Innovation
We are passionate about innovation in agriculture. Mat Hocken is involved in the Rural Innovation Lab and we are a pilot SmartFarm. This means we are privilege to test cutting edge Ag technologies on our farm for various Innovative start-ups and companies. We want to be at the forefront of technology and involved in the development process by testing new ideas and concepts directly on the farm to solve farmers problems.
Halter Wearable technology
We are an early adopter of the world leading Halter wearable technology. This revolutionary technology transforms the way we farm enabling us to monitor our animals, pasture and farms every minute of the day and utilise sophisticated data to ensure precise farm management and operational excellence.
The technology monitors our animal health and behaviour 24/7, providing valuable data insights, trends and importantly health alerts so that we can react immediately. We can monitor grazing, rumination, resting, and walking as well as mating and calving data allowing us to achieve excellence animal care and management.
New Zealand is famous for its pasture fed dairy cows. Fresh grass is the core feed our outside grazing cows have and therefore it is essential grass is managed well. Halter uses advanced satellite data that provides accurate information on every paddock, helping us to utilise precise data and optimise our grass growth, feeding and overall pasture management. This ensures our cows eat the right amount of high quality grass each day to remain healthy and happy.
Virtual communication through an app with our cows using sounds and signals, means we can move our cows easily and naturally, on their own to the cowshed and new pastures. This reduces stress and keeps our cows calm, quiet and happy.
In shed technology
We utilise additional technology in our dairy sheds to enable good animal and production management. We collect real time data on milk production and quality as well as further information daily on animal weights and health. We also use automation in all our sheds to create efficient, high quality and easy processes.