Media Release: Agritech companies jump fence in powerful industry union

11 July 2023 -

Farm reporting software company Trev acquires Cloud Farmer, a pioneer of farm recording in New Zealand.

Cloud Farmer was one of the first farm recording apps available in New Zealand, founded a decade ago by Pōrangahau farmers Gretchen & Leyton King. King says ten years on, in an evolving farming environment, the time is right for the next generation of the product. 

She says having built a solid base of progressive red meat farmers within the Cloud Farmer business, the union with Trev is a logical next step and has been well received by customers.

“Trev is a like-minded Kiwi business with a farmer first mentality. They’ve paved the way in the dairy reporting space and their tool is quickly becoming a favourite for farmers. 

“The team have very similar values to our own, and are driven to enable Kiwi sheep, beef and deer farmers to get the most from their farm as we enter a new era of recording and reporting.  We believe Trev is in the best position to deliver on the next phase of Cloud Farmer, instilling their best in breed and easy to use design to deliver a product that has our farmers at the core.”

The amalgamation of these trusted brands comes at a time when farmers are being presented with overwhelming choices in farming software and technology options. 

Scott Townshend, CEO of Trev, says the union of Trev and Cloud Farmer marks a watershed moment, providing an opportunity to align the sector and deliver a best in breed solution for farmers in the recording and reporting space.

“As our first acquisition and an entirely new growth pathway, it’s the beginning of something big for all involved. Trev and Cloud Farmer are well paired to complement each other’s strengths and eliminate any gaps currently in the market. Together we will be able to do some great things for Kiwi farmers, providing new functionality and insights that we know will be well received by customers and downstream stakeholders. There is a lot of very exciting technology coming to the fore in the Ag industry - automation, AI and predictive insights will all play a large role in the sustainable future of food and fibre in New Zealand.”

“It really should not be about having one system for dairy and one for red meat but reporting that works for all farmers. At the end of the day we are all food and fibre producers, with similar goals to consumers, producing what they want in the most efficient manner possible, while preserving and improving the land we rely so much upon.”

About Cloud Farmer: Founded a decade ago by Pōrangahau Farmers, Gretchen & Leyton King, Cloud Farmer is one of the pioneers of farm recording in New Zealand.  Cloud Farmer was developed in 2013 to reduce the amount of administration involved in farm record keeping, alongside meeting compliance requirements for red meat, cropping and dairy farmers. The Cloud Farmer app acts as an online farm notebook for recording, storing and sharing day-to-day farm information. The app supports digital recording of tallies, staff hours, drench records and logs hazards. 

About Trev: Launched in 2018, Trev has quickly become a favourite for Kiwi farmers to manage their farm reporting requirements to help drive on-farm excellence. Initially starting out in dairy, Trev provides farmers a software tool to easily build and control their own farm database, providing productive, profitable and sustainable insights.

Information can be shared across a farming operation, to off-farm advisors or to other platforms such as financial software providers, processors or organisations that determine a farm’s licence to operate.