Operating a farm is complicated and being an Ag employer complicates it further, bringing unique and ongoing challenges that have little to do with growing food. The work needed to grow, package and sell high-quality produce is already never-ending, making the burden of HR administrative overhead tasks much more formidable. Many growers and ag industry employers echo complaints about the daunting task of organizing labour efficiently including: documenting work done, handling complicated payroll processes, fielding worker disputes, and meeting labor reporting demands.
Agricultural labor is complicated by broader industry issues outside of a grower’s control. Across almost all agricultural sectors, the scarcity of labor is a huge challenge. In North America, most agricultural jobs are filled through the H2A and TFW programs, which offer short-term work visas. Domestic ag workers are fewer and farther between and increasingly, H2A and TFW workers are seeking higher-paying temporary work in other sectors, like food service, hospitality and manufacturing. Ag industry associations have long been calling for reform to these programs to address the challenges farmers face and overall food security.
While some crops, such as field-grown grains and legumes, have benefited from advances in automated technology and reduced their reliance on labor, specialty crops like most fruits and vegetables remain highly dependent. For instance, according to USApple's 2024 Industry Insights: Harvest Wrap-Up, a staggering 99% of the revenue from Apple sales at the farm gate goes towards labor costs, leaving only 1% for other expenses and potential profit. This puts enormous pressure on ag employers to maximize the efficiency of their workforce.
With little room for error, especially for small to medium-sized operations, it's essential to focus on what can be controlled – your own staff management and communication processes. By empowering HR staff and crew leads with tools to improve transparency, documentation, and information sharing, agricultural employers can build trust with employees, reduce turnover, and retain valuable knowledge and expertise, and ultimately gain a competitive edge in a challenging labor market. In the sections below we will highlight a few ways Croptracker can help make managing agricultural labor more streamlined through simplified staff communication and management tools.
Eliminate HR Overhead
Digitizing employee work records is a good way to start eliminating extra work. Updating labor records manually can take hours in the office. One of the best ways to avoid this is to record work digitally as it happens.
Croptracker has consistently saved Punch Clock users' hours every week in worklog and payroll documentation and report generation. By linking time, location, employee, activity, inventory and wage rates together with just a few clicks on a mobile device, Croptracker users eliminate the need for data inputs after the fact and summary reporting can be generated on demand. Payroll is also sped up using Croptracker’s flexible pay tracking and reporting, including piece rate pay.
Features like badging in, and customized activity and location drop down selections greatly reduces information errors. Correcting errors is made simple and can be done in bulk using the Punch Clock Admin features. No more slow combing through spreadsheets to find and correct errors. Given the unending work needed to get food from the field to the consumer, ensuring your work and pay record processes are not adding extra hours to document the work done is crucial.
Improve Employee Communication
Digitizing work order and time tracking processes also affords the ability to more smoothly communicate with employees. Managers and crew leads can set activities up in specific locations ahead of time and assign these tasks to specific employees. Workers can then find their tasks for the day and clock into each task for accurate and up to date payroll and activity expense information.
Having on-the-go work records also means that feedback and summary information for employees is always available. With Croptracker’s mobile Harvest and Fieldpack modules linked to Punch Clock, crew leads can quickly provide worker pieces summary reports right in the field. Work records can also be emailed to employees whenever needed. Reporting tools like this help ensure records are accurate before they go to payroll and help solve disputes efficiently.
Croptracker has recently rolled out an employee review feature tied to specific worklogs. This allows crew leads and supervisors to quickly note issues in work performance or attitude in the field and note any significant issues. Linking performance notes to specific worklogs digitally makes it easier to note patterns in behaviour or performance and respond accordingly. It is easier to determine where an employee may need more training. Centrally documented review processes allow HR staff to provide specific and detailed feedback to staff so they have an opportunity to improve and a clear understanding of what is expected of them. It can also inform retention and rehiring decision-making.
“Croptracker helps us plan our labor for the season. We have total hours spent on our farm activities and are able to plan for how many employees we will need for the season using this information.”
- Manpreet Sandhar, Croptracker customer since 2019
Boost Worker Efficiency
Using the device already in your pocket to manage ag labour means you can get the right people to the right task at the right time. Workers and whole crews can be shifted to different tasks as demands change and no extra time is taken to amend work records or calculate activity costs and shift the work that still needs to be done to another day. Using the employee review features, it is also easier to make decisions about rotating workers to crews where they will receive training from experienced and trusted staff.
Croptracker also supports maintaining more complicated pay processes like piece rate tracking and integrating temporary or contracted workers. Set up your workflows with Croptracker support staff during onboarding and empower your workers with custom SOPs so you can set and forget your labor tracking processes. It also makes payroll a seamless process with trusted information and already formatted reporting for easy pay system integration.
Managing agricultural labor efficiently is crucial for the success of any farm or ag operation. By implementing tools like Croptracker, employers can streamline their staff management and communication processes, eliminate HR overhead, improve employee communication, and boost worker efficiency. Ultimately, this leads to increased productivity, reduced turnover, and improved profitability. To learn more about how Croptracker can help you achieve these benefits, contact support@croptracker.com. Our team is dedicated to helping you optimize your labor management processes and take your operation to the next level. By taking control of your labor management you can focus on what matters most - growing high-quality crops and delivering them to consumers.
