FMG says its research shows that farmers and growers see weather as the biggest risk to their businesses. While no-one can control the weather, the company believes that with the right advice and information farmers can prepare for and mitigate the impact weather can have on their income and livelihood.

Company General Manager for Advice and Insurance, Conrad Wilkshire, a former farmer himself, says, “As an insurer that’s worked alongside rural New Zealand for over a century we know the devastating impact changing weather can have on land and livestock. Farmers and growers need any advantage they can get when it comes to managing weather. We’re pleased to have been involved with MetService in developing a tool that gives access to real-time regional weather data that can help farmers and growers react as quickly as possible to adverse weather conditions.”

FMG reports that the app is already proving popular with 3,500 downloads already.

MetService General Manager Communications, Jacqui Bridges, says, “We often hear from farmers about how much they value the information we provide on metservice.com. This new app is the perfect way to ensure that farmers’ favourite weather information is right in their pocket when they need it most – and FMG are the perfect partners to make this happen.”

The FMG Rural Weather app provides essential weather information for farmers, growers including:

• 10 day regional weather forecasts for 29 rural regions
• Severe weather information with visual alerts on the home screen
• Three and five day rain forecast imagery, plus real-time rain radar
• Two-hourly wind, temperature and rainfall forecast data for the next 48 hours
• The latest MetService TV rural weather outlook video
• Daily past weather for the last seven days
• Access to FMG weather risk information.

“Our philosophy is to give rural New Zealand a better deal. We believe this app, alongside the rest of our risk advice offering, will further help us to support this philosophy,” says Wilkshire.

Free for all users, the app is available for iPhones through the Apple Store and for Android smartphones through Google Play. For more information visit: www.fmg.co.nz.