AI-powered fertiliser mapping a game changer for farmers
Sheep and beef farmers Matt and Kristin Churchward say using artificial intelligence (AI) to spread fertiliser on their sprawling 630ha farm is a game changer for their business.
The four partners picked up the "Team and Collaboration Award" at the 2025 Primary Industries New Zealand Awards in Christchurch recently, which more than 400 people attended to celebrate our primary industries.
This collaboration has been all about reducing data duplication for farmers. In the past, farmers often had to enter the same information into different platforms. Now, Fonterra has led the development of what's called an open data sharing ecosystem with these partners, giving farmers the ability to submit information once as opposed to multiple times.
Trevor Newman, Fonterra's general manager farmer experience, says the initiative has served farmers an estimated 250,000 hours of admin time so far, with another 270,000 hours in time savings possible today, if more farmers choose to use the ecosystem.
"We've heard loud and clear from dairy farmers across the country that on-farm admin should be simpler, and as amn industry we're listening," says Newman.
"It's great that this project has been recognised by the wider industry, but there's more work to do. We're looking to collaborate closely with our farmers and partners to co-design tools and solutions that make compliance tasks faster and less stressful - so farmers can spend more time on the things that matter most to them and their business."
The co-op's partnership with Ballance, LIC and Ravensdown has been built on some key principles.
"Most importantly, standing in our farmers' boots to ensure our solutions address their needs in a practical way," says Newman. "Other principles include recognising the data belongs to farmers - and therefore they can choose who to share it with - as well as making sure data is kept secure."
If farmers take the simple steps to set up data connections between Fonterra and these partners, they can pre-populate their annual Farm Dairy Records by as much as 70%. This means time saved on filling out the records as well as the on-farm assessment process.
Farm Dairy Records help Fonterra tell the story of what farmers are doing on farm to produce high-quality, sustainable milk, which is important for customers and other stakeholders. They're also used to create personalised Farm Insights Reports that are shared back with farmers to help them identify any areas for potential improvement.
Around two thirds of Fonterra farmers have now connected their data to one or more partners, and recent feedback says 65% of farmers thought their annual Farm Dairy Records experience was much better than last year.
Fonterra has recently launched new data integrations with CRV, DairyNZ, Farm IQ and Trev to drive further efficiencies, and the co-op expects to be able to share more positive developments in this space in the future.
