Benefits of the ICT
In addition to the cost savings from computerising the farm accounts, the ability to access data through the Fencepost.com website about the quality of milk has had a major impact on the farm management. Timeliness of information has been critical for decision making of the farm: the information is readily available and allows immediate changes to be made on farm practices such as feed and pasture rotation, rather than having to wait until the next tanker collection up to two days away. However, whilst Fencepost.com provides a variety of additional information, such as latest research, weather, stock prices and Fonterra shareholder information, the Wards mainly use it to access specific information generated at their farm (e.g. milk quality tests). They acknowledge that other information is available, and may have some value (for example, comparing their farm performance with industry averages) if they had the time to utilise it, but when placed against all other daily on-farm activities, the priority goes to collecting and analysing the most important information that influences daily activities - the milk quality tests and herd information.
The ability to consolidate the various diverse sources of information about the operations of the farm onto an integrated software package has provided timely and efficient data for decision-making. Tracking individual cow details through the DairyWin™ package allows the Wards to more easily identify cattle that are performing well and those that are not, resulting in more efficient stock purchase and sale decisions. Historical reports can be easily generated when cattle is for sale. The Wards also benefit when buying stock from others using DairyWin™, as animal information can be easily transferred. Without access to this information, it would have taken three years of observing and monitoring stock before a new owner would know all the details about the cattle. However, with the new system, this timeframe is reduced substantially, and the risk of buying "unknown" animals is substantially reduced.
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