App helps farm set up for the future

“We wrote a list of what we wanted,” Jan Tatham explains.

After a look at what is available, they selected a software pack with a range of features and easy to use.

“There were a couple of things we wanted that it can’t do – but they are working on it all the time. And it does a lot; no other software really compares.”

The Tathams farm 1700ha effective (2400ha total), having recently brought together two blocks – Kaiwhata and Homewood – that have been in the family for four generations. They usually run about 17,500 stock units, mainly sheep.

“We have young people working for us and we want them to use things that will take them into the future. This software works on phones with an app. It means our staff can do recording while they are out on the job and not have to do it on a computer later. We’re seeing the difference 20-fold.”

Tatham says the software brings everything together in one place and the information is easily shared.

“It’s all very well recording farm information, but if it’s in 15 different places and difficult to access it’s not a lot of use. Getting timely information is important when you need to make a decision. This software brings together the land, stock and cropping information, as well as a calendar and other tools.

“A couple of young staff immediately got it going with no training – they don’t need it. They are recording animal health treatments and stock movements. At docking we plan to record the births in each paddock so we’ll keep track of lambing percentages in real time.

“The guy who does the cropping is excited about recording current information and being able to put past information in. He’s coming to us with ideas for using the system to make comparisons of how the paddocks are performing.

“My husband... had no computing skills and now he’s recording rainfall and animal health treatments on his phone.

“We’ve done a lot of work with the mapping function too, to get accurate areas and for planning developments, for example fencing off waterways.”

It’s great for doing quick little calculations, she says.

“For example, if farm staff look at the pasture covers, know how many and what weights of stock are going on and what they want to achieve then with this software they can quickly figure out how long stock should be in that paddock. Another example is they can use it to calculate the supplements needed to get a mob to a certain weight in 60 days.”

Tatham says when they need help with the software there is “fantastic” support on the end of a phone.