Over half a million acres of farm land mapped using FREE mapping tool

Herdwatch estimates this service could provide substantial savings to farmers, as traditional farm mapping services can cost hundreds of euro.

Farm Maps by Herdwatch is a simple way for farmers to create maps of their farms using satellite imagery directly on their phone.

Fields can then be named and colour-coded based on what they are used for. The service also enables farmers to create paddocks and spray records for farm compliance, eliminating paperwork and allowing them to make better and quicker decisions.

Land size is automatically calculated, providing farmers with the area of their field in hectares and acres as they create the map. Herdwatch members mapped over 500,000 acres of farmland in the app.

This mapping service will facilitate the use of more advanced features that Herdwatch is currently developing, including environmental tools which will provide precision soil health solutions, as well as details around fertiliser usage and carbon management.

Farm Maps by Herdwatch allows you to create a map of your farm simply using satellite imagery.

There is no longer any need for additional farm mapping programs or spending money on surveyors. Farm Maps by Herdwatch is a simple solution to map your farm in a matter of minutes.

Easily identify your paddocks

Customise your paddocks by name, ensuring you can easily identify your fields. Colour co-ordinate your paddocks by purpose to indicate crop type and record usage, making your farm map easy to view.

Edit your boundaries

Move your paddock boundaries with ease to precisely match your farm layout as you move boundaries.

Paddock measurement

Easily calculate the area of your paddock using Farm Maps by Herdwatch. The app will provide you with the area of your field in hectares and acres when creating the map.

Create paddock and spray records

Stay on top of your farm compliance paperwork by creating paddock and spray records. Record all your field and paddock jobs and notes quickly and view them through the map.

We recently visited Barney Carroll in Cregmore, Co Galway, who runs a dairy store-to-beef system, along with 70 commercial ewes and a small flock of pedigree Suffolk ewes.

He is using the Herdwatch and Flockwatch app to manage both his cattle and sheep.

“I have all the land marked out in the app; it’s actually a very handy tool. You can record if you’re using pesticides or fertiliser, you can record what’s going where or how much you’re using.”

Barney noted that the only way to grow is to learn from the people around you and that’s what he’s doing.

However, he is bringing his own stamp to the farm by adopting new technologies to increase the efficiency and productivity of both their cattle and sheep enterprises.

A common headache on farms is that of recording. Whether it be the performance recording of animals or keeping track of purchased medicines or feed and making sure dockets from purchases are kept safe.

However, this is no longer an issue for Barney and his uncle since turning to the Herdwatch app.

Discussing his initial experience with Herdwatch, Barney said: “I saw a video about Herdwatch on Facebook and ended up downloading the app.”

“Afterwards, Herdwatch got in touch with me about joining and they were top class and fierce easy to deal with.

“It has been the easiest thing to get signed up to, with only a few details needed like your herd number and few other bits and then you’re ready for off.”

The Herdwatch app has offered many benefits to Barney, such as logging purchased medicines at ease.

“Recording any medicines purchased at the vets is one straight away.

“There is no more going back to the shed at night time to get the package to record it in the book and it’s the same way with Flockwatch, as soon as I get anything I need for the sheep, it’s recorded straight away on the phone.

“Similarly, if we are selling cattle privately, all you need is the buyer’s herd number and put it in and you’ll get a movement number that you can send on to the buyer as a link and that’s it done,” said Barney.

Barney said that he has only started using Flockwatch since the middle of spring, but is already seeing the benefits it brings to the table.

“We find it excellent and going forward it will really be of benefit to us here.

“For example, when the ewes lamb down, input the tag number and input what they had and any other information you’d like to record about them then and there.

“The folks in Herdwatch recommended the EID reader and when I’m using it, all I have to do is have the app opened on the phone as they are connected using Bluetooth and, as easy as that, information is recorded,” said Barney.

Discussing the benefit of recording animal health and performance on Flockwatch, Barney said: “If I see a lamb that is not thriving as well as I’d hoped for, I can make note of that lamb and the mother of the lamb and just keep an eye on it.

“If some lambs haven’t reached a certain target, we can look at then maybe culling some ewes and continue to increase the efficiency and output of the flock by not keeping unproductive animals.

“This backend we’ll be splitting up the ewes and running two rams, so on Flockwatch we can create two groups and when the ewes lamb down, we can see what group they were in and what ram served them.

“So instead of putting marking spray on ewes, this cut outs ewes having different spray marks all over them and everything we need to know about the ewes is on the phone now.”

‘Easy to use’

According to Barney, you can’t go wrong with the app; he said it’s the easiest thing you can use.

Barney also mentioned how helpful the team at Herdwatch has been. He said: “Even if you do run into trouble, the guys in Herdwatch are only a phone call away and are very helpful with any queries or help you need.

“We are no longer writing down information on the backs of books. When I split the ewes last year for the rams, I had a list of tag numbers recorded in the diary that you’d be digging out to see what ewes were with what rams and it was just all very untidy and messy.

“Now it’s all on the phone and easy to get up information on those ewes and it’s the same with the cattle,” said Barney.

Talking about the app’s ease of use, Barney said: “It’s the simplest thing I’ve ever used.

“In terms of farm inspections, I have only started using the app since our last inspection, but I think going forward it’s going to be very beneficial.

“I’ll just have to print off the Bord Bia inspection report form and it’s there ready to hand over."

Barney continued: “Recording feed purchases is also another useful benefit.

“Once concentrate feed is dropped at the farm, the docket is left by the deliverer and all I do is input it straight away on the phone in Herdwatch.

“You can keep track basically everything you buy without having to go back looking for and over dockets, which we did in the past and which took up a lot of time and ran patience dry,” concluded Barney.

Other features in the Herdwatch app include:

You can join Barney and over 18,000 other farmers on Herdwatch by downloading the app and say goodbye to farm paperwork once and for all.

To get started on Herdwatch today in minutes:

Step 1: Download the free Herdwatch app by clicking here.

Step 2: Select your farm type and create your FREE account.

Alternatively, visit www.herdwatch.ie for more information.