Jock Lawrence dared to do what not many farmer’s sons would be brave enough to do — he downloaded his dad’s knowledge of the farm.
Using his father David as the starting point, Jock created Mobble — a livestock farm management program that now helps 2000 other family farmers across Australia and New Zealand share an understanding of their business.
“My brothers live and work on the farm (near Avenel), so we needed the information out of Dad’s head to centralise the data and work more cohesively. That was about five years ago,” Jock said.
While there have been some headaches along the way, Jock relied heavily on his family’s feedback to fine tune the program he proudly says is built by farmers, for farmers.
“I had a look at what else was on offer and found it too clunky or complicated,” he said.
“I’m grateful with my engineering background, that I had a chance to combine my true passions, agriculture and innovation, and come up with a simple and easy to use solution for so many other farmers.”
Mobble is considered the new family record-keeper by by many users, meaning disagreements over the kitchen table are on the decline.
The software includes farm maps, mob numbers, paddock movements, shearing dates and vaccination records. It also records sales and purchases and lamb marking data.
All critical when biosecurity and compliance are part of farm business governance.
While Jock is the face of Mobble, it is not a one-man show.
Jock is buoyed along by a team of 10 staff scattered across Australia and New Zealand working remotely in software development, communications and customer success.
“Our staff add value to the product with their wide range of experience and expertise in the same way our online farmer community contribute to our product,” Jock said.
“Our ‘Mobblers’ are very interactive, which is a huge asset for us, and they’re loyal with a 99.9 per cent user retention rate.”