"The R&D budgets of the large dairy companies overseas are 10 times our annual revenue, and we have to think outside the box about adding value." he says.
The Centrus was launched at last month's Fieldays at Mystery Creek, won the international innovation award, and had orders from United States, South Africa and China.
The first one is being shipped to a Michigan farmer who milks his herd of 3500 cows three times a day to get an extra 10 per cent more milk production. The system will be used 20-22 hours a day, every day of the year. There's very little downtime for servicing and the platform will handle the pressure, created by hefty 700kg Holstein Friesians.
A farmer near Cape Town will be the first to install the Kevlar platform in South Africa, and another Centrus 84 will be sent to a dairy corporation in north China by the end of the year.
Waikato Milking Systems, founded more than 30 years ago, makes rotary and herringbone systems and components, and exports to more than 20 countries, including Russia and Latin America. The company has been supplying the US market for 25 years.
New Zealand's agritech exports were worth about $1.2 billion in 2013, and the sector grew at 4 per cent compounded annual rate over the past five years. The exports were mainly made up of animal health products (worth $311m), fencing supplies and equipment ($307m), and machinery and systems ($307m). Key growth categories were animal and plant genetics, including grass seeds and vegetables for sowing.
Consulting company Coriolis' report on the Agritech sector, published in September last year, concluded New Zealand's agritech exports were underperforming compared with its key competitors -- Israel, Ireland and United States -- but the sector was showing good growth.
The latest KPMG Agribusiness Agenda laid out a strong case for taking control of corporate culture and growing a more valuable future for the industry and for New Zealand. Increasing competition makes it the right time now to think deeply about how the primary sector positions itself in the markets of the future.
Stand out agritech exporters include PGG Wrightson, Agriseeds and Canterbury Seed which grow and export seeds globally; Gallagher Group and Tru-Test Group which sell fencing and monitoring systems; Simcro which specialises in drench guns and injectors and works closely with animal health companies; and Waikato Milking Systems.
PGG Wrightson's new perennial ryegrass, available with the AgResearch endophyte for insect resistance, prevents grass staggers in sheep. Gallagher's ring top post reduces tangling and reduces the time spent on moving stock.
New Zealand Merino has added value to the fine wool by contracting growers to supply one or more brand partners -- such as active wear company Icebreaker and luxury carpet manufacturer Godfrey Hirst -- at a fixed price, generally one to three years in advance.
Tru-Test Group has established a corporate culture which includes embedding Lean principles in its innovation pipeline, and implementing "Voice of the Customer" where teams visit farmers around the world to discuss their challenges and ideas.
Tru-Test produces a range including milk meters, animal weighing and electronic identification, dairy automation, milk cooling and tanks, and electric fencing. The company sells its products in 130 countries and has established subsidiaries in Australia, United States and South America, while the high-tech manufacturing remains in New Zealand.
Fieldays at Mystery Creek traditionally displays a wonderful array of innovation, and last month was no exception. On show were a variety of new products from farm apps to an electric motorbike and the Centrus 84 milking system. Farm apps were naturally a centre of attention.
Daniel Hall decided there had to be a way of finding out whether an electric fence was live without actually touching it. He formed his own company, Danz Zappz, and worked with electro-mechanical consultancy Beta Solutions and mobile applications company Muli Mobile to develop the Fence Detective app -- and earned the Vodafone Innovation Technology award at Fieldays.
The app detects the presence of electrical pulses. It works remotely and the smartphone never comes into contact with the electricity source.
Farm Angel, powered by Blackhawk Tracking, is a satellite and cellular system that monitors (quad bike) rider and (tractor) driver behaviour including acceleration, speed and tilting. It also tracks vehicles and routes. Alerts are automatically activated via the smartphone if pre-set limits are breached, such as an accident occurring.
Farm Angel also determines who can operate an all-terrain vehicle with a key-fob or medical wristband that activates the ignition.
Tauranga's Anthony Clyde and Wellington's Daryl Neal, who founded the Utility Bike Company (Ubco), designed and built an all-electric, two-wheel drive farm bike which can handle all terrain conditions.
The Ubco 2X2 weighs 50kg, is powered by a lithium battery, has a load of up to 200kg and travels an estimated range of 100km, with a top speed of 45km/h. It has no clutch or drive chain, eliminating maintenance issues with regular farm bikes.
Pastoral Robotics, founded by Dr Bert Quin and Geoff Bates, has developed a robot called Mini-Me which identifies urine patches after each grazing and immediately applies fertiliser or other products. The machine moves over the paddock in a pre-programmed route, scanning as it goes and making applications where necessary. With further development, the robot is likely to be equipped with a drag chain or small plough and spread manure over twice or three times the normal area.
Bates says the application of GPS, robotic and sensing technologies to manage nutrient applications in a pastoral setting is, as far as he is aware, unprecedented globally.
Tauranga-based Kliptank, which makes an internationally-patented, clip-together HDPE plastic storage tank, developed an aerator stirring technology that allows aeration, entrainment and stirring from the one system, advancing the benefits of a healthy effluent tank.
The Steel Step caught the eyes of the Fieldays judges and won the Locus Research Innovation award. Siegfried Bachler designed his steel step that bolts on to a post instead of building a traditional wooden turn-style for the fence.
Levin-based Carry-mate won the Best Pitch at Fieldays for its lightweight, durable plastic solution for transporting, deploying and retrieving fence standards. It is mounted on farm vehicles, and can be operated using one hand, allowing the standards and reel to be simultaneously deployed or retrieved. Inventor Doug Harrison says the system improves farmers' efficiency and makes transitioning between different stages of fencing quick and easy.
NZ National Fieldays Society chief executive, Jon Calder, says "the innovations we see continue to impress and amaze. The passion for creating something that will solve real problems for farmers and our ag-industry is exciting and encouraging for the future of NZ agri-tech."
All that's needed is for the inventors to develop a corporate culture and attract vital capital input to turn their bright ideas into global commercial products.
