DAIRY 101 NITROGEN LEGISLATION
Te ch comes to the farm What is cloud computing and how can it help you onfarm? Karen Trebilcock explains.
R
emember that time when everyone said jobs would go in farming and we would all be working on computers instead? Computer science, IT, was the only way forward for the nation and we would all be employed by tech companies? Well, in a way it has happened, but not the way people thought it would. Instead, tech has come to the farm. Farming, especially dairy, is one of the biggest users of the cloud in New Zealand. Not bad when you consider some rural households are still struggling to do online banking because of poor internet. So what is the cloud and how do we use it? Firstly, it has nothing to do with those things in the sky that either give us too little or too much rain. Cloud storage simply means data is stored in an off-site facility that can be accessed from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection and a device to access it (your phone, laptop, computer, smart TV). And that data storage area is not even in the sky. It’s here on earth somewhere, usually a lot of somewheres. It’s called the cloud simply because nerdy computer geeks love using cool words to confuse the rest of us. If your neighbour can show you his cows calving in real time on his phone while he’s having a beer with you 102
“. . . unlike Waikato Hospital, farming has so far not been in his sights and there are a lot of measures put in place by providers of our cloud storage to keep our data as safe as it can be.” in the pub then he’s using the cloud. If you’re sharing information with staff and farm partners using Dropbox then you’re using the cloud. If you’re watching City on a Hill (I thoroughly recommend it) on Neon, you’re using the cloud. It allows us to use data without maxing out our computer or phone or TV’s internal data storage – we’re using the cloud instead.
CLOUDY DOWNSIDES
Of course there are some downsides. Because the data is accessible from anywhere, that anywhere could be the laptop of a pimply-faced Russian bored because he can’t go outside because of a Siberian snowstorm ripping through. And he knows how to send an impolite ransom note following his little hack. But, unlike Waikato Hospital, farming has so far not been in his sights and there are a lot of measures put in Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2021
