The Herdwatch Story – Behind The Scenes
The Herdwatch team were delighted to welcome Stripe, the leading online payment processing company, and Rugby legend Jamie Heaslip to their base in Roscrea, County Tipperary last month to shoot a mini-documentary telling the story of Herdwatch and its success to date.
Herdwatch CEO & Co-Founder Fabien Peyaud came up with the idea of Herdwatch in 2011, having discovered that over 90% of cattle farmers did not use any form of herd management software. Initially Fabien was told “farmers would never sign up to this” however he stayed true to his belief that “if you give farmers a productivity tool that saves them hours per week, they will use it!”
Fabien took the concept to Peter Byrne, CEO of FRS (Farm Relief Services) at the time, who said “go for it” and Herdwatch was born! Fabien and the Herdwatch team have been backed by FRS since, contributing massively to this ongoing success story.
The first version of Herdwatch launched in February 2014 to the Irish market and the company has not looked back since, launching in the UK in 2016 and winning multiple awards. The app is now used on over 18,000 farms across Ireland & the UK and the company recently launched their new sheep management app Flockwatch. However, this is just the beginning of the Herdwatch journey as the company plans to bring their award winning farm management app further afield in the very near future. “Over the next 6 to 12 months we hope to actually bring Herdwatch to other locations in the world.”
“Herdwatch is a productivity tool which allows farmers to manage their herd or their flock using their mobile devices, anytime, anywhere.”
Positive farmer feedback and success stories are the main motivation for the Herdwatch team, knowing they have made a farmer’s life easier makes all the hard work behind the scenes worthwhile. Peyaud says “What I love the most is the feedback from farmers is that positive feedback of ‘I couldn’t do without it’ “. The mini-documentary features one such farmer, Richard Phelan, a local Dairy farmer who has been using the Herdwatch app for over 6 years. “We are very thankful for Richie’s help and positive feedback and indeed for the support of our thousands of members.”
Behind the scenes at Herdwatch HQ – Shooting Day with Tiny Ark Film Production
This film would not have been possible without the brilliant team at Tiny Ark Film Production. Here are some BTS shots of the filming on the day and an insight into where the Herdwatch team support, innovate and more on a day to day basis!
