Rural services website RD1.com has sold over 400 PCs with internet connections to farmers in the past 10 weeks.
“We’ve become an important PC retailer almost by accident,” says RD1.com’s chief executive Neal Murphy.
“Now that there are services specifically for [farmers], they’ve more willing to invest in the technology to go online.”
The computer deal offered by RD1.com includes a Hewlett Packard PC and internet access through a deal with Ihug. There is a similar arrangement between computer manufacturer Dell and Fencepost.com.
Murphy says the response has been strong in the Waikato, where RD1.com’s majority shareholder New Zealand Dairy Group is based, but also in the deep south of the country.
RD1.com estimates around 46% of farmers have internet connections. Around 60% of farmers are thought to own computers.