Digital transformation, digitalization, the Internet of Plants, artificial intelligence, all concepts that in recent years we have begun to see or read in all the new agricultural trends and that seem to be the future of our sector.
For many farmers, these tools have become a fundamental part of their management, although for a significant number of farmers who are used to having little information and managing their fields in less “technological” ways, these new tools sometimes seem very far away and may not provide any real use, with the only visible change being an increase in the cost of contracting a new service.
Today there are various categories of softwares which seek to facilitate the management of fields in different areas, below is a brief review of each of these:
- ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning):
Used to carry out accounting processes, remunerations and in general all the processes required to operate a business. This means that they allow the construction of financial and tax balances, compliance with obligations with the SII, calculation of remunerations, control of fixed assets, calculation of monetary correction and depreciation, keeping current accounts for the control of suppliers and clients, reconciling the Banks and so on all the processes necessary for a correct administration.
They require trained users, ideally accountants, so that all modules can be used correctly. They are often not user-friendly for users without accounting knowledge and their reporting is generally of little use to the agricultural sector. They can have high values and be out of reach for smaller users.
- Farm Management Software:
They seek to provide a control and management tool, delivering better indicators, more user-friendly views and more up-to-date information on field operations. Although the numbers usually provided may not exactly match the company's actual expenditure, they are a good tool for managing the day-to-day operations.
These softwares No They keep the accounts and generally do not calculate salaries either.
The information generated can be used as input for an ERP.
- Harvest Control Software:
As its name indicates, this technology seeks to bring the harvest online, detailing plots, kilos and harvesters. It allows for excellent production control, better coordination of harvests, estimates for processing plants, control of yields per person and includes options such as online quality control, production per crew and generating detailed information for calculating remunerations.
- Inventory Control Software:
Although both ERP and Agricultural Management Software have inventory modules, today there are software programs that have specialized in this problem, controlling in a simple way the entries and exits of the warehouses and, most importantly, generating online information on the availability of products in the warehouse, their expiration dates and their location.
- Software for managing Good Agricultural Practices (GAP):
We know that the amount of information needed to comply with current certifications is increasing, which is why there have been specialist software programs for quite some time now, specifically for the management of field notebooks, application records, warehouse management, etc.
- Weather Stations:
They provide online information on precipitation, temperatures, evapotranspiration, wind, etc., as well as forecasting frost events.
- Irrigation Control Software:
Irrigation management being a fundamental part of the success of a production, today we see irrigation controllers that allow us to know exactly the flow rates, pressures and irrigation times, in addition to efficiently controlling the fertigation process. These softwares They alert us to system failures and can suggest corrections to our programming, making them a key tool for an agricultural manager.
- Attendance Control Software:
The old attendance books have been replaced by tablets that recognise staff entries and exits, helping with time control, absences and ultimately for the payment of wages.
- Software for High Definition Photo Analysis:
By using drones or airplanes, with multispectral or thermal cameras, information is obtained on the specific condition of each orchard, determining nutritional levels, water stress, production estimates, pest monitoring, etc.
- Software for monitoring Humidity Probes:
The test pits have been gradually replaced or at least supported by the use of probes that provide online information on the state of soil moisture, water infiltration speed, eventually dry areas, etc. This allows the administrator to take immediate action and make improvements.
- Machinery control software
Today, GPS allows for detailed control of the use of agricultural machinery, allowing users to know operating times, speeds, sectors or rows travelled, watering applied per hectare, etc.
As we see, there is already a wide range of softwares that can help us improve our internal management and lead us to be more efficient and consequently maintain a profitable and sustainable business.
Even though farmers are adopting these technologies on a daily basis, what we see every day is that they are not given the importance or the time to properly integrate them into field management.
It is very common to see software Irrigation disconnected or misused, probes that are not checked, software cost management systems that are not useful or provide incorrect data, abandoned or underused ERPs, multispectral photographs that are left without any concrete action, inventory control systems that do not match, and so on.
For us the problem is due to four causes:
- The personnel in charge of these tools are not trained to handle them and therefore they do not work.
- Companies do not dedicate the time or resources to ensure that softwares function as they should.
- There are softwares that deliver higher expectations about what they can do and end up generating frustration in customers.
- Sometimes the amount of information we collect makes it impossible to analyze and therefore it is lost.
Despite this complex reality, we are convinced that this is the way forward, and companies that do not get on this train will become obsolete, therefore, we cannot even think for a second about being left out and it is essential that agricultural entrepreneurs keep up to date and push their teams to adopt these technologies. Perhaps more than quantity, for now, look for quality and focus on the few softwares that handle and operate at 100%.
All this information that we generate today, in a short time we will be able to unify it in large databases and supported by artificial intelligence, it will help us make the best decisions, which will allow us to further improve our profitability, maintain a sustainable business and thus reach Agriculture 4.0, for now, I think this is just the beginning.
