![IDEA DEVELOPING: Raymond Barrett with poodle Reggie and kelpie-cross Yogi on his property in Yankee Creek. Pictures: JAMES WILTSHIRE IDEA DEVELOPING: Raymond Barrett with poodle Reggie and kelpie-cross Yogi on his property in Yankee Creek. Pictures: JAMES WILTSHIRE](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/128816459/dc117bf5-290d-4d9a-95ed-64cdf43cc22f.jpg/r0_361_4779_3058_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A Lankeys Creek resident wants to design an app to help farmers maintain livestock records and documentation from the paddock, so they have more free time to spend with their families.
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Raymond Barrett and his wife Lauren moved to their Lankeys Creek property with the intention of raising livestock last year during an early pandemic tree change.
"In doing a lot of the research we realised a lot of the documentation requirements," he said.
"I was trying to find some kind of software that would allow me to do that really easily.
"While I did find some options, none of them seemed to do a complete package, they're all missing something or they don't cover the particular aspect that you need."
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Mr Barrett, whose current work is in assisting the development of new technologies in the construction industry, said he thought he should just make a phone app himself.
"To begin with I'm mostly focusing on it being able to update various data bases," he said.
"So to be able to do that via mobile, instead of what it is at the moment where you'd have to scan the animals tag, load that into some non-internet connected device typically, record all of that information and then upload all of that into a computer to update the records.
"There is no real need for that at the moment, so to be able to scan the tag immediately, have all of the information on your phone, so you can update what you need and if you have internet connection immediately - great, or it can be cued up, so that when you do get that internet connection, it can automatically do that, you don't have to remember."
![App idea could save farmers' time, so they be with their families App idea could save farmers' time, so they be with their families](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/128816459/6f119166-1f31-471e-888c-470ec67735e2.jpg/r0_251_4815_2959_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mr Barrett said there was a pressing need for the technology.
"A lot of farmers out there are doing it on their own and the more time that we can give them back in the day, the more time they can connect with their communities," he said.
"At the end of the day it's about making their lives better, it's not necessarily about fixing process that exist, because a lot of those process exist for a reason, but it's allowing them to get to the pub a little bit sooner or allowing them to spend a little bit more time with their families.
"Not only will it do wonders for everyone's mental health out there doing it on their own, but also just give them a better quality of life and allow them to be more productive in the long term."
Mr Barrett plans to develop the app prototype through crowd funding and through his own resources, then seek further investment after testing the app.
"Money is always an issue for everyone so I will do what I can to support it myself, but I'm hoping the community out there in the world, not just in Australia, can support it," he said.
"Farming is probably one of the most important industries in the world if we don't support it, we don't have food on the table at the end of the day.
"So in my mind it's a no-brainer, it's something I feel I'm becoming more and more passionate about the longer I live here in the country."
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