As the need to verify production practices has increased, so has the need to log employee work activity. Croptracker’s Punch Clock module is designed specifically for the ag industry, which means having features that allow for flexible and relevant documentation of who accomplishes what tasks, and exactly where on the farm they do so.

Agriculture has always been about adaptation: tweaking practices, nurturing ideal conditions against the year’s odds, and honing in on cultivars that can be coaxed into thriving for a predictable harvest. It’s practicing equal parts ‘planning with foresight’ and ‘embracing what comes’ – and 2021’s cherry season certainly required the stamina and resilience that draws from both elements.

Will the apple harvest in North America require much of the same?

As the world population continues to grow, so does the demand for food. For centuries, agriculture has been a labor-intensive industry, and many farming practices still require a considerable amount of manual labor. But as the global agricultural workforce is aging and the number of people entering the sector is decreasing, labor shortages are becoming the norm in agriculture each year. To overcome this challenge, the agricultural industry is investing in automation to reduce labor costs and increase productivity.

Piecemeal pay is a powerful motivator, but it's not without its barriers to implementation.  Is it worth it, and how can you make it work without wasting time on complex calculations?

Effective workflow advancements in agriculture can’t happen from the sidelines. When Croptracker CEO Matt Deir reflects on the company’s oldest relationship with Tregunno Farms, he’s brought back to one of his early RFID product development discussions with Ryan Tregunno, manager of the post-harvest side of the business.

In a rapidly evolving situation, it’s safe to say the world is watching the news. Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world are increasing border security and restricting access to non-citizens.

The Punch Clock Kiosk subscription is an add-on subscription to Croptracker’s Punch Clock module that allows for a dedicated Kiosk device and login that only displays the Kiosk Punch-in screen. This allows workers to quickly and easily badge in and out of their shifts themselves.

In this short feature use case article, we will be discussing when and how to use Croptracker’s Punch Clock module to record unpaid leave time for employees. Farmers have ever increasing demands for documenting labor and employee information across many jurisdictions. Being able to prove to labor regulation bodies that workers are given the appropriate accommodations and rules are followed is crucial to avoid heavy fines and penalties.

At Croptracker, all of our features are designed in collaboration with our users to prioritize the features that matter most. This week we’re getting ready for the growing season with the Punch Clock and Production Practices modules.

It's July. Your crews are scaling up. Your spreadsheet has 47 tabs — one for each crew, one for piece rates, one for overtime, one for leave tracking, and one for every variety with a different pay structure.

You've been tracking labor on spreadsheets for years. They got you through. But as your crew grows, so do the mistakes. So does the compliance risk. So do the hours you spend reconciling numbers instead of managing your farm.

We take a look at the pros and cons of paying piecemeal, and how Croptracker can make your payroll decisions faster and easier.

Technological innovations have offered great efficiencies within agriculture – but that has by no means removed the critical need for skilled manual labour in each season’s successful crop and harvest. The current growing season is being met with unprecedented labour challenges that compound the already existing industry strain that reoccurs annually.

California is one of the major agricultural states in the United States, with about 69,400 farms in operation across 24.3 million acres of land.

High value, labour-intensive crops require special conditions and careful management for a successful season. Often the success of high-value crops comes down to small decisions about production and treatments. Proper documentation and farm record keeping are necessary to know what worked, and what didn’t. The margins are slim and every small increase in yield goes a long way.

"Would you rather import your food or your labor?"

Justin Ferguson, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation

Croptracker offers easy to use labor tracking reports that are included with the Work Crew Activity and Labour Tracking module.

With minimum wages on the rise in many countries, automation is becoming an increasingly hot topic within the global horticulture industry.  More and more growers are combating soaring labour costs by turning to technology in the form of robotic pickers, sprayers, and packers.  However, the initial investment and upkeep costs for these solutions are usually prohibitive; and for many crops - like apples, sweet cherries, table grapes, asparagus, and peppers - automation is simply not an option.  Until we build robots that can mimic the delicacy and precision of human hands and the nuanced perception of our brains, growers of labour-intensive crops will need to look beyond robots to mitigate their rising costs.

However, technology can help growers keep costs down not solely by eliminating their labour force, but also by maximizing the potential of their teams.  Croptracker's Work Crew Activity & Labour Tracking module makes it easy to track productivity; store records; calculate payouts; and identify issues in the work flow and act accordingly before issues become costly problems.

New Zealand fruit & vegetable growers are preparing to be hit hard by an upcoming minimum wage increase.

The Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers' Association (OFVGA) have expressed relief at the announcement made last week that the provincial minimum wage will be capped at $14/hour until 2020.  

Harvest is likely the single largest expense on your farm. Labor accounts for roughly 40 to 42 percent of production expenses for specialty crops, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture and USDA ERS data, depending on your crop and region. When that kind of money is riding on every bucket, every bin, and every bushel, you need a clear line of sight into what each picker is doing and what it costs.