In response to the "How do you use software to help you farm" Farm thread

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Tue, 03/13/2012 - 17:25 #1

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Farmed-Out
Last seen: 05/27/2013 - 10:55
Joined: 03/12/2012 - 09:44

In response to the "How do you use software to help you farm" Farm thread

Re: Katiepooch's response in the above thread

The system (not really sotfware) I developed was initially for time poor farmers who often relied on farmhands to keep their farms running, but testing has proven it does work just as well with full time farmers. It's basically an inventory of the entire farm, from equipment, to fences, to sheds, bascially anything that is on the farm, which shows information like where it's located, checks that need to be preformed regularly (every use or yearly etc), service dates, how services are to be carried out (by a book or qualified techs etc), previous services and repairs as well as a history of those for either tax reference or even reselling reference. It also includes a section where farms and farmhands, (or in the case of full time farmers just the farmers themselves) can report maintenance tasks, emergency repairs or just regular jobs, as well as reporting when those jobs are completed so that everyone involved is always kept up to date, email alerts for these reports help alert other staff to the jobs that need doing. That information is also used to create a history for each item showing costs in both dollars and time for each item.

 

The system is fully online, password protected, hidden from search engines and all identifying information is removed (unless requested otherwise) and once the client gets the information and photographs to us (Australia is a big place we can't get around the whole thing taking photos Cool) we do all the upkeep and updating of everything, all the farmer has to do is ensure the information given to us is accurate and that they keep updating their reports for maintenance etc, which most clients are reporting is taking only a small amount of time each day or an hour or so each week for those not updating daily.

 

Although we have been running and testing now or nearly two years we haven't gone officially "live" with our website, our clients so far have all been word of mouth but they have also been invaluable in testing and tweaking of what we do. As mentioned in the other thread we charge a one off set up fee and then a monthly upkeep based on the number of updates and changes each client wants us to make but we do alot of work too keep files updated and running smoothly which means the farmer/owner is not paying for a service and still doing all the work themself.

 

Because we haven't offically gone "live" yet I'd rather not name the business just yet (if private messaging is available on this forum I'd be happy to discuss it further though).

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Tue, 04/03/2012 - 15:43 #2
Farmed-Out
Last seen: 05/27/2013 - 10:55
Joined: 03/12/2012 - 09:44

In response to Roger in the same thread mentioned above. (sorry I haven't had time to figure out how, or if, it is possible to reply to a thread more than once, my screen seems to show otherwise)

Our product was originally created for (what may be a niche market of) professional farmers who didn't have time too maintain their own farms but knew they needed a solution to ensure maintenance and repairs were done and kept up with, so that the little time they had off from their full time jobs wasn't spent continually doing maintenance their assistants could be doing during the week. Obviously any system that works for that market would also work for full time farmers given the similarities however for the same reasons as you suggest full time farmers were not on the radar initially, word of mouth put them there, now we cater for both.

In it's most basic form we created a web page system similar to that which business might use internally (i.e. only seen by staff, not open to the world, but providing important information related to that business). Each system is fully tailored to the client and we do rely on the client giving us all the relevant information (they choose) to set the system up however, once the system is up and running all the clients are required to do is report the problems, issues, tasks that occur, a 10 min job in many cases. While the client has an easy way to keep track of all the tasks that have been done we make it easier on them by taking the data they've provided (work done, work completed etc) and correlate the information into downloadable files which they can then use for taxes, resale or just their own records. The amount of information they want to see depends entirely on how much information they want added to the system

As an example. In a month the farmer may report that his cattle trailer lights are not working, he might report that fence in paddock X is broken, he might report that a gate has fallen off. On top of this he also knows that tractor is due for it's service, the second trailer's rego is due and rego coincides with a full check and service of bearings, wheels etc, (it's a slow month). He uses the reporting system to report the repairs, (at once or as they occur), the system has either reminded him, or his staff have reminded him of up coming services they know about and can schedule in and with luck all jobs go smoothly. At the end of each job the farmer or his staff update the system with the work carried out, the costs, the time and any other relevant details (once again entirely up to the client, we do not tell them what they need to show) and then depending on the update options chosen by the client we come along and correlate all that data into easy readable files. On top of this we also add any new items that the farmer notifies us of, with as many details as they request and apply the same updating options. Where possible we also provide spec sheets/service manuals for quick reference things (like pump capacities, small engine specs, oil quantities etc) so that when work is due on any item those doing the job have as much information as possible to do that job or understand when it's time to call the pros.

That's just one simple example of how our system works. Clients get what they want out of it, if they don't use it to the full extent it can be used they probably wont see any cost justified but those who are using it to it's full extent, are not only keeping us busy with updating but they are also reporting that as yearly expense on the farm it's barely a drop in the massive ocean of bills that seem to reproduce themselves at will the minute someone signs up for a farm. As a web designer I have created websites for many different businesses from e-com puzzle stores to heavy metal bands to an outer limb company of one of the major video rental chains and anyone who has owned a business that's taken up the services of a web designer knows that web pages come in varying sizes and costs. This sort of project is not a lot different to doing exactly that, having a web page set up for your own business where the designer does most of the work and leaves the client to do what they do best. This is also the reason I have tried hard to disinguish this away from CMS packages, while it does similar things to most CMS packages it's not fully automated, but it is fully tailored.

At the end of the day people see and justify costs however they want to, I know a farmer who pays a local supplier $2.50 per litre for 2 stroke fuel to be made up in 5 and 10 litre drums, the same supplier also provides him with imported star pickets of an inferior quality (to onesteel ones we use) for a dearer price than we pay for the aussie product, but he justifies the expense because the supplier is 5 minutes from home despite other suppliers delivering free of charge. People do weird things justified by their own minds but the one thing we have found whether it's selling computers, selling webpages, or selling a niche product like this is that people are willing to pay a reasonable sum for good quality, good service and a good product. Convincing them that those three things exist is obviously the hard part, but you'll never convince everyone.

 

Edit:

For anyone interested we officially launched the system discussed in the above two post several weeks ago at www.farmassistant.com.au, so far the response has been good and we are beginning to broaden our advertising horizons and allowing the word to spread further. Anyone with any questions please feel free to either view our demo or get in contact with us via the website.

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