MINDA as we know it, started as one sheet of paper essentially designed as the 'birth, deaths and marriages' certificate of dairy cows, and now is a full herd management platform which holds billions of data points.
In 1985, farmers used 'herd record sheets' which were rows of blank paper where every vital detail of their animals was recorded. Births, deaths, matings, calvings, treatments, everything was manually tracked on paper and sent to LIC. This was the beginning of MINDA, short for Management Information for Dairy Animals, although at the time, the name was just an internal abbreviation.
It was a humble start, but the idea was revolutionary, to create a single database for every dairy animal in the country, forming the basis for all future herd recording.
After six years of development, the official MINDA animal database went live. Providing farmers a unique lifetime identification of their animals, verifying ancestry and parentage for current and future herd members.
This meant, for the first time ever, animals could be traced throughout their lives - their health, genetics, and abnormalities could be monitored over generations. This also meant, animals’ genetic progress across herds and the entire industry became trackable.
Before the internet was reliable, MINDA evolved into two early software versions:
Dairyman and DairyWin, distributed on floppy disks to early adopting tech-savvy farmers for trial. These were the beginner versions of what we now know as MINDA.
Following this was the birth of ‘MINDA Link’ otherwise known as MINDA’s green-logo era. MINDA Link allowed farmers to enter their own data themselves, but with limited reporting.
As computing power grew, we introduced MINDA Pro which gave farmers a full set of reports they could generate from their desktop. CDs replaced floppy disks, and farmers began taking herd management into their own hands.
With more farmers entering their own data, support became essential. So, in 2003 we opened a dedicated Customer Experience Centre for farmers who needed assistance. On day one, our team received over 2,500 calls from farmers.
Whether farmers wanted help entering data or preferred us to do it for them, we were there, and we still are today.
A decade later MINDA has had some integral additions:
These years marked a digital transformation, from desktop-based multiple data entry to real-time on-farm data capture.
From 2015-2019, we focused on building out the app and improving it based on direct farmer feedback. It was about listening, learning, and lifting the experience.
Today, around 90% of New Zealand’s dairy farmers rely on MINDA, which is one of the largest software platforms in New Zealand agritech.
Each year:
- Over a million animal events are recorded by farmers
- LIC adds millions more through herd testing, AB, diagnostics, and health events
- Data also flows from wearables, sensors, third-party integrations
- MINDA supports traceability, compliance, animal health, and crucial decision-making
Looking ahead to the future Blair Smith LIC’s Head of Farm Software is clear with his vision:
MINDA has come a long way over the last four decades, but its core purpose has remained the same - help farmers manage their herds better, every day.
Here’s to 40 years of MINDA, and to you, the farmers who’ve help shape what it is today.
