Most people nowadays need more space, expertise or time to produce their own food, which means farm operations are more essential to our way of life than ever before. As a farmer, you are very aware of the vast amount of effort and work that is necessary to keep an agricultural operation going, and there isn't any way to eliminate all that work—but farm management software can both reduce your workload and make your efforts more efficient and effective. That means less work and less stress can get you better results with the assistance of the right farm management software solutions.
There are multiple options for farm management software, and some may be better suited to your farm and agricultural style than others. Farm management software is essentially software or a farm management app that makes it much easier and more efficient to record, monitor and manage real-time data, which can, in turn, offer valuable insights that ultimately improve the success of your farming operation. These can be used through a computer or a mobile device. That includes factors and tasks such as:
What are the potential benefits of farm management software? If you're used to doing things a certain way and have a system you've worked out over the course of many years, it may feel at first like switching to a software program and ensuring that everyone knows how to use it effectively is more of a burden than it's worth. But when you look at the farm management software benefits you could potentially reap, it becomes clear that the extra work necessary during the transition period will pay off big time in the end.
If you run an agricultural business, you know all too well how unpredictable the quantity and quality of your yield can be. Farm management software gives you access to data and resulting insights that not only make the seasonal results of your work more predictable but show straightforward ways to improve both the amount of your yield and the quality of the harvested product.
That's a huge deal that can significantly increase revenue and strengthen your reputation in the supply chain as a farmer who can consistently and predictably deliver a high-quality product. How can farm management software improve crop yield quantity and quality with data? There are many ways, such as monitoring weather patterns so you can plant at the most optimal times and protect crops from harsh weather events. Another method of crop enhancement is alerting you when your crops are at high risk for disease or pest infestations so you can take preventative measures rather than trying to mitigate the aftermath of a disastrous disease or infestation.
Anyone who has ever worked in agriculture knows that crops don't just spring from the ground for free. Numerous inputs are required, from seeds and fertilizer to water and pesticides—and all of the necessary inputs are costly additions to the overall process. Suppose you can avoid using more than is strictly required to get the ideal results from your yield. In that case, you can save yourself a considerable amount of money, time and effort in the long run without sacrificing the quantity and quality of your produce.
Farm management software can help you accomplish that by monitoring and calculating the most efficient and effective pattern of seed, fertilizer, water and pesticide applications. This means you can take the guesswork out of those processes and avoid wasting costly materials such as fertilizer on crops that don't really need as much as they've gotten in the past with custom-made fertilization schedules. For example, farm management software can combine weather predictions, past usage data, and other insights to determine the correct amount of water for each different type of crop and field location, significantly reducing the likelihood of over-watering or under-watering. It can also calculate the return on investment you can expect from different fertilization methods and crop protection so you can select the ideal method for each area and type of produce. The same basic principle applies to livestock management software with feed schedules and other types of livestock record keeping that allow you to make the most informed decision.
Farming is a heavily regulated industry, and regulations have increased recently as consumers demand stricter oversight of food production and traceability within the food supply chain. There's no denying that this increases workload considerably for agricultural producers and puts them at risk for punitive measures such as fines if they're unable to not only comply with all regulations but also easily prove they are in full compliance.
Recording and compiling farm data reports are onerous, time-consuming tasks that can be extremely difficult to manage without the help of a robust farm management software program. With the right farm management software to take care of that work on your behalf, record-keeping and reporting to regulatory bodies becomes much simpler and removes a major burden from the shoulders of farm owners. That means there's no need to worry that you're not in compliance with all applicable regulations or that you cannot readily prove your compliance.
Regardless of your commercial farming type, it is undoubtedly not a solo project. Farming requires the concerted efforts of multiple people, whether it's a small handful of workers or hundreds of employees and subcontractors. Naturally, that means a big part of running a farm is hiring, supervising and managing humans, which comes with its own set of potential problems and work. While those individuals may be spread out over a large geographical area, working on very different tasks and utilizing different skills, they all have something in common: a phone in their pocket that can be used to clearly communicate the necessary information and not only keep the entire operation on track but give employees what they need to do their jobs safely and compliantly.
Farm management software can be used to effectively communicate a huge variety of important information to everyone who needs it, minimizing the possibility of mistakes, accidents and mishaps that can result in losses or litigation. But it can also take care of tasks such as analyzing worker productivity and monitoring their progress toward improvement, providing you with the data you need to determine if someone is an asset or a liability to your organization and helping you create a plan to ensure that they are able to achieve what's necessary to make them a productive and reliable member of your team.
Unless you're growing hydroponically, agricultural operations depend heavily on the quality and composition of the soil, along with other geographical features such as proximity to water, elevation, opportunities for shade and windbreaks, and much more. Professional farmers are, by necessity, skilled at evaluating land conditions so they can predict the best locations for certain types of crops and add enhancements where needed, but that knowledge is hard-won and not always complete, especially when working on a new stretch of land that you haven't previously cultivated or planting a new crop.
With farm management software, it's much easier to understand all the pros and cons of the specific piece of land you are working with so you can handle crop planning and other business decisions appropriately and get the best possible results from your farming activities. Different software platforms offer different, more advanced features such as field mapping, satellite imagery, and more so you can make informed decisions. Different types of plants like to grow under various conditions, and finding a way to best utilize the land you have available will ultimately have a significant positive impact on your farm revenue.
How many hours have you spent writing in ledgers, organizing piles of receipts and handling other time-consuming administrative duties that are necessary to keep your farm running and ensure you meet or exceed all your professional obligations? All that time could be better spent elsewhere if the right farm management software dealt adequately with those tasks and duties. All the paperwork, whether it's actually analog or handled across multiple different computer programs, can be brought together under one "umbrella," making work such as tax submissions and payroll management easier, faster, more accurate and more streamlined. You likely didn't become a farmer because you love administrative work, so this is a huge farm management software benefit.
But there's another aspect of farm administration that farm management software can assist with keeping your information secure and out of the hands of cyber criminals who are looking to exploit it. It may seem improbable that a criminal would target a farm online, but it's much more common than most business owners suspect. Pretty much every industry requires at least some business to be conducted online in modern times, and small businesses are particularly vulnerable because they're much less likely to have robust information security measures in place. Farm management software can be used to store sensitive information securely and safely so that it can't be easily stolen, and that can ultimately save you a considerable amount of money, stress, and reputational damage.
Farmers are very aware that the health of the environment plays an outsized role in the success of their farming operations. Farm owners tend to be very interested in sustainable farming practices that reduce the carbon footprint of farm activities, keeping the land healthy, viable, and productive for generations to come.
Farm management software is the best way to analyze a farm's current carbon footprint and find ways to sequester and reduce carbon output so the farm is still able to output the produce we all need while at the same time not costing us the health of the soil and atmosphere so farming continues to be possible and productive in the future.
Farm insurance is an undeniably important addition to any farmer's portfolio for various reasons. It's no secret that it's best you implement as many farm safety tips as possible. Still, sometimes that's unavoidable—and, of course, that's one of the key reasons why having the right farm insurance coverage is so important. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to make an insurance claim following a destructive event such as a fire or because you've become tangled up in a liability scenario in which someone is bringing legal action against you, you're already dealing with a lot of stress. The last thing you need at that point is to scramble bits and pieces of information and data necessary to aid in processing the claim.
That's why a huge farm management software benefit is that the information your insurance company is asking for is already neatly recorded and compiled for easy access and reporting. As a result, your claim can be processed quickly and smoothly, and you can get the insurance compensation you're entitled to. Thus, you can bounce back soon and return to your standard business practices without further disruption.
Software innovations are the future of farm management. By embracing the benefits of farm management tools, you can get the information and actionable insight you need to make data-driven decisions and enhance the results of your efforts without compromise.
This content is written by our Morison Insurance team. All information posted is merely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Should you decide to act upon any information in this article, you do so at your own risk. While the information on this website has been verified to the best of our abilities, we cannot guarantee that there are no mistakes or errors.
