Sheep and cropping farmer Max Nield on Mobble: “We don’t know what we did without it”
Max Nield is a young farmer with a passion for agriculture. He grew up with a love of farming, born into a broadacre operation near the town of Hyden in Western Australia’s wheat belt, on a property that specialises in wheat and sheep.
When Max finished up at boarding school two years ago, having spent high school 300kms away in Perth, he returned to the family property to work within the small team.
The Nields tend to a 4000 hectare cropping program and breed 3000 Merino ewes each year.
With a business-minded mother, Carlia, and father Frank who has a background in agronomy, the family started looking into ways to have a more cohesive management system that everyone on the farm can be involved in.
The growing team comprises one full timer, Max’s parents, and one to two casuals - so around 3-5 staff members at any one time - and they needed more efficient ways to plan. The Nields began with Agworld to assist with the cropping side of things, and then they introduced Mobble alongside it to work with their sheep operation.
Max explains, “Mobble and Agworld integrate really well. Before we adopted the technology, we thought ‘we’ve never needed it before, so why do we need it now?’ And now that we have it, we don’t know what we did without it.”
“We use Mobble a lot for the offline map functionality. It allows us to show someone the gate we need them to go to - literally putting a dot on the map - to indicate a dodgy fence for example, or a tree down. For a new employee or contractor who has never been on the property, this makes a big difference.”
On the farm they’ve already delved into Mobble’s Live Inventory feature (released in August 2024). “We’ve just started using live inventory to keep a rolling record of silo use and feed on hand. With cropping it’s definitely handy seeing how much you’ve spread out.”
Paperless audits are now standard on the farm, with the Nields recording everything in Mobble. It allows them to keep a tally of mob numbers and has made it easy for budgeting.
Max explains that Mobble removes guesswork from a lot of what they do. “We use Mobble’s grazing data - days reseted and how hard paddocks have worked allowing for better future planning. There’s also no more guessing where sheep are, and which gates should be closed”.
Max is currently in Canada gaining experience on a 4500 hectare farm called Simber. He speaks down a crackly phone line from a grain cart. It’s harvest season and there’s no rest for the wicked - it’s about 8pm where he is.
With an inherent love for farming, and a keen interest in leadership, teaching and technology, Max is trying to fit as much experience in before he moves 3,000 kms away to Geelong in Victoria to attend the agricultural college Marcus Oldham.
We wish Max good luck for his future farming endeavours, and can’t wait to see what he does.