with electric, temperature, water pressure, all those really critical things that we're monitoring in a livestock barn," Distynct CEO BJ Brugman said during a tour of one of Marshall County Farm Bureau member Matthew Burt's hog barns.

"The system is reliable and gives me the peace of mind to know what's going on in my barns day or night," Burt said.

Easy to install

Brugman explained that a major advantage to Distynct is that it is virtually plug-and-play, connecting to a barn's existing monitoring technology in about 20 minutes and immediately routing real-time conditions in the building to anywhere the farmer is located, as long as they have internet access.

"It's so affordable to get started," Brugman said. "We can use the existing technology already on your farm, and you don't have to run any new wires or buy any new probes."

Modern technology

Burt's system was installed in 2021, and he said he has been thrilled with the results.

"I've been impressed with how it works; it's efficient and enables me to better monitor all my animals simultaneously," Burt said. "We retrofitted it into older barns that sometimes have electrical surges, which would send an electrical alert. Before, I had no way to check if the power was still on in the barn or not. Now I just check it on my phone to confirm the power is on."

Burt's family farm produces about 14,000 hogs annually in 10 contract-finish barns and also grows corn and soybeans.

He has put Distynct in six of his 10 barns. The four barns that don't have it installed yet are at the home place, so the barns are right by his house and are easier to check than the barns further away.

From his perspective, moving to web-based monitoring makes perfect sense. Burt said, "We're in the internet age, why are we still using analog systems in our barns?"

He noted that as long as the Wi-Fi stays on, he can check on his barns. Before its installation, he relied on the old alarm systems to call him with alerts that provided effectively no information on what was happening ­­- only that conditions had changed at the barn.

Pictured above: Distynct provides rapid and easy-to-understand data, sent directly to a farmer's cell phone or home computer. The monitoring data includes electrical, temperature, water pressure

Home-grown success story

Ames-based Distynct is a homegrown success story, with its system now deployed in more than 400 barns across the U.S.

After graduating from Iowa State University (ISU), Brugman worked for Elanco Animal Health. Through this job, he identified a gap in the technology used in hog barns, which led to the development of Distynct.

Brugman left Elanco and launched Distynct in 2019, quickly garnering interest from farmers and investors alike.

In 2020, the company participated in the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Ag Innovation Challenge. The company subsequently moved into the ISU Research Park and received financial support and mentorship from the Ag Startup Engine and Iowa Farm Bureau Federation's (IFBF) Rural Vitality Fund.

"Distynct is a great example of a homegrown Iowa technology company built by Iowans to provide modern tools for producers in one of Iowa's most important industries," said Adam Koppes, investment manager of the IFBF Rural Vitality Fund. "Distynct started here in Iowa, utilized all the support offerings of the startup ecosystem that is built here in Iowa to progress, and they continue growing and employing Iowans right here in our state."

Koppes noted that success stories like Distynct show the value of the startup culture Iowa organizations have built.

"Companies like Distynct can become larger employers and critical talent retention points as they continue to grow to scale," Koppes said. "The Iowa Farm Bureau's Rural Vitality Fund has long been a key source of assistive capital and expertise to help companies such as Distynct reach their full potential, right here in Iowa."

Future ready

Because Distynct connects to the monitoring already in place in a barn, the technology can easily adapt and transmit the data those sensors are providing.

"Our customers drive the innovation," Brugman said. "Our role is almost as a device consultant ­- the one who can take that information, whatever that [new device in the barn] is and start to display that information in a useful format."

Burt said he likes that Distynct lets him see multiple systems on a single screen. "If all the systems are green on my phone, I know they're working," he said.

While much of Brugman's focus initially has been on working with hog producers, he said Distynct can be just as helpful to poultry farmers.

"There are huge opportunities there," he said. "A lot of broiler and layer farmers are using one of these older alarm systems, and Distynct can be a quick upgrade for them."

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