FarmRanger a non-negotiable requirement – Mattie Azar

“FarmRanger is a “must” or non-negotiable requirement when farmers farm with livestock,” says Mattie Azar. He farms with Bonsmara cattle on farms in the Winburg and Marquard districts.

According to Mattie, livestock theft is increasing every year and has become well organized by livestock syndicates. He adds that FarmRanger is an essential tool for livestock farmers in South Africa to combat livestock theft.

Azar explains that he started using the collars after a livestock theft incident cost him dearly.

Before FarmRanger livestock security collars

“About seven years ago, a neighbor warned me that someone was loading my cattle onto a truck. By the time I arrived at Winburg from Bloemfontein, the cattle thieves had left with 110 cattle.”

“Fortunately, my neighbor was able to give a good description of the truck and it was seen and stopped in the Bothaville area. I got all my cattle back alive.”

Four years ago, however, Azar was not so lucky and cattle thieves slaughtered 15 of his cattle. “Right then and there I decided to buy three FarmRanger collars and six dummy collars.”

The decision to protect livestock with FarmRanger

“I placed one active device and two dummy bands with each herd and also set up security cameras in various places on the farms.”

After that, Azar did not lose any livestock due to theft, until the latest incident on June 19, 2024 when cattle thieves struck again. Fortunately, one of the stolen cattle was equipped with a FarmRanger collar.

Get alarm calls when danger is near

“I received an alarm on my mobile phone at 23:30 indicating that everything was not fine. I tracked the movement of the animals on the app and realized that this was a potential livestock theft incident.”

Azar was able to tell the police exactly where his cattle were in order to respond quickly.”By the time the police arrived, three cattle had already been slaughtered, however another 12 cattle were recovered alive, exactly where the FarmRanger app indicated their location were.”

“I purchased two more FarmRanger collars as well as dummy collars so that there is now one active collar with each herd of 50 cattle.”

FarmRanger collars are user-friendly and easy to install. “It’s simple to use. All I had to do was secure a device to an animal in each herd and download the FarmRanger app to my mobile phone.”

Quality you can trust

“I have not had a single day of trouble with FarmRanger devices and would recommend them to any farmer. The app works great. I can see exactly where each herd is on the app on my cell phone.”

According to Azar, there is no downside for farmers when they purchase FarmRanger collars. “It’s just a plus for my farming and I wouldn’t be able to farm without it.”

FarmRanger collars pay for themselves

“From experience I can testify that the purchase price of FarmRanger devices is far less than my financial losses due to livestock theft. When I think back to my first livestock theft incident seven years ago, I realize that had I had FarmRanger devices, I could have easily tracked my cattle all the way to Bothaville with FarmRanger,” says Azar.

Contact FarmRanger for information. Tel: 028 212 3346 or visit www.farmranger.co.za