Working with new farm management software gets farm adviser Graham Butcher mixing with people who are very positive about the future of sheep farming.
Advising sheep, beef and deer farmers is Graham’s specialty: “I decided dairy was not my cup of tea.”
Based in Gore, Graham has been on the steering committee for farmers Barry and Julie Crawford’s technology project since it started in 2011.
It has brought together people who are ambitious for their industry, he says. “It is really good to be working with farmers who are so enthusiastic about the future of sheep."
The software that has been developed out of the project can help advisers like him work more effectively with farmers, he says.
“The Crawfords have set pretty high targets for their farm to achieve and they are going for it. It is great to rub shoulders with people like that. The other people on the steering group are the same.”
Recently Graham took 40 local farmers from a couple of discussion groups to the Crawford’s Rosebank Farm so they could feel the energy too.
“A lot of commercial farmers need to do that. It shows them what is possible. They can take away bits and apply it to their own farms.”
EASY RECORDING AND REPORTING
The visitors took a look at what the Crawfords have been doing with specialist summer finishing crops.
“The on-farm recording they do with online farm management software is fundamental to the whole thing. It enables them to do the recording without too much hassle.
“Farmers can pick the level of recording they want to do. Barry and Julie, for example, are at the top level.
“Once information is in the farm database, you can find it quickly.
"We were looking at the block of Red Clover the Crawfords put in 3 years ago, and I wanted information on how many kilograms of lamb per hectare it grew versus the rest of the farm. That information was instantly available. To get that figure any other way would involve a lot of work, and it’s so good to have.
"That’s just one example of the power of thing… It’s what it can do for you that counts.”
As an adviser, he has been given access to Rosebank’s online information and finds it’s helpful.
“Any hard information you can get about clients’ farms is good. Farmers vary in their ability to give you hard data about what’s happening on the farm. Often what you get is anecdotal: you ask a question and they’ll say, ‘I think it’s about this.’ It’s things like average kill dates and weights. Some can give it to you off the top of their head and others have to go away to find it –and if you didn’t ask they wouldn’t. Many farmers don’t know how many paddocks they have got, for example.
“It’s quite important for farmers to have a sense of these figures. With this new online farm database it’s sitting there."
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