Smartphone app for smart farmers

24th August 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE USE

Smartphone app for smart farmers

A new Farmhelp app provides practical farming instructions at the touch of a smartphone button, anywhere on a property, any time.

The idea is to deliver instant, practical, time and money-saving information for daily farming situations when it’s needed most – like way out in the back paddock.

“It’s a pocket prompt, accessed easily by smartphones,” says Richard Brown, Baletwine Ltd owner and Farmhelp product developer, in launching the product this week.

“The beauty is that users don’t need cellphone reception once the app is downloaded. Remote locations are no barrier. With smartphone sales going through the roof, and now more rugged handsets suited for use on the farm available, they are the ideal vehicle for this app,” Brown explained.

Brown says it’s about “saving time and money by getting things right first time, with practical information at the fingertips. It’s a very kiwi DIY solution, backed by smart technology.

“There are 232,000 farm workers and lifestyle block owners in New Zealand. Many are inexperienced and need only a simple prompt to help them identify and/or fix a problem, but they need it fast.

“It might be anything from fixing a fence or more advanced feed calculations. Having answers literally in your pocket will save time, stress and invariably money”.

The Farmhelp app currently has 9 different farming packs that collectively cover 67 common farming tasks. People can ‘try before they buy’ by downloading free Farmhelp tasks from Google Play. Brown is confident prospective users will see Farmhelp’s true value and go on to buy packs suitable for their own situation.

Covering all major agricultural sectors, the step-by-step information is highly practical, for instant use when needed.

“This is a worldwide first, developed here in New Zealand, and will be sold internationally. We believe this is the first agricultural task related app anywhere, and is available from Google Play,” Brown concluded.

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