Betting the farm

When the world’s understanding of climate change came into sharper focus, an unlikely perpetrator emerged. Fingers were often pointed at fields of methane-emitting cows, which were labeled just as harmful as a highway full of cars.

Farmers didn’t take this lying down. Many had a clear understanding of their role as part of the world’s food bowl; what’s more, many understood the potential for greater efficiency and sustainability in the farming sector.

What emerged was Halter, a cutting-edge, app-based management system that has revolutionized cow farming. By equipping cows with Halter collars, farmers can move and manage their livestock herds, monitor behavior and use real-time data to plan and manage their pastures for beef or dairy.

Halter is the brainchild of Craig Piggott, a mechanical engineering graduate who was raised on a New Zealand dairy farm. As he tells The CEO Magazine, the journey toward placing farmers among their pastures 24/7 has been tough but rewarding.

“It took us more than four years and millions of dollars before we even had a product we knew would work,” the Founder and CEO says.

“But if I think about the lives of our customers – our farmers and ranchers – they’re out in the elements every day, working even harder than we do.”

Cultivating a vision

With firsthand knowledge of the struggles faced by time-poor farmers in an increasingly sustainability-focused world, Piggott set his sights on improving pasture management, which he recognized as the key to optimal productivity and sustainability on a farm. With this lofty goal in mind, he assembled a strong team to tackle the problem.

“Innovation happens when people reset to a back-to-basics way of thinking and take a collective approach,” he says.

“At Halter, we’re big believers in taking everything back to first principles – what is the problem we’re trying to solve here? Is there a better way of doing it than has been tried before? Technology is the platform, but it’s not the idea.”

Backing his vision is a team that wants to be there, which gives the business a huge advantage, Piggott explains.

“There’s enormous joy in what we do,” he says. “We’re not a hierarchical organization; there’s no monopoly on good ideas and everyone can and does have their way. It’s very much a team, and we’re only as good as our weakest player.”

When the Halter team finally cracked a working prototype that was commercially scalable, it was a pivotal moment.

“But there have been many,” he says. “All our fundraising rounds have been major milestones, because they’re the fuel to help us grow and continue to develop our product.”

Growing pains

There have also been more than a few challenges, Piggott adds.

“Building a startup is tougher and more expensive than most of us could imagine. You just have to keep going. I’m thankful to the farmers and ranchers who have supported us and embraced what we’re doing. I couldn’t have done it without them,” Piggott says.

He explains that with the help of these farmers and his team, he was able to block out the naysayers and focus on the goal.

“If you can do that and just keep moving forward, then anything is possible,” he enthuses.

So far, Halter has been made available to farmers in New Zealand, parts of Australia and the United States, and Piggott says even more farmers will be able to enjoy the app’s benefits over the next 12–18 months.

“We’re in more than 20 states now and closing in on 20,000 collars in the United States alone,” he says. “In Australia, we’re present in Tasmania and Queensland, and hopeful of getting into New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria in the next few months. That’s going to be huge – Halter is a real game-changer for farmers.”

Tech leaps

When Halter arrives in those regions, it will make virtual fencing and herding technology possible for the first time ever. The data provided by the app helps dairy farmers accurately allocate pastures to better achieve target residuals and rotationally graze beef pastures with the touch of a button.

A farm full of collared cows may have the appearance of science fiction, but for many farmers, it has become part of a viable reality thanks to Halter. Piggott says the company has already helped farmers and ranchers become more efficient and productive, happier and more sustainable.

“I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished at Halter,” he says.

“Obviously, the growth of the company and our successful fundraising rounds are important, but it all pales in comparison to seeing the smile on the face of a farmer whose job has been made a little easier or whose life has been improved by our tech.”