Halter goes global, but NZ farmers remain core to innovation
Virtual fencing company Halter is going global but for founder Craig Piggott, New Zealand farmers will always remain their main partners.
How do you get the best out of a farm business when the payout’s low?
By using the right tools, said Drury dairy farmer Sue Dyer, speaking at recent CRV Ambreed workshops on how technology can be better used to achieve herd improvement goals.
Dyer has used CRV Insight online herd recording app since its launch in 2012 and says it has helped her increase her farm’s productivity.
“I carry my smartphone with me everywhere, so having access and being able to enter data about my cows wherever I am on the farm – in the paddock, shed or at home – is a no brainer.
“I get a great snapshot of how my 370 Friesian, Friesian-cross cows are performing, information about my individual cows, and a full range of reports.”
Global growth consultants Frost and Sullivan recently predicted that by 2018 New Zealand would have 90% smartphone and 78% tablet ownership.
Andrew Singers, information management and information technology manager at CRV Ambreed, says the dairy industry needs to keep up with a growing demand for technology on the go.
“There is still a huge amount of work to do to help dairy farmers adopt and use herd management technology to its full capacity,” he says.
CRV Ambreed herd improvement products and services for dairy farmers include the free workshops referred to above.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Minister Winston Peters is ratcheting up pressure on Fonterra farmers as they vote on divesting the co-operative’s consumer and related businesses.
Alliance Group's Pure South Handpicked 55 Day Aged Beef has been recognised on the world stage, securing top honours at the World Steak Challenge in the Netherlands.
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.