Halter reports profitable year for NZ operations
Virtual fencing and pasture management company Halter says its NZ operations has delivered a profit of $2.8 million after exclusion of notional items.
Kiwi agritech start-up Halter, in Auckland, expects to commercially launch its GPS-enabled cow collars in April.
Chief executive and founder Craig Piggott this month told the Agmardt NZ Young Farmers Conference in Christchurch that the firm had just finished setting up its production line in China.
“We have received our first collars off the line, and we’re targeting April as our commercial launch. It’s all happening very quickly.”
Halter’s GPS-enabled collar enables cows to be guided around a farm by a smartphone app, Piggott said. It has had 18 months testing on a Waikato farm.
“The system uses audio and vibration to train a cow; the smartest cows only take two hours to train.”
The solar-powered collars reduce farm labour and infrastructure costs.
“The collars can be programmed to bring the cows to the milking shed at certain times and identify cows on heat,” Piggott said.
“The collar has huge animal welfare benefits, especially on larger farms. If a cow stops eating because she’s sick or lame, she can be identified sooner.”
Virtual fences save time can eliminate temporary electric fences.
“We have built the system to work around existing permanent fences. In the long term, a farmer could pull out all fences and run a completely fenceless farm. There are big gains to be made with improved pasture utilisation.”
Farmers will pay nothing upfront to use the collars but will pay a monthly fee to use the software.
Halter’s team has doubled in the last six months and it now has a dozen jobs listed on its website.
Claims that some Southland farmers were invoiced up to $4000 for winter grazing compliance checks despite not breaching rules are being rejected by Environment Southland.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.