TracMap provides contractors and farm staff with accurate GPS precision mapping systems in tractor and truck cabs, planes, helicopters and even on motorbikes. It can be used to plan jobs as well as record they have been done.
“The time it saves is enormous, not to mention preventing mistakes such as spraying a neighbour’s prime grass with Roundup or treating a paddock twice with fertiliser a day apart because an employee went to the wrong paddock or they’re working in the middle of the night to get the balage done and do the wrong side of the fence.
“It gives you the confidence that the right job will be done the right way, in the right place, at the right time. It’s real peace of mind which is vital when every cent counts,” Glen said.
TracMap has continued to grow in its eight years, with 30,000 online accounts and 8.5 million hectares in New Zealand mapped using the technology, including 10,000 dairy farms.
“The mapping has mostly happened in the last four years, and half that area has been done in the last 12 months so it’s really taking off.
“TracMap is used to apply more than 65% of all fertiliser spread across NZ.”
He said TracMap was also helping farmers and contractors meet dairy companies’ and councils’ compliance requirements for fertiliser and effluent spreading.
“They can plan the job, do the job and then report back and easily extract the data for invoicing, all using TracMap.
“We can make sure the fertiliser goes in the right place using GPS and by utilising variable rate mapping we can make sure more fertiliser goes in key areas where it’s needed and less in others where there is not going to be the same benefit.
“As well, we can keep it out of waterways and areas that feed into waterways.”
Farmers moving K-lines were also finding TracMap essential.
“The impact on a 10-day rotation if you miss a section of a paddock cannot be made up, so to equally irrigate the paddock is essential to the productivity of the farm,” Glen said.
Farmers can also set-up breaks for cows using the system. TracMap will show
the best way to divide a paddock for the mob size giving the correct number of square metres per cow and ensuring resulting grass residuals were what was planned.
Besides agriculture, TracMap is used in horticulture and viticulture, especially in Australia and California. About 30% of sales are now made overseas.
Rural firefighting and forestry are also using TracMap.
“Contracting businesses can work out the day before who is going to go where and then they can monitor it in the office as it happens to make sure everything is going as planned. If someone has finished a paddock earlier than expected they can be redirected to another job using TracMap.”
The company was started in Mosgiel near Dunedin by agricultural consultant Colin Brown, who is still a director, and now employs more than 30 people including eight software developers. However, there are no plans to move to brighter city lights.
“We can use software developers graduating from the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic right here and we can talk to the people who use our systems here as well,” general manager marketing Sarah Hill said.
“We get our ideas of where to head next by talking to contractors and farmers about what they need and then coming up with the results for them.
“We want to take the hassles out of their day. If they want to simply push a button and get the nutrient report and proof of placement reports for fertiliser or effluent spreading that they require for Fonterra or Synlait or whoever, then that is what we want to be able to do for them,” she said.
“We want to make it as easy as possible.”
