Jared Going took over the family farm at Maromaku, 30 minutes north of Whangarei, in 2004 and runs it with two staff.
He’s using a FarmIQ app to record “everything that happens on the farm” to give him insights to make informed decisions.
“And it’s easy to meet legal requirements. For example, we use it for timesheets for the boys. They are responsible for putting the information in and then I approve it. It’s all there; it’s easy. It just adds the information into the whole farming system.”
It doesn’t make sense to record on paper any more, he says.
“The app’s simple and easy to use. You enter information straight in and you can view it straight away. You can look at it at the click of a button.
“The more you record, the more information you have available for whatever you need. It just depends on what you are doing on the farm. For example, during calving I am looking at the feed wedge all the time and making decisions such as where the cows are going to go.”
Recording what’s happening on the land is part of their routine now.
“We record when we spray out a paddock and what urea or fertiliser we use. One staff member does the farm walk for pasture covers every two weeks. Then I can get the feed wedge and know where to put the cows for the next 10 days or so. The software tells you which paddocks have the most grass and where it’s growing the fastest. I use it to see which are my best- and worst-performing paddocks.”
You need to ensure you’re recording the right information, he points out.
“If you put crap information in, it will give you crap out. And, you’ve got to use the information or there’s no point…”
The tools are available and it’s up to farmers how they make the most of them, Jared says. It’s taking farming to a new level.
“Everything gets worked out to the last cent – or even part of a cent sometimes, if you want it. It’s all there. For example, for spray you can put in how much you used and the cost of it and the software will tell you how much the paddock cost to do. If you want to go that far it’s there; it gives it to you immediately.”
Cellphone coverage is no barrier, he reports.
“The app we’re using records even out of cellphone range and then syncs when we come back into range.”
Jared Going is using the FarmIQ software, which first became available in August 2014. In October 2017 FarmIQ released the Dairy+ Pack, which gives dairy farmers complete farm management software to manage their land, feed, cows and staff.
