Aimer Farming’s new Chief Revenue Officer, Shane Nolan, says smarter pasture management will become one of the most powerful tools dairy farmers have to stay ahead as the sector faces a “perfect storm” of time pressure, labour shortages and rising environmental expectations.
With more than 20 years’ experience across New Zealand’s agribusiness and agritech sectors, Shane is known for building strong industry relationships, leading high-performing teams, and helping farmers adopt technology that delivers practical on-farm results. Before joining Aimer Farming, he held senior leadership roles with RX Plastics, Datamars New Zealand and Tru-Test Group.
Aimer Farming’s flagship solution, AIMER, uses smartphone-based computer vision and proprietary algorithms to measure and forecast pasture growth with accuracy, generate feed wedges, and support better on-farm decisions. Farmers scan part of their farm, and AIMER’s algorithms estimate the rest - saving hours of farm walks while generating forecast feed wedges and automated grazing plans.
Shane says pasture efficiency is emerging as one of the most powerful levers farmers have to improve both productivity and environmental performance.
“Pasture management has always been central to dairy farming in New Zealand, but its importance is only increasing as environmental pressures intensify. Kiwi dairy farmers are grass farmers, and pasture is what ultimately converts to milk in the vat.
“The more homegrown pasture you can grow and utilise efficiently, the more it helps address long-term environmental challenges. It’s also the lowest cost feed on farm, so improving pasture utilisation can reduce reliance on supplementary feed and lift a farm’s overall efficiency.”
He says the industry is moving quickly toward tools that not only measure pasture but interpret the data and recommend what to do next.
“Farmers don’t have time to delve into complex information. They want technology they can trust to guide their decisions,” he says. “We completely trust Google Maps now and that’s where pasture management technology is heading.”
One of the reasons Shane joined Aimer Farming was the company’s vision to remove long-standing barriers to accurate, consistent pasture measurement.
“Collecting reliable pasture data has traditionally been time-consuming and inconsistent, and AIMER makes it very easy,” he says. “AIMER’s ability to provide real value on farm - from time saved and labour reduced to more consistent pasture performance - is what sets it apart.”
Shane believes the next stage of pasture management will be technology that anticipates decisions and prompts farmers before they need to ask.
“Farmers are going to be served insights straight from the data,” he says. “It’ll tell you: move the cows into this paddock today for optimisation or lock these paddocks up for silage - and then ask if you want it actioned.”
Shane says the response from farmers and industry partners in his first weeks in the role has been “staggering”.
“I’ve been out at regional field days and the NZ Dairy Expo and was blown away by the number of farmers telling me how much they like AIMER - how much time it’s saving them, and how surprised they are that a smartphone app can measure pasture so accurately and consistently.”
As CRO, Shane will lead Aimer Farming’s commercial growth across sales, partnerships and customer relationships. His priorities for 2026 include expanding AIMER’s customer base and supporting the rollout of new measurement technologies, including satellite and drone-based pasture assessment.
Aimer Farming CTO and Founder Jeremy Bryant says Shane’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for the business.
“Shane brings a wealth of sector experience and a genuine connection with farmers. He has spent his career helping farmers adopt technology that improves performance.
“His commercial leadership, industry relationships and practical understanding of on-farm decision-making will be invaluable as we scale AIMER across New Zealand and internationally.”
Shane is based in Canterbury and works closely with Aimer Farming’s Hamilton-based team.
