How mobile phone apps are revolutionising farm management

WHEREVER you go in Yorkshire, indeed throughout the UK, there is little doubt that one of the biggest headaches faced by farmers in the past 30 years has been the interminable glut of paperwork.

Cross compliance, farm payments, registrations and traceability are all words and phrases that generally only mean one thing to the man or woman who receives them – more forms to fill in and greater time spent away from tending their herd or flock.

Livestock farmers have arguably been hit most of all and stress levels have risen markedly in sectors that for decades had prided themselves on producing quality stock without having to record what seems like every little twitch.

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However, diseases such as BSE, that first surfaced in the UK in 1986; Foot and Mouth disease in 2001 and others have led to even greater legislation, which equates to increased paperwork. What used to be completed on the kitchen table has now morphed into an office, filing cabinets and sometimes taking on additional staff.

Fortunately for all concerned, and spouses who have often had to take on what the farmer couldn’t manage, the dawning of our new media age of the Internet, laptops, tablets and cell phones has come to the rescue of beleaguered livestock farmers.

One of the latest products to come to the UK market is Herdwatch. It’s an app for your mobile phone that has already put smiles on the faces of Irish beef, suckler and dairy men and women where it has been used for a year or two.

Last month it launched in the UK at the LAMMA Show where it won an innovation award. It’s simple to use, cuts out the use of a pen and paper and gives the farmer something back in return; a complete record of every cow and calf on the farm, that he or she can then refer back to for improved animal husbandry.

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James Greevy, a representative of Herdwatch was delighted with the response received from cattle handlers at LAMMA.

“We have received amazing feedback from British farmers and we’re now looking forward to bringing Herdwatch technology to UK dairy, beef and suckler farms before summer when they will be able to use their smartphone, tablet or computer to record everything about their cattle.”

The feedback from Irish cattle farmers on their Facebook page has been phenomenal. One farmer writes: “All my calves registered before the kettle is boiled”.

And another said: “Got the app last year for the auld lad for Christmas. We’re now into our second year with Herdwatch and the time it has saved is unreal. It’s also very handy for recording treatments and blocking cattle into groups and pens.”

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Recording cattle from birth, completing registrations and updating regularly so that every animal has a full record of its life that can be forwarded online in order to comply with regulations is what is now needed. In the past farmers may often have wondered where individual forms and cattle passports had disappeared to, but this replaces all of that and, as Herdwatch promote, it means you have ‘compliance on tap’.

Irish farmers are already talking of far greater efficiencies in many other ways such a heat detection, knowing when cows and heifers are ready for bulling; average daily weight gains, because they can record there and then for each individual animal; and completing both tagging and registration at the same time. Herdwatch is available through Farm Relief Services.

There are many more farm apps for all sectors which are making battling with ‘red tape’ easier.

Farm Wizard is an app that has separate programmes for Beef Manager, Milk Manager and Sheep Manager. This also offers today’s time conscious farmers similar positives in terms of being able to look up the last dates cows were serviced and milk recording data.

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Hundreds of apps are now available throughout the world with names such as Sirrus, Tractor Pal and Gatekeeper.

Aberystwyth University has launched several including Farmgraze and Farmmed, but it appears Herdwatch may be hitting the nail firmly on the head with its approach.

Farmers have always enjoyed recording and analysing statistics about their own calves, heifers, cows and bulls, and it seems that this app taps into that passion whilst also helping an industry beseiged by paperwork to comply with meeting lengthy legislation.

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