increase font size
BETTER CONTROL of livestock is the promised payback from work by a Massey University industrial designer and Gallagher Animal Management to produce gear to enable farm workers to discover potential faults in their electric fencing.
Tony Parker, Massey, and Mark Harris, Gallagher, say the equipment results from international research by a cross-disciplinary team of design, marketing and engineering specialists. Parker is associate pro vice-chancellor at the university’s College of Creative Arts; Harris is marketing manager at Gallagher. Parker led the industrial design and worked as part of the Gallagher’s project development team to bring the products to market.
The system includes a fence energiser with a separate, remotely mounted control panel, a portable hand-held fault finder remote, and permanently installed fence monitors that continuously check a zone of paddocks for fence performance. The new system powers an electric fence and monitors its performance. If a fault occurs the system reports to the user via text messaging.
All the fence energiser products will be at National Fieldays in June. Parker says they “exemplify the critical role design plays in creating desirable and internationally competitive manufactured products and services”.
Electric fences’ effectiveness can sometimes be hit by, say, bad weather. Harris says these new products “allow the fence to speak to the farmer”, even when he is not around the farm, representing a leap forward in practical electric fence technology.
A drop in fence performance triggers an alarm, displayed on the energiser controller and simultaneously sent to the farmer’s phone via text. Power to the fence can be turned off remotely to enable repairs, then restored using the same devices. “The consequence for the farmer is that he knows whether the fence is functioning or not,” Harris says.
“Farmers have always had a problem from time to time with fences not working and they usually only know after an animal escapes, but with this technology we can let them know in advance if there is a fault.”
Parker says the project involved many challenges and opportunities. “Transforming customer requirements and technological possibilities into a desirable system of products is a wicked problem. You cannot calculate the right answer, you have to design the best solution possible using a combination of research, creativity, visualisation, prototyping, critique and testing.”
Parker has worked before with Gallagher on energiser and livestock weighing and electronic identification products.
Many farmers have invested in solar energy for dairy sheds or houses, but little hard data exists on the viability of solar panels in open paddocks or the loss of drymatter this may cause. Massey University scientist Dr Sam Wilson is conducting research to get more information about this. Rural News reporter Peter Burke went to investigate.
There's been unprecedented demand from secondary school students across the country to study agricultural related subjects.
Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.
A new publication has been launched that offers a comprehensive and up-to-date resource on commercially available grazing pasture species in New Zealand.
Massey University is returning to the Fieldays with a future-focused, solution-driven theme, showcasing research that delivers practical advancements in agricultural efficiency, sustainability and longevity.
Like many manufacturers around the world, European agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturers are currently operating in a difficult market environment. But they are heading to the world’s largest agricultural machinery event in Hanover next month with a degree of cautious optimism.
Established in 2021, the John Deere Technician of the Year Awards champion the important contribution parts and service technicians make to the Australian and New Zealand agriculture, construction and forestry industries.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
OPINION: Dairy industry players are also falling by the wayside as the economic downturn bites around the country.
OPINION: Methane Science Accord, a farmer-led organisation advocating for zero tax on ruminant methane, will be quietly celebrating its first…
