The joint venture between Fonterra and LIC farmer co-operatives began with a shared platform for their existing farm-relevant data, such as milk production feedback and the Minda number crunching.
It also incorporated MetService weather information relevant to farmers.
Cutfield said that was only the start and many other appropriate companies would be invited to consider joining the platform.
The advantages for the others and for farmers would begin with combined views and interactions between applications.
Further developments would come from new ways of looking at existing information and from benchmarking single farms against regional averages.
Cutfield forecast Agrigate would be attractive to farm accounting software providers, GIS integration, for feed and nutrient budgeting, health and safety management, effluent management and work programming.
It would then incorporate the internet of things, which was essentially remote monitoring of sensors on all types of farm machines, infrastructure and influences.
Rural service providers would offer alternative feeds, finance, fertilisers and genetics on the Agrigate platform.
It would therefore be revenue-generating and sponsorship opportunities would become available.
Cutfield said Agrigate was in full agreement with the industry-wide farm data connectivity standards.
Fonetrra Farm Source chief operating officer Miles Hurrell said Agrigate was a step change for the information available to farmers to drive the next wave of innovation.
PwC partner Brent Goldsack, in Hamilton, said data presentation on Agrigate would open up huge productivity opportunities for farmers.
“The building of these electronic platforms is really expensive and it is one of the benefits of having farmer-owned co-operatives that Agrigate has been possible.
“No other country would have anything like this and if they did, it would be expensive for farmers to use.”
Fonterra had begun down this pathway years ago with the milk tanker electronic capability on milk vat details and the quick reporting back to farmers, most of whom now found that service routine.
