Watch NZH Local Focus: Pen and paper is out as farmers move to devices

Mobile applications and real-time data.

They're the buzzwords at Mystery Creek Field Days this year.

And farmers are embracing new technology.

"It's just the convenience of it, it's in our hands we can see it, I don't have to go back to the office, to the house, to the cowshed to find it, and if someone comes onto the farm it's actually in my pocket," says Hamilton share milker Karen Treder.

Mrs Treder is a regular user of Fonterra's mobile application - giving her up to date data on milk production and pickup times.

And the latest app she uses is Orange Cross - which collates, manages and shares health and safety information

It removes the need for pen and paper to report and tell farmers, staff and contractors about hazards on the property.

Orange Cross was developed by Megan Owens and Jason Ham.

"Our mobile technology comes from the belief that farmers are doing things to keep themselves safe, they are just rubbish at recording it, so we like to tell people that we've facilitated the documentation of common sense," Mrs Owens says.

Chairman of Agribusiness New Zealand, Conor English says technology is giving farmers more information to make decisions to increase productivity and profitability.

"Where the technology and where the data comes in is it can help inform those decisions so we can optimise that system and get the best outcome - environmentally, financially and also from a personal satisfaction side of things."

And for some - the hardest part of the process is committing to the change.

Chris Clark owns and operates Harbour Margins - which provides ecological restoration advice for regional councils and farmers near coastal areas.

Mr Clark says he is newcomer to mobile applications but used electronic mapping for his work, and for the financial side of things he has recently started using Xero to manage his finances and accounts on-the-go.

"For a technophobe like me it was a quite a big thing, but no I've realised that it's great transition to make, very beneficial to my business," Mr Clark says.

Craig Hudson, country manager for Xero says technology helps farmers stay ahead and means they can spend more time on the farm.

"Technology is changing our farm now, farmers are able to operate on the farm now, so we're taking the mundaneness of what they do from financial literacy perspective and we're putting it in the cloud," Mr Hudson says.

There are still many rural areas struggling to get good internet connections - but the Communications Minister Simon Bridges says fixing that is a core part of his Government's regional strategy.

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