Welsh Bros is a multi-generational family farm that has been working their land outside Scotland, Ontario, for well over 150 years. Stewardship for their land and management of their farm currently fall to the 8th generation, with three Welsh brothers sharing responsibility. For this Croptracker customer spotlight, we spoke with Charles Welsh.
Welsh Bros specializes in high-quality, hand-harvested seasonal produce, packaging and selling most of its sweet corn and asparagus wholesale to local farm markets and the Ontario Food Terminal. Although the business has grown significantly, Welsh’s commitment to quality and food safety has remained constant.
This enduring commitment prompted Welsh Bros to seek out Croptracker. After hearing from a fellow asparagus grower at Sandy Shore how Croptracker had helped digitize their inventory, traceability, and pay processes, owner Charles Welsh reached out. His goal was to eliminate administrative overhead and achieve more real-time record keeping.
After consulting with our sales and support staff, Welsh Bros started the 2025 season with Croptracker’s Spray, Harvest and Punch Clock modules. Having just finished their first season with Croptracker, Welsh Bros has already begun to see the benefits of real-time record keeping even as their staff are battle testing and learning the system.
With Croptracker our inventory traceability has reached a new level. We can trace our bags of sweet corn and we can know exactly when it was harvested and what field it came from.
Hand-harvested excellence
Part of the reason Welsh Bros sweet corn is so tasty and sought after is the care and work that goes into growing and harvesting it. Corn is most typically harvested mechanically but to ensure the best quality Welsh employs seasonal workers every season to hand harvest their sweet corn.
Before the pickers head out to the field to harvest, they will first punch into work using the Croptracker app, logging the location they are headed to harvest and specifying their custom ‘Sweet Corn - Harvest’ activity. As bags are filled, they are scanned into Croptracker to create inventory records linked to this location and these workers. With this one workflow, Welsh Bros is able to create not only inventory traceability but also maintain work crew productivity monitoring. Using this custom harvest activity also allows Welsh to run cost reports for exactly how much was spent in labour on Sweet Corn harvesting specifically.
For asparagus harvesting, workers are picking in their own harvest rows and filling their own totes. As a result, Welsh Bros is able to link individual workers to individual harvest bins, resulting in more accountability for speed and quality. Supervisors can quickly identify workers who need some extra training or instruction and ensure all are meeting expectations. As all this is happening, Charles is able to track harvest progress remotely using several Croptracker reports, including the ‘Harvest Inventory Report’ and the ‘Block Yield Report’.
Productivity tracking and simplified payroll
With Croptracker, Welsh Bros has also started tracking worker time and productivity in other farm activities. Using Punch Clock and Production Practice linked workflows, Welsh employees clock in to the specific activities they are assigned to each day. When they move from one location or activity to another, they can be switched easily on the app without disrupting their hourly worklog.
At payroll time, Welsh Bros admin are already saving time using the Punch Clock Admin features to review and correct any errors in worklogs. When all hours have been approved, formatted payroll reports are generated for the pay period and exported to be entered into their payroll system.
Using Croptracker we are better able to quickly understand what every crop and activity is costing us.
Spray costing and audit support
Part of the reason the Welsh family has been able to maintain their farm for long is the incredible care they have for their soil. Charles and his brothers strategically rotate their annual growing areas with cover crops to replenish soil nutrients and maintain soil structure. Crop rotation is documented currently in Croptracker using the Replant function in the Field Map.
When using Replant in Croptracker, the previous history of the block is maintained. For example, when a spray report is run against the replanted block for last season, the crop type that was in the area in that season will be used to compare against the chemicals label instructions, ensuring auditable and accurate historic spray records. Sprays from this season will be logged against the new crop in the area.
Charles also takes care to record his chemical inventory costs in Croptracker in order to maintain accurate Spray cost reporting. Each time a spray is recorded in Croptracker, the chemicals will be automatically withdrawn from the chemical inventory. Cost of Spray reports can be run for specific applications, chemicals or growing areas and at a glance, Charles can see what chemicals need to be reordered and in what quantities.
When it comes time for safety and audit support, Welsh Bros uses Croptracker’s Spray plan print outs to share with employees and inform the sprayers on tank mix totals and application patterns. They also use the Global Gap Spray Report to quickly produce records of all sprays for the season for auditors to review.
Charles says on their company website, "Our family has worked this land since 1855. Safe to say we've got the hang of it." Part of Croptracker’s role is to help support organizing and storing this incredibly valuable historic knowledge of managing this land so future generations can continue to draw on it. By digitizing their spray records, Welsh Bros are setting themselves up for valuable decision making support and validation about future crop rotations, commodity crop planting and spray applications. Welsh can use Croptracker records to quickly compare various rotation crops and inputs to the harvest yields from the block the following season.
A tradition of excellence, digitally supported
For a family farm like Welsh Bros, which has successfully worked its land for over 150 years, adopting new technology requires trust and reliable support. Owner Charles Welsh knows that when implementing a new system, having help readily available is crucial:
Croptracker’s support staff have been great. Always getting back to us quickly and focused on finding solutions.
This dedication to support has allowed Welsh Bros to seamlessly integrate Croptracker into their daily operations. By digitizing key processes like hand-harvest inventory tracking, worker productivity monitoring, and spray applications, the eighth generation of this family farm has successfully eliminated administrative overhead and gained valuable, real-time insights into operational costs. This move not only reinforces their enduring commitment to quality and food safety but also helps preserve the farm's historical knowledge, ensuring the continued success and stewardship of their land for the generations to come.
