Veronica Jenkins and her partner contract milk 150 cows on 56 hectares in Koromatua, just outside Hamilton. The farm is owned by her partner’s parents who also own and run a larger farm near Pirongia where they milk 450 cows.
As well as being a farmer in the Waikato, Veronica works for the Co-op as a Farmer Support and Relationship Advisor – so she’s familiar with the admin load on farmers, and with the solutions that are available to help.
“Every farmer is time poor but there’s a lot out there now to make life easier,” Veronica says.
She says filling in annual records was so much easier on both farms last year. Admin was historically paper-based, which meant rifling through pages of hand-written reports and data to complete things like the Farm Dairy Records.
Armed with the knowledge of new solutions being introduced by the Co-op, Veronica stepped in to streamline their processes. With the help of apps and data connections, recording and reporting was “as simple as pressing a button.”
“To be honest, my partner and my in-laws were too busy running the farms to really do anything more than the bare minimum when it came to admin. They didn’t have any of the apps installed. I like to say I’ve brought them into the 21st Century. We’re now using Dairy Diary, LIC’s MINDA, Ballance’s MyBallance and my father-in-law is looking at introducing Halter in the future. Both farms achieved The Co-operative Difference last season for the first time,” Veronica says.
“We’re busy outside of the farm too, so being able to collate information online and on my phone, on the go has been amazing.
"Being able to pre-populate the Farm Dairy Records has been a game-changer. I don’t have to claw through paperwork for hours on end to try and answer the questions,” says Veronica Jenkins.
“This saved us so much time in double-handling data and in actual submission of records. It is all pretty seamless and user-friendly. I’ve been impressed with the how to guides and support available. It’s pretty well idiot proof, which has been essential for me,” Veronica jokes.
She admits there have been a few hurdles.
“Of course, it is a journey – some of the data connections didn’t pull through as much information as they could last year, and some were delayed. But we’re seeing these things develop every season and get better. I think it’s better to be on board and learning it now, so that the Co-op can understand what farmers’ need from data connections and can make sure things are improving.”
Veronica has found her enthusiasm is shared by other farmers who she works with as a Farmer Support and Relationship Advisor.
“A farmer I spoke to recently said that he had given himself a full day to finalise all his Farm Dairy Records. He said he’d made sure no one would be in the house so he had peace and quiet to get it done although he hated computers and wasn’t sure if he’d be able to sort it all. I told him to give me a call if he needed help or got too frustrated – that call never came.
He actually rang me a week later and said it was the easiest admin he’d ever completed and he was done in hours. He praised the Co-op for giving him the option to connect up some of his information,” Veronica says.
More on the horizon
Fonterra is working on more options for farmers when it comes to data connectivity – from more farm providers to connect up, through to a better online experience to make it easier to see what’s connected and manage them anytime.
“It’s not just for records – the new online checklist for assessments is really good too. You can connect your data in there and pre-populate some of the questions to make your assessment a little faster and easier as well,” says Veronica.
“I really encourage farmers to give it a go – and if you have any questions, remember your Farmer Support and Relationship Advisor is there to help you.”
Keep an eye out for more news on connections becoming available soon.
Farmer Support and Relationship Advisors are visiting stores in April to help farmers with connections, or you can call them for help.