Farmlands partners with Blackcurrent to launch FLEX for farmers
Input costs can make or break a season for farmers and electricity is one of the largest expenses.
Farmlands Cooperative has bought into the farm software firm FarmIQ, a developer of software for farming and agribusiness.
Farmlands joins Landcorp, Silver Fern Farms and Veterinary Enterprises Group Ltd as shareholders in FarmIQ Systems Ltd.
FarmIQ chairman John Quirk welcomed Farmlands as a shareholder and the decision by Landcorp to increase its shareholding.
“The FarmIQ board wanted to achieve a broad shareholding to reflect FarmIQ’s role as the provider of an open, independent platform for farming and agribusiness,” says Quirk.
“The shareholding companies now comprise two farmer-owned co-ops, a national veterinary business and a land-based state-owned enterprise.
“They represent the value chain from farm suppliers, farm consultants and farmers to processors. We remain open to working with other companies that can add value to farmers through data.”
Farmlands chief executive Peter Reidie says the investment will help Farmlands support and service its shareholders.
“This investment will help our shareholders and their businesses, particularly as emerging technology changes how we farm. This is another step towards our goal of being market leaders in agricultural knowledge and expertise.”
Landcorp chief executive Steve Carden says increasing the Landcorp investment is a vote of confidence in the future of FarmIQ Systems Ltd.
“FarmIQ has been instrumental in connecting our day-to-day operations with the rest of our business,” says Carden.
“Farming businesses of all sizes are now adopting FarmIQ as their digital information hub, and we are pleased to see the whole farming ecosystem starting to share their information through the FarmIQ platform.”
FarmIQ chief Darryn Pegram says this is good news for farmers and agribusiness.
“FarmIQ now has all the resources we need to fuel our growth. We will accelerate new software development to meet the needs of our existing sheep and beef customers, and launch our dairy product and partner with companies in the pastoral value chain. The result will be more information at farmers’ fingertips.”
Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dean Hamilton says the new investment is a sure sign of confidence in the future of the FarmIQ software.
“Silver Fern Farms has itself invested over $5m in the last seven years in developing the FarmIQ software and supporting its commercialisation as part of the Primary Growth Partnership with the Government.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its…
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content…