The author and developer of FarmManager is Dr. John Bircham - B.Agr.Sc.; M.Agr.Sc. (Hons); Ph.D.
His career as research scientist began in the late 1960s when he was appointed to the position of Field Research Officer for the Southern Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa region in New Zealand. He was the Officer responsible for the Masterton Field research Area (East Taratahi Road, Masterton) and the research undertaken there. In the mid 1970s, he relocated to the Whatawhata Hill Country Research Station and then a few years later to the Hill Farming Research Organization outside of Edinburgh in Scotland where he undertook his Ph.D. studies. Upon completion of his studies, he returned to Whatawhata for a number of years.
His seminal work on the pasture-animal interface, herbage tissue flows, ruminant grazing behaviour and production has stood the test time, being as relevant today as it was when he completed his Ph.D. studies. Upon his return to Whatawhata, he developed a number of landmark models based upon is knowledge and understanding of the pasture-animal interface, the most notable of which was a general model for ruminant pasture intake, a model that has stood the test of time, as has had another model that describes the relationship between incident rainfall and soil moisture on steep and rolling sloping land.
After resigning his position as a scientist at Whatawhata, he developed and marketed the first commercially available pasture growth predictor for New Zealand, followed by the prototype to FarmManager, before becoming for a decade or so as a systems analyst and developer. He developed an interest in organization risk, compliance and resiliency consultancy and systems, an interest that led to speaking, teaching and consultancy engagements for many years in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom & Europe.
FarmManager's pragmatic focus is on the use of technology to experience and through experience gain knowledge and understanding of the potential impacts and consequences of events, situations and circumstances that could emerge in the future from the increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world in which we are all embedded. It embodies the author's deep understanding of pastoral ecosystems, from the necessity of rain and sunshine to power the pastoral ecosystem and its production of food, and human/organization behaviour and the emerging risk to pastoral enterprises of geo-political/socio-economic views, demands and regulation.
Resilience to adversity, to the previously unknown begins with awareness, an understanding of possible, likely or certain impacts and consequences on a dairy enterprise, irrespective of their source (climate, fire, land slip, etc.) event or cause (geo-political & socio-economic environment protection demands, etc.). By way of example, consider the impact of a flood, the product of a changing climate, depositing the slash debris from a harvested forest of trees on 20% of your highest producing pastures, and the consequence of at least six months before the former productivity of those pastures can be recovered.
Whilst for most, an event of this severity is unlikely in an increasingly volatile and uncertain world, our reliance upon off-shore supply chains for essential products is not a problem when things are functioning to expectations. But, there is an underlying unknown vulnerability that should be recognized, an awareness and consideration that includes both an understanding of potential impacts and consequences, and also contingency thought, plans, actions and preparedness.
FarmManager