Halter package price cut 37%

Halter’s virtual fencing packages have gone down in price. PHOTO: HALTER
Halter’s virtual fencing packages have gone down in price. PHOTO: HALTER
Virtual fence company Halter has cut its prices by just over a third at the same time as outperforming the national average for six-week in-calf rates.

The cow collar technology company says the cheaper package is in line with farmers reducing costs and trying to raise their revenue.

A virtual fencing, remote shifting, pasture management, heat detection and health monitoring package will drop to $9.90 a cow, per month — back 37%.

Halter founder Craig Piggott said the company was "acutely aware" of how tough it had been for farmers the past year to 18 months and had worked hard to reduce its cost base and pass it on to farmer customers.

"In these tough market conditions, farmers have been laser-focused on cost reduction and return on investment, and so have we."

He said they were trying to innovate on costs all the time and focused on reducing product costs as well as building new products.

Among the savings are lower cloud computing costs.

Halter’s median six-week in-calf rate, just shy of 71% over 2023-24 mating, was 1.6% higher than the national average of 69.3%, believed to be the best on record.

Farms with its virtual fencing achieved a median 70.9% six week in-calf rate and its top 10% performing farms an average 80%.

Mr Piggott said the early results signalled a strong season for Halter farmers.

Halter helped dairy farmers grow and harvest more grass, and "nail" pasture residuals after shifting grazing cows via virtual fencing.

Halter farmers can now also benchmark their own performance against other farms using the technology.

"We’ve compiled performance data across a representative sample of our customer base, looking at the amount of pasture harvested, in-calf rates, and profitability, to help other farmers understand what a typical Halter farmer is achieving."