It's a far cry from the future that a young Stanners once envisaged for himself. "When I was thinking about being a farmer as a 13-year-old, I liked wandering about and doing things," he recalls. "Now you have to be quite a businessman -- farming by numbers -- not farming by physique."
Vodafone, nationally and as part of its global brand story, is at the sharp end of agribusiness developments.
Just prior to Fieldays, Vodafone launched a new "first of its kind" bundle under the Rural Connect brand, specifically designed to help farmers navigate increasing pressures on profitability and productivity in the sector.
The farming solution brings together rugged devices, online farming financial management from Figured and Xero farm vehicle and safety technology from Blackhawk Tracking Sys tems, and Vodafone's security software -- all delivered over Vodafone's rural network.
Stanners says these innovative partnerships are changing farming practices and providing the connectivity that will enable farmers to attract employees to rural New Zealand and keep families connected.
He points to Blackhawk (see adjoining story) which has developed a quadbike device linked by satellites which helps with worker safety.
There are other technical partnerships such as one that enables tomato growers to track potential insect infestations in glass houses.
Then there is a partnership to deliver online farming financial man agement with Figured and Xero. At Fieldays, 70 per cent of farmers surveyed at the Xero stand said they did not have a budget. "We think they need one," Stanners adds. "It's surprising because the payout has gone down."
Asked where their business plan was, some said: "In my head".
The big challenge is how to use technology to spur greater innovation and productivity in the rural sector.
Stanners says farmer customers want to be assured that their suppliers will be long-term providers. Bundled offerings by varying groups of suppliers are resonating with the market. More than 50 per cent of Vodafone's rural business is now driven by its partners, just half through Vodafone Retail.
Spark has now stepped up its involvement in the rural market. Stanners says that will help develop a whole new competitive eco-system.
"When you've got competition -- innovation will happen dramatically."
Vodafone also stepped up by introducing a new rural broadband service with super-fast 4G speeds and large data bundles.
Rural 4G (L700) roll-out is under way in areas like Cambridge, Te Aroha, Pukekohe and Masterton, delivering greater reach and better in-building coverage than other frequencies.
Vodafone data shows rural New Zealand is in the middle of a transformational change towards connectivity. Usage has almost doubled this year in the rural network as the latest technology becomes more accessible.
Stanners is confident greater connectivity will help put an end to the rural divide.
He says kids in farming families might moan about how their texts don't work when back at the farm. But with technological progress they will have the same access to the same social networks as their city-based peers.
It will also help farmers with their employee attraction packages.
"We're involved with Ngai Tahu down in the South Island," says Stanners. "They were converting farmland to dairy farms and the needed to have high speed broadband in the homes as part of their employee propositions. Workers want broadband and television."
As to the future, he says the uptake of smart phones is increasing both by farmers onfarm and via online social communities linking up through their devices.
