While working in the cowshed on his Waikato dairy farm, David Miles designed a number of small hand-held tools that saved time and made work that little bit easier.
With retirement from farming fast approaching, David and his wife Karen thought that the tools could be useful for other farmers so designed a prototype just in time to have a stand at the 2024 Fieldays.
“It wasn’t the plan,” says Karen Miles.
“It all happened very quickly. We had four days to apply for the 2024 Fieldays Innovation Awards. We had no photos and one prototype. But from there, we met Callaghan Innovation who put us in touch with Soda and we’re now a commercial business!”
Trusten is a family-owned, farmer-led business offering practical, durable and high-quality tools that streamline farming operations. Combining hands-on farming experience with engineering expertise, David and his son Brad have developed tools that address real farming challenges.
In just over a year, Trusten has grown from an idea to a commercial business, selling four tools including The Scraper Tool which helps remove milk fat and protein buildup from rubberware; The Classic Priser which helps remove inflations from the milk claw; The Mini Priser Compact tool which helps remove inflations from the milk claw in tight areas and helps remove the cup shell; and The Trough Wedger which extracts broken threaded ballcock fittings from troughs.
These farming tools save time, reduce labour strain and improve hygiene whilst maintaining efficiency, productivity and safety.
At the 2025 Fieldays, Trusten had four tools available to buy through its website and is hoping its tools will be available to buy in farming stores soon.
Starting a business from scratch was a totally new experience for Karen and David so Trusten has utilised a number of support avenues through Soda.
“We knew the tools were good and that farmers liked them but getting a new business off the ground was hard. I didn’t know where to start. There was so much to do!” she says.
Supporting her along the way has been Soda Business Growth Advisor, Sue Loder, providing one-to-one coaching which is available through Startup Aotearoa.
Trusten also received Regional Business Partner funding to work with Courtney Haines from 3C Communications who helped with Trusten’s branding and marketing.
“Working with Courtney gave us the confidence to launch the new products into the marketplace. We created a digital marketing plan and ran a very successful social media launch and in-person product launch at Fieldays. This led to increased enquires and pending contracts with key market suppliers,” says Karen.
Trusten is now being approached by farmers who want them to create additional tools to solve specific farming issues. They have also been contacted by other industries who can see the potential for some of Trusten’s tools to be used in their sector.
Having its tools available in stores has also been a goal and Trusten has recently signed a trial agreement with Farmlands to stock its tools in their Waikato stores.
“It’s amazing to see how far we have come in the last 12 months. We wouldn't be where we are a year down the track without Soda’s support,” says Karen.