Like many farmers, Cam Lewis juggles multiple jobs, farms and staff every day. As a joint shareholder of one of New Zealand’s largest asparagus growers and the managing director of his family’s dairying business in Levin, he can’t be everywhere at once.
Levno, an early stage agri-technology company is one of a breed of new players in the market bringing solutions via cloud-based, cellular, farm monitoring.
“I can’t imagine how else I’d hold down my day job and manage two herds of cows, six milking staff and a run-off manager across two farms. With continuous monitoring, I know exactly what’s happening when – wherever I am, 24/7, without the delay or cost of a 3rd party audit.”
He adds that when things go wrong on a farm, they can go very wrong very quickly. “Dairy farming is time-intensive and time-critical. There are massive profits at stake. Knowing I’ll be alerted about a problem and having access to the data I need to solve it, gives me enormous peace of mind and ultimately maximises our profits.”
Cam’s passion for technology is borne out of a series of experiences which would otherwise have seen him out of pocket by thousands of dollars.
“Within months of having Levno install its system, one of our milking staff forgot to turn the refrigeration unit on. I was alerted immediately and we managed to save the whole vat, $5K worth. And because we didn’t need to make an insurance claim for spoiled milk our excess wasn’t increased.”
On another occasion, Cam quickly diagnosed the source of a milk grading issue without having to wait until milking resumed the next morning. “I logged into my dashboard remotely, got some accurate insights into the problem and fixed it before it was too late. The tanker might have driven off without 21,000 litres of our milk or we could have been issued with a fine equal to 200% of the milk’s value.”
Cam also relies on the technology to monitor his staff’s use of diesel. “It’s a handy deterrent that reduces theft and is less confrontational than a camera.”
Whether a farmer owns one or more farms, milks their own cows or employs staff, Cam suggests that everyone’s at risk.
“There’s no knowing when something will go wrong. At 9 o’clock at night or 3 o’clock in the morning – there can be a power cut, a fuse can blow, the stirrer can break. And everyone needs time off.
Visit their site: www.levno.com.
As appeared in Farmers Weekly 12 June edition.