Glenmore Stations Todd Walker on the importance of centralising farm data

We were lucky enough to catch Glenmore Station Stock Manager Todd Walker on a rainy day in Tekapo to discuss all things Mobble and how the software benefits his team on the farm. 

Todd grew up in the Canterbury region and has worked in the agriculture industry since his early days.“I’ve been farming since I could walk. I remember following dad around as a little nipper on the farm, both my grandfathers are farmers – I guess it’s probably bred into me”. Todd managed to sneak in an OE (overseas experience) before returning to relocate to the iconic Glenmore Station.

Located on the outskirts of Tekapo township, Glenmore Station covers approximately 19,000 hectares rising from the western shore of Lake Tekapo to the border of the Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. 

“We’re running around 18,000 stock units – we operate a Merino stud and run Red deer and Angus cattle. We’ve got 350 hectares under irrigation and the rest is mainly top dressed, oversewn country with some high-altitude summer country”.

With nearly 5 years under his belt at Glenmore Station Todd comments on the elements “It’s a pretty challenging environment down here, we have long hot summers and long cold winters with nothing in between. The growing season is very short. One of the biggest challenges on farm is making sure we produce enough feed to take our lambs through the growing season”.

The sheer size of Glenmore Station provides its own challenges, to help staff navigate their way around and improve on farm information transparency, Glenmore traded in the notebook for Mobble almost a year ago and haven’t looked back. 

“I think the days of the notebook are going to become a thing of the past. It’s gone through the wash before and it will happen again. We used to have a folder with essential farm records, it would never be where you thought it was, or something wasn’t filled out right. We now have 5 of us on Mobble and everyone has instant access to everything they need”.

More and more farmers are seeking out a solution to centrally store their farming data, “The fact everyone can have Mobble at their fingertips and know where all the mobs are at all times is what originally drew us to the software” says Todd.

“The fact everyone can have Mobble at their fingertips and know where all the mobs are at all times is what originally drew us to the software”

“It’ll definitely help with audits in the future in terms of recording animal casualties and the dates of animal health applications/treatments. It’s also easy to record withholding periods, for example it might be calf marking and there may be 5 different mobs of cows and calves, you can just go through, select the mobs and indicate which treatment they received on what day” says Todd.

Withholding periods are automatically recognised as information is pulled from the chemical inventory and mobs will show an indicator on your farm maps and mob information whilst they remain in their withholding period.

“In a few words, it’s simple and everything is in one spot”.

Mobble has made it easier for Todd to do jobs on the fly with farm records backed up safely and accessible at a moment’s notice.

 “Driving around, you will find yourself looking back at when a mob might have last been drenched, right there in the paddock. You don’t have to think about it and drive all the way back to the yards to look for the notebook or folder”.

“It’s all very simple and it’s developed by farmers for farmers. I can’t really fault it – it’s just pretty bloody good” says Todd.

To learn more about Mobble visit mobble.io or email hello@mobble.io if you have any question.