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.
The Health and Safety at Work Act puts the onus on employers or organisations to ensure employees are safe by identifying any risks they are likely to come across during their working day.
A new online app called Onside allows users to develop their own health and safety plan by working through pre-populated lists of potential risks which are overlaid on a satellite map of the property.
The system saves time and tells farm staff or visitors about risks and how to manage them, reducing incidents and improving farm safety overall.
Visitors to a property will need to be encouraged to 'sign in' on a smartphone as they cross a virtual 'geo-fence', which might be the farm's boundaries, and in doing so will be advised by the app of any risks and asked to acknowledge them.
New risks identified can be updated by the user in real time and visitors can report such via their smartphones. All information is cloud-stored, eliminating the need for paperwork. Offline capability serves when cell coverage is poor.
The technology allows users to map boundaries of the enterprise and uses photos rather than written descriptions to show known risks; and it allows users to access instructions for emergencies in real time.
The app developed from discussions with farmers and industry experts in health and safety, then technology partner Jade Software wrote it.
This potential new addition to a farmer's smartphone looks to have huge potential in this complex but necessary aspect of a modern farm business.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
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