It is often said that farming is the backbone of New Zealand.
With the right climatic conditions for dairy, sheep and arable crops, coupled with the farmers’ (often, intergenerational) passion for and knowledge of pasture care and animal wellbeing, agriculture has historically been seen as a significant contributor to the nation’s economy and the driver behind the country’s spirit of innovation.
Farming continues to be hugely rewarding, but the challenges are more obvious than ever through fewer finance options available, turbulent international economics and ever tightening compliance and regulatory measures.
Add in the sometimes misrepresented or misunderstood depictions of farming practices by the public, which has resulted in a sentiment or suggestion of ill-will against the dairy sector in recent years, and there is no doubt that farmers are feeling the pinch.
From this environment, Livestock Visibility Solutions was born.
CEO Richard Appleby, a passionate and committed dairy farmer, received a Prime Minister’s Scholarship to travel as a dairy tech specialist to developing countries with the aim to understand and improve production for dairy small holders, in order to help improve their livelihoods through agriculture.
That distance, and shift in perspective, allowed him to see the issues and opportunities at home in a different way. He came home, determined to make an impact.
Richard’s time in the shed was cut short by a back injury, but like so many rural kiwi’s his identity is tied up in farming and he wasn’t about to give it up.
As CEO Richard Appleby says, “if you don’t know better, you can’t do better.”
It was this thinking that brought him to understand the opportunity to help bring tech solutions to the industry he loved, dairy.
So, the first product was born – Flow, a camera-based AI solution for a backing gate that responds to herd movement in real time. Not too aggressive, not too passive, just right.
While there’s nothing simple about the technology behind Flow, from a customer experience, the product couldn’t be easier to use.
“We’ve found that it has actually really increased our efficiency for constant flow of the animals, and they’re now nice and calm because the system’s working well,” says Kerry Higgins of Glenire Farm.
With a high calibre board behind him, Richard has assembled a team of bright minds and deep thinkers to help build the software and direct the vision, but as with everything good, the proof is in the pudding.
Te Awa Farm is using Flow and has found that milkings now run at an average of 18.16% faster since using the LVS product.
Flow is a product, designed to make for a more consistent, less stressful milking experience for stock and staff alike.
“Even with the best training, people are still people. Inconsistency between days, milking crews, problems with machinery, these are just part of the problem when it comes to keeping cows happy. And happy cows in consistent environments make for a larger yield, more of the time,” says Richard.
LVS is developing more products for market and 2025 will see two new products released into the integrated suite of AI tech that LVS is building its reputation on.
To see demonstrations or find out more about how Flow works or to sign up to its product waitlist head to lvs.nz and stay in the Flow.