5 things to know about interactive farm maps

Interactive mapsDigital farm maps can do everything a farm map ever used to do – and much more.

And it’s all at the farmer’s fingertips on their computer.

The new interactive maps have taken things to the next level says a Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer.

Here are 5 things to know about these new maps...

1. Record

A huge range of farm information can be recorded in layers of the digital farm map. Each layer can show different kinds of information about the farm. 

For example, one view can show the main infrastructure of your farm – the paddock fencelines with labels, the water system and transect lines for soil testing.

Another view can show crops or soil types. Just click to see the one you want.

If you click on a paddock or block you can see its history – like what fertiliser has been applied or a record of monthly pasture covers. This can be handy for compliance and showing sustainable management.

It’s also an easy way of keeping records of re-grassing and cropping for individual paddocks.

The digital maps can easily be kept up to date in real time. If anything changes on the farm, you just go in and change it on the map. 

2. Plan

Farmers are finding that having this very good visual of their farm helps with planning.

“You’re more or less looking at your farm,” says one Canterbury farmer. “You can have a look and a bit of a think about things.”

“I’ve been using it for planning fencing,” says a Hawke’s Bay farmer. “An idea might come up and I’ll whip back to the map and have a look.”

The digital maps have a ruler feature that you can use to measure distances and areas. This can help work out how much fencing material to order, for example.

“Our shepherd used it the other day to check how many breaks he had left for the heifers on an area of crop,” says another Hawke’s Bay farmer.

3. Communicate

One Wairarapa farmer has a computer with his interactive farm map sitting in the smoko room, so it’s at hand for conversations with staff.

The map can be linked with the farm’s task management, to keep track of what’s been done.

The digital maps can be printed off – for a contractor or farm worker to take away.

The digital maps are stored in the cloud, so a farmer can give access to others with a password if they wish. This can be handy for farm owners who live away from the property, for example.

4. Track paddock performance

This is where interactive farm mapping really raises the bar. The digital farm map can be linked with a database of information about the land, feed and animals – and this can then be used to analyse performance.

The database can link different kinds of farm information to help the farmer understand the differences between paddocks.

5. What’s involved in setting up an interactive farm map

The digital farm maps can be developed from existing farm maps, but there is a bit of work and cost involved in the initial set-up.

There are two main types of digital farm map – a simple boundary map which displays the farm on your computer – and then the interactive map, which has coding behind individual paddocks so they can be managed as individual units or blocks.

You also need some good software to run the map.

One Otago farmer has a visionary eye to the future – he’d like to have interactive farm map linked to a drone that goes out on the farm to collect information for him!

Want to find out about software you can use to set up and run digital farm maps? Click here to see a demo tour.

Click here to view interactive map demo