AgTech in New Zealand - Regen | Laurie Besinet

AgTech in New Zealand - Regen

Published 14th Jan. 2018

In this second article about AgTech from New Zealand I will talk about the company Regen. I met Bridgit Hawkins, CEO, who told me about the company's solutions for better environmental management of water and effluents in breeding.

Livestock in NZ

An important sector

New Zealand is a breeding country, with a large and extensive dairy industry. It is the fifth largest producer of milk in the world (FAO, 2014).

Impacts on the environment

At this size, the sector is being singled out for its environmental impact, particularly on water quality.

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Creation of Regen

Origin

Regen's founder Bridgit Hawkins grew up in beef and sheep farming. She founded Regen in Wellington in 2010.

Objectives

The company's goal is to optimise the amount, and timing, of effluent and water irrigation.
It sells a software of agronomic advice, which can call upon different sensors that the farmer already has in place in the plots.

The solutions

Specialties

The company offers 3 solutions offering recommendations on:

irrigation - based on soil, water and weather data;
effluents - with soil, watershed, environmental and weather data;
Nitrogen - with environmental data and manually entered data;

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Special features

The software can be adapted to more specific needs, with the team analysing data and editing customized reports.

The company has a strong culture of partnerships and works with agricultural players such as PGG Wrightson, Datacol Group, Carrfield, Callaghan Inovation, MetService, Agri Optics, ThinkWater,...

Today Regen covers 18,000 hectares and guarantees $5 of profits for every $1 invested.

Conclusion

In a complex social, environmental and economic context, agriculture welcomes Regen's solutions with open arms. Indeed, they propose that farmers have a \"scientist in their pocket\"to rhyme agriculture with sustainable resource management.

See you soon with another article!