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As one of New Zealand’s largest agri-tech companies, Gallagher works closely with industry partners, such as Angus New Zealand, to make sure farmers are directly involved in the development and testing of its products.

“At Gallagher we work hard to develop innovative tools for farmers that are easy to use and perform well in our New Zealand climate. They also need to be suited to our unique pastoral farming systems,” says Darrell Jones, who is Gallagher Animal Management’s General Manager for New Zealand and Chile.

That means involving farmers in the process from the beginning, from identifying the need on farm and doing our research, to developing and testing prototypes before they go to market.

“Our team are the best in the business. From our engineers and territory managers to our operations and customer support teams, they know farming, they know farmers and they know agri-tech,” Darrell says.

Technology like Gallagher’s weighing and electronic identification solutions, coupled with the company’s Animal Performance App, are giving Angus farmers more confidence in their decision making.

The effective weighing of stock on farm helps track the success of feeding regimes, monitor when stock reach optimal weights and forecast when animals will meet sale weights.

Darrell says data like this is crucial to the success of any Angus bull operation, especially right now when the cost of farm inputs, like feed, are skyrocketing.

“Having this type of information available in the palm of your hand helps transform farming systems into data driven businesses. It ensures Angus farmers get the best results for both their bottom line and the environment.”

An increasing number of Angus farmers are realising the value of moving towards data-driven operations, he says.

“EID is already a crucial element of governing compliance schemes, providing traceability of animal movements to and from farms.

But using EID tagging to its full potential can also help Angus farmers gain better insights into animal performance and play a crucial role in the way they manage their day-to-day operations.

Without weighing you don’t know where your animals are at, and you can’t plan ahead. Weighing regularly means you can record each individual animal’s performance throughout the year, make sure they are meeting their targets and know they will be ready for customers on time.

“Angus bulls are raised through to a target weight, which they need to meet in time for key sales throughout the year. Being able to provide data about each animal’s history and growth helps farmers secure a premium price at sales because it gives their customers confidence in what they are buying.”

Gallagher’s relationship with farmers goes well beyond product purchase, Darrell says. The customer and technical support it offers are second the none: Gallagher’s experienced and knowledgeable team are available by phone or email and they can even walk you through a problem using Team Viewer, which enables you to give its experts remote access control of your device. Just another way Gallagher is helping farmers protect what matters most.