By Blake Jackson
With the fall comes the harvest, and a season of hard work and long hours for farmers. But like in any business, farmers who embrace advances in technology are likely to stay ahead of their competitors.
One Wayne County apple grower is using her IT background to help other growers become more efficient. Jamie Sonneville has created an application called AgriTrak, a device that helps to keep track of everything from production to spraying records to time cards.
AgriTrak has been on the market for just over a year, and Sonneville says feedback from other apple growers who use it has been overwhelmingly positive.
"As a farm manager and owner, it’s really powerful to be able to see up to the minute data on what your employees are doing, when, and where," she said.
Sonneville says the tool is a big help to growers who use guest workers from the federal H2A program, and its strict labor guidelines.
"Most farms, when they face a Department of Labor audit, provide shoe boxes of paper. It can take hours and hours and hours, if not weeks, to complete an audit," she said.
Sonneville sees all sorts of possibilities for AgriTrak. She says the device will expand beyond just apple orchards, to farmers who grow row crops, onions, and other produce.
In the orchard, nothing can replace old fashioned labor, but embracing technology makes the whole operation more efficient.
"It's kind of exciting for me," said Sonneville. "And it's really exciting to see where it's going, because it's happening very quickly," she said.
Photo Credit: istock-rixipix
Categories: New York, Business, Crops, Fruits and Vegetables