My Block Hand wasn't created in a boardroom or by a large software company.
It started on a lifestyle block in Northland, New Zealand — with a notebook, a drench gun, and a growing suspicion that there had to be a better way.
Like many lifestyle block owners, I was managing livestock, paddocks, jobs and treatments across what quickly became too many things to keep in my head. Which paddock had rested long enough? Which animals had been drenched recently? Which ones kept needing treatment and which ones sailed through summer without a problem?
Those questions matter more than most small farmers realise. Blanket drenching every animal on a fixed schedule drives drench resistance — one of the most serious problems facing small farm owners in New Zealand. Moving stock back onto paddocks too soon puts them straight into contamination. And breeding from animals without keeping records means you cannot tell which ones are genuinely thriving and which ones are costing you the most to maintain.
I looked for software that could help with this. Most systems were built for large commercial operations — expensive, complicated, and completely disconnected from the reality of farming before and after work.
So I built My Block Hand.
It started as a tool to manage my own block and has grown into a platform shaped by real small-farm use. Every feature asks the same question:
Would this actually make a difference on a real small farm?
The answer drives everything: paddock rest tracking, FAMACHA and FEC recording, targeted treatment logging, breeding history and animal condition scores — all designed to be quick enough in the paddock and useful enough to keep coming back to.
Our goal is to give every lifestyle block owner the records and visibility they need to farm smarter — not harder.