Terralink

Page URL:	http://www.terralink.co.nz/newsroom/press_releases_archive/2003_archive/7_july_2003.htm
Date Printed:	Friday, 10 September, 2010

e-farmers at Mystery Creek 7 July 2003 The premier e-farming theme at this year's Agricultural Fieldays provided the perfect opportunity for the rural community to see the latest farm mapping in action. Terralink International, geographic information system specialists, showcased their innovative digital and hard copy farm mapping at the Fieldays. Terralink provides farmers with an aerial image of their farm in digital format, ready to load into farm mapping software or as a hard copy print. Customers' orders are processed in eMap - Terralink's online mapping service that delivers aerial images (called orthophotos) and property information across the web. The Terralink stand was flooded with people on each day of the four-day event, eager to get photos of their properties. Farmers were enthusiastic about seeing aerial photography of their land and many took the opportunity to order hard copy prints and digital imagery of their properties. Terralink staff were delighted that farmers appeared to be willing to give e-farming a go because of the "time & cost-saving" benefits they receive from using farm mapping software to help them plan and manage their farm activities. Digital farm mapping has benefits such as providing exact sizes of paddocks to accurately calculate feed budgets, stocking rates and crop yields and planning fertilizer and irrigation applications and spraying. Mr Lloyd, a farmer in Waikato says, "I use my farm mapping software to calculate winter feed requirements, fertilizer application and plan stock rotations. Farm mapping has made the day-to-day management of my property more efficient and exact". Mike Donald, CEO of Terralink International says, "farm mapping provides an excellent base management tool for farmers. As agribusiness is operating in an increasingly competitive marketplace, the early adoption of "e-farming" technology by farmers is vital".