NZ Dairy Autumn 2021

Seamless farm management with FarmIQ Farmmanagement software provider FarmIQ is connecting farmers and their data with their industry partners, creating a seamless management process with the farmer at the centre. FarmIQ has been selling cloud-based farmmanagement software directly to farmers since 2014, allowing them tomanage all of their farmdata fromone place via a web app and a mobile app. By 2016, FarmIQ had created software for other industry members who have relationships with farmers. In 2018, Synlait’s internationally accredited paper-based farm assurance programme LeadWith Pride was redeveloped into a digital solution, LeadWith Pride Live, on the FarmIQ platform. LeadWith Pride Live allows Synlait tomodify the system in real time, and allows its certi ied LeadWith Pride farmers to capture and report their data on management of all elements critical to best practice andmilk assurance. Now CRV has joined forces and its animal management solution InSight has been redeveloped by FarmIQ into an entirely new solution called myHERD, complete with web and mobile apps. FarmIQ sales and customer success General Manager Jock Richardson says some farmers are now using FarmIQ, Synlait Lead With Pride Live, and CRV myHERD, all from one log in, with all of their relevant data in one place. “These three di erent pieces of software have been built on the FarmIQ platform, and the farmer is able to connect with three di erent companies’ functionality. Farmers are loving it. They can record their data in one place and they can share it with CRV and Synlait, manage their sta , record and report on all aspects of the farm, and manage their health and safety fromone log in.” For Synlait, with its excellent milk assurance programme, FarmIQ and Lead With Pride Live has made it easier for the state-of-the-art dairy processor to demonstrate to its customers its great quality product and achieve premium prices for its milk. For CRV and Synlait, they have the bene it of their software platformbeingmanaged and monitored not only by themselves but also by FarmIQ, and the advantages of every enhancement FarmIQ inherently makes to the system. FarmIQ as a company is the result of one of the irst primary growth partnerships between Silver Fern Farms, Pamu Farms, and the Government, which undertook an industry investigation into creating a more premium redmeat product from New Zealand farms. “There were four parts to this research,” Jock says. “What would customers pay more for? Which involved taste tests in Europe and the US. How can we process and package more e ectively to create a premiumproduct? Can we use genetics to create a more premiumproduct? And where FarmIQ software came in – how do we help enable farmers to manage a premiumproduct on farm and demonstrate their great custodianship of the land and the animals.” This 10-year project was commercialised in 2017. FarmIQ’s future direction is to keep the farmer at the centre of its development and enable the three platform partners to work together in a simple way, delivering software farmers love to use. “New Zealand as a country and as an industry needs to work together to be competitive. It makes sense technology is helping to able that.”