Spreading manure: There's an app for that
In the 5-plus years since the App Store launched, it seems like there's been an app for almost everything. Today we get one step closer to removing that "almost" qualifier with the release of an app that allows dairy farmers to calculate how much manure they need to spread.
No, that's not a joke. The folks at DairyNZ Limited have released an app called FDE Calculator ("FDE" stands for Farm Dairy Effluent Spreading") that helps a farmer work out the nutrient loads in the manure he is spreading on his land. And though it's relatively easy to poke fun at an app that helps you spread $#!t (kind of like Twitter), the FDE Calculator is actually a very valuable tool to farmers since it can help them save a lot of money. As DairyNZ marketing manager Andrew Fraser explained told the New Zealand Herald, "Potassium, for example, is one of the nutrients that's in effluent so if you aren't spreading it thinly and widely, then you end up having to buy more potassium from your fertiliser supplier than you actually need."
The FDE Calculator is a free download. Get spreading.
A TUAW hat tip to Chris S. for sending us the New Zealand Herald link.
