How farmers make spring count
OPINION: Spring is a critical season for farmers – a time when the right decisions can set the tone for productivity and profitability throughout the year.
The amount of desk based work in farming has risen considerably in the last few decades as farmers increasingly rely on computers for managing information, according pastoral farming software provider Farmax.
Keeping track of fertiliser recommendations, milk production statistics, feed plans and water use is just part of the picture. Compliance to government and council regulations, along with the farm's own goals and budgeting requirements have all led to a relience on specialised software.
As Farmax general manager Gavin McEwan points out this can be a time consuming process particularly when using more than one application.
"Having to enter data twice into different systems means farmers are at their desks longer than necessary. In this day and age, with the technologies we have available to us, Farmax believe there is no longer any excuse to make farmers spend unnecessary time working in software applications"
Ag Hub also knows how valuable integrations between software companies are to farmers and the wider agricultural industry. In an effort to provide customers with access to pasture cover measurements across both programs Ag Hub has teamed up with Farmax. This means that measurements recorded by the Farmax package or its standalone Feed Wedge tool can now be automatically sent to Ag Hub to provide online reports of pasture covers and paddock performance.
Using any internet connected device, including smart phones and tablets, the new application will provide users with a complete view of their property over four aspects – production, environment, fertiliser and nutrition. GPS and automatic telemetry allow the system to measure and control water, irrigation and effluent and measure things like soil moisture and weather conditions. Ag Hub also displays livestock weights, kill sheets and fertiliser applications.
Farmax and Ag Hub hope that their collaboration will provide farmers with a powerful tool that gives users a computerised model of their farming systems and allow them to clearly understand their farm's performance.
"Our aim is to bring all this information together in an integrated way to support them to make good management decisions, " said Ballance Agri-Nutrients general manager aginformation, Graeme Martin.
Anyone interested in using the new link can contact the Farmax Helpdesk (0800 FARMAX) or the Ag Hub HelpDesk on (0800 MY AGHUB) for setup support.
Federated Farmers says almost 2000 farmers have signed a petition launched this month to urge the Government to step in and provide certainty while the badly broken resource consent system is fixed.
Zespri’s counter-seasonal Zespri Global Supply (ZGS) programme is underway with approximately 33 million trays, or 118,800 tonnes, expected this year from orchards throughout France, Italy, Greece, Korea, and Japan.
Animal owners can help protect life-saving antibiotics from resistant bacteria by keeping their animals healthy, says the New Zealand Veterinary Association.
According to analysis by the Meat Industry Association (MIA), New Zealand red meat exports reached $827 million in October, a 27% increase on the same period last year.
The black and white coat of Holstein- Friesian cows is globally recognised as a symbol of dairy farming and a defining trait of domestic cattle. But until recently, scientists didn’t know which genes were responsible for the Holstein’s spots.
According to the New Zealand Dairy Statistics 2024/25 report, New Zealand dairy farmers are achieving more with fewer cows.

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