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 both there and in the region's hill country. 

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 he developed, which 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, 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 focus is on using technology to gain knowledge and understanding through experience, not only of the potential impacts and consequences of on-farm strategy, resource utilization, etc., but also 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 knowledge and understanding of pastoral ecosystems, enterprise risk and resilience; from the necessity of rain and sunshine to power them and their production of food, to the impact of human, societal, organizational beliefs/behaviours and the risk to pastoral enterprises of emerging geo-political/socio-economic views, demands and regulation.     

Resilience to adversity begins with awareness, and understanding of the possible, likely or inevitable impacts and consequences of events, circumstances, etc. 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 on 20% of your highest producing pastures, and the almost inevitable consequence of at least six months before the former productivity of those pastures can be recovered. 

Whilst for most, events of this severity are unlikely, in an increasingly volatile and uncertain world, our reliance upon off-shore supply chains for essential products and benign geo-political and socio-economic trading environments, are not an issue when things are functioning more or less as expected. But, there are underlying vulnerabilities, some known and some unknown, that need to be recognized; awareness and consideration that includes both an understanding of potential impacts and consequences, and also contingency thought, plans, actions and both personal mental and resource preparedness.  

In summary, FarmManager is a tool that makes it possible for farm owners, managers and workers, consultants, accountants and bankers to not only explore on-farm strategic innovation, resource utilization and management, but to also to explore, become aware of and understand the potential impacts and consequences of adverse events on a dairy enterprise, irrespective of their source or cause. It has the capability to transend through simulated experience, inter-generational loss of knowledge, in the same way that a Flight Training Simulator can expose through simulation, flight crew to events and situations that most of them would be unlikely to ever encounter in their flying careers.

If you would like to know more, click the Intro menu option below.