Agtech innovator Aimer Farming is bringing its AI-powered ‘digital eyes’ to the dairy industry with the launch of Aimer Vision. This new tool allows farmers to ditch traditional, time-consuming methods and measure pasture cover using just their smartphone.
Following their initial ‘Siri for farmers’ digital coach, which is already used on farms across Australia and New Zealand, Aimer Vision represents the next step in applying AI to farming challenges. The system leverages machine vision to analyse pasture with impressive accuracy from a quick video scan.
Traditional pasture measurement often involves hours of walking the farm weekly, a task that’s both labour-intensive and prone to inconsistency. Aimer Vision aims to replace this with a rapid, five-second, 180-degree scan using a standard smartphone during routine farm tasks.
The company claims impressive results, suggesting Aimer Vision achieves around 90% accuracy in assessing pasture cover. They estimate regular, accurate measurement could boost farm profits by up to A$400 per hectare, potentially adding A$60,000 to A$80,000 annually for an average dairy farm.
Traditional pasture measurement methods are often labour-intensive, inconsistent and take hours of time to ‘walk the farm’ on a weekly basis. AIMER Vision delivers instant, AI-powered insights using a smartphone, allowing farmers to optimise grazing, reduce waste, and improve profitability – all without increasing labour costs.
Jeremy Bryant, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Aimer Farming.
The system works by taking the visual data from the smartphone scan and feeding it into Aimer’s sophisticated AI algorithms.
These algorithms form the ‘digital brain’ of the platform, analysing the pasture and integrating it with other farm data to create a ‘digital twin’ of each paddock.
Key Features of Aimer Vision
AI-Powered Pasture Assessment Uses machine vision AI to analyse a 5-second, 180-degree video scan from a smartphone to determine pasture cover with around 90% accuracy.
Time and Labour Saving Replaces hours of manual walking with quick scans integrated into daily tasks, addressing labour shortages and freeing up farmer time.
Optimised Grazing and Feed Management Provides precise data to help farmers make better decisions about where and when to graze stock, reducing waste and improving feed utilisation.
Predictive Insights Leverages AI and historical data to forecast pasture growth up to 21 days in advance, aiding in planning and resource allocation.
Digital Twin Technology Creates a ‘digital twin’ of each paddock, learning growth patterns and offering tailored recommendations for grazing and supplements.
Before this wider launch, Aimer Vision was refined through a BETA program involving select farms, supported by an Agmardt Agribusiness Innovation Grant in NZ. Over 15,000 video scans were collected across all grazing seasons to ensure the AI models were robust and accurate for widespread use.
Aimer is already active on over 170 farms across New Zealand and Australia through various partnerships. The company is also gathering data in Ireland, signalling intentions for a future European market entry.
Jeremy Bryant believes AI is crucial for the future of agriculture.
“AI is revolutionising so many industries; and we believe farming should be one of them. Applied AI can help dairy farmers drive huge improvements in pasture measurement, management automation, profit and sustainability.”
The potential impact reaches beyond individual farm gates, according to Aimer’s Chief Commercial Officer, Phil Townend. He highlights the creation of a potentially massive global pasture productivity database built from aggregated, anonymised data.
AIMER is building the world’s largest pasture productivity database, which could help global food corporations measure sustainability from farm to product, and input suppliers understand the efficacy of their products. The value of this data, alongside the productivity gains, is significant.
Phil Townend.
See how the technology works in the video below.
Townend adds that facing rising costs, labour shortages, and stricter environmental rules, Aussie and Kiwi farmers need smarter tools.
AI-driven solutions like AIMER Vision offer a way to boost efficiency without increasing workforce pressure, helping farms remain competitive in a changing global market.
Aimer Vision represents a significant step in applying practical AI to the challenges of modern dairy farming. By putting powerful measurement tools directly into farmers’ pockets via their smartphones, it promises greater efficiency and profitability for the sector.
Now available as part of the Aimer platform, Australian pricing and subscription plans can be found on their website.
