Social media has revolutionized how people search for and access information.  It has also become one of the most powerful (and cheapest) of marketing channels.  Today we take the 3 most popular social media platforms - Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - and look at how you can build thriving social media pages that drive buzz and traffic to your farm, without taking up too much of your valuable time.

The year is quickly coming to a close, and we at Croptracker want to take a moment to thank all our incredible growers for another successful season. We deeply appreciate your partnership and dedication to the agricultural community. We wish you and your families a safe, restful, and joyful holiday season!

The rich history of apple cultivation has led to over 7,500 different varieties in existence. Commercial production pressures limit the scope of what types can be effectively produced for large markets: size conformity, taste profile, storage life, and so on. Each variety changes the playbook for thinning, harvest timing, and storage, so successful commercial orchards track their blocks closely — many run that day-to-day detail in orchard management software.  But rarer, stand-out cultivars are still maintained and celebrated for their unique delight, history, revival from near-extinction, or the possibility of becoming the Next Big Apple.

Our office will be closed from December 21st at 4pm EST until January 2nd at 8am EST.  

Network operations support will remain in effect; but typical help desk, chat & telephone support will be unavailable during this time.

Happy holidays & see you in 2019!

Fall pruning can have long-lasting detrimenal effects on fruit tree cold hardiness. Today's blog post looks at how cold acclimation works, various research findings on how pruning affects cold hardiness, and best practices for growers for minimizing winter damage.

From the Green Revolution to present, agricultural innovations have allowed for the rapid evolution of food production internationally. Along with innovation comes new terminology to articulate what’s taking place along the way. There’s precision agriculture, which has denoted the last few decades of tech’s integrations with farming. And then there’s more recent phrases like smart farming and digital farming. How do these terms fit together, and which apply to your operation practices?

As supply shortages in grocery stores have become the norm over the past few weeks, questions about food security and sovereignty are changing how we think about our food. In highly urbanized areas, the disconnect between consumers and their food supply is vast, and the increasing geographical divide between cities and the farms that feed them mean that our food has to travel from further and further away to reach our store shelves. Pitfalls of traditional farming practices are becoming more evident as the COVID-19 crisis puts pressure on our supply chain. In some areas, urban farms and indoor growing facilities may be the solution.

If it’s not disease, and it’s not insects - it’s birds that are the menace attempting to harvest your crop prematurely. Mitigating crop damage done by pests is a delicate matter, as maintaining healthy biodiversity and avoiding undue harm to regional species is a universal responsibility. How can growers successfully deal with bird related impacts to their livelihood, while not striking a heavy blow to species populations? Bird Control Group (BCG) is a company focused on achieving that balance, offering growers tech solutions to crop protection that uphold that stewardship. Providing award-winning, innovative products to keep birds at a distance from commercial activities, one of its primary offerings is laser scarecrow technology that harmlessly deters birds from the area.

How does a farm operation make the leap from one data management system to another? It might be best to change the current approach, but for some stakeholders, it’s not something to proceed with any time soon. So what might help everyone get on the same page about new tools?

Excitement about an apple product launch usually refers to the latest iPhone, but when the Cosmic Crisp apple variety was about to be released in 2019, there was a lot of buzz! The much publicized cosmic crisp is a great case study in how the apple market is changing, and what this means for apple growers.

We’re thrilled to announce that Croptracker will be exhibiting at this year’s Northwest Hort Show Expo in Yakima, Washington! Known as one of the most anticipated events in the Washington horticulture industry, the Northwest Hort Show offers an incredible opportunity for growers, packers, and processors to learn, connect, and discover the latest innovations shaping agriculture today.

At Croptracker, we take our role as custodian of our clients' data seriously.  Read on to learn how we keep your data safe, secure, and reliable.

Like every industry this year, the conference event sector has had to embrace an elaborate change of plans required to accommodate the safety risks associated with COVID-19. Depending on the particular timing and logistics, agtech and grower conferences originally scheduled for 2020 were cancelled or reworked to online livestreams.

Fresh fruit markets can provide consumers with desirable produce nearly year-round because of the innovations that mitigate and control the ripening process. Different interventions pre- and post-harvest take place according to the unique needs of each fruit type. Croptracker’s farm management and data visualization tools fit into any grower’s workflow to track and gain insights on the details that lead to a higher quality, higher value result.

The pollution of the oceans by microplastics has been a trending topic for a while.  However, recent research indicates that microplastics are more likely to be found in sewage sludge than in our oceans - and this has concerning implications for the agricultural land on which sewage sludge is used as fertilizer.

Supply chains are intricate, highly technical systems that, inevitably, are full of predictable stressors – and those lovely surprise (!) issues, too. When it comes to fruit production, growers, pickers, shippers, and work crew managers must sprint against the time trials of the season, before, during, and after harvest. The season waits for no one, so how can fresh fruit supply chain hiccups be soothed, to boost profitability and limit waste?

We talk to Mr Apple farm manager Grant Stevenson about his successes using Croptracker, and go over the results of our most recent grower feedback survey.

Canada, Mexico, and the United States said farewell to NAFTA this week and struck a new trilateral free trade agreement.

A Cornell study has found that apple orchards surrounded by natural habitats are visited by a more diverse collection of bee species than those surrounded by agricultural lands.  The study found that production improved in orchards surrounded by natural habitats; as apple production suffers when fewer, more closely-related species of bees pollinate an orchard.

The fresh produce industry operates in a complex and delicate ecosystem. Unlike sectors that deal in durable goods, this industry is uniquely vulnerable to the sudden shocks of trade policy shifts due to the perishable nature of its products, strict seasonal cycles, and an intricately woven, globally interconnected supply chain. The threat of a tariff, even if it is never implemented, can be as disruptive as a full-blown trade dispute. The inherent fragility means that a change in trade policy, whether it’s a tariff, a quota, or a new regulation, cannot be easily absorbed without significant risk to growers, buyers, and consumers.