In my role as Customer Success Representative for Agworld I chat with a wide variety of Agworld users on a daily basis, from growers to farm hands and from agronomists to ag retailers; they all use Agworld in their respective roles, and as such utilize our platform for a number of different reasons. A common theme between some of these users however is that they tell me that they just ‘can’t seem to find the time to get record keeping done on a regular basis’. Especially when the cropping season is at its busiest or when mother nature throws a curveball, record keeping can be one of the first things to get postponed.
I do also speak to a lot of Agworld users that don’t have that problem and that have found a way to embed Agworld into their daily routine, so that they don’t get behind on their record keeping. I feel it worthwhile to share some best practices and tips here, hoping that it might help others out by giving them ideas on what they might be able to do differently as well. “I prefer to get my record keeping done throughout the day, instead of sitting behind my computer between midnight and two o’clock in the morning” said Agworld user Peter Rost Jr. to me recently, who farms 3,000 acres of corn and soybeans together with his father, Peter Rost Sr, near New Madrid, MO.
Peter says he wasn’t always as up to date with his record keeping as he is now: “I didn’t seem to have the time to do my record keeping previously, but then last year I just made up my mind that I was going to keep everything up to date - win, lose or draw. I went and bought another iPad and all I do with it is my record keeping on Agworld. I keep it with me all the time and I enter jobs as they are completed. I spend a lot of time on the tractor and we’ve got auto steer, so I’m basically keeping up with Agworld all day.”
“Whether it’s planting, fertilizing or spraying, I sit here on the tractor entering those jobs. I bought a heavy-duty case to protect my iPad, as farm life can be hard on an iPad, but it’s pretty much bullet proof and whether I’m in my truck, on the tractor, or on the combine this fall, my iPad is with me on the console or buddy seat and when I need it, I just grab it and enter in what we do. So we’re really creating our records as we’re completing jobs.”
Peter adds: “What helps me a lot is making our plans as accurate and detailed as possible in the first place, that way it’s a lot easier when I convert those plans to actuals; I have less changes to make and it’s quicker to create the actual record. And now that we have these records available to us, they also help us to better manage our risks and make better decisions, because we can see exactly how much money we’ve spent on each field.”
“We now know where we’re at financially at all times, as we have all our records entered and we keep the prices accurate. Throughout the season I can see our costs roll up, look at the corn price, make a yield estimate in the field, and then get a pretty good idea whether we’re going to make a profit or not. Knowing your exact cost is key to every business, whether it’s flipping hamburgers or farming; if you know your costs and what you can sell your product for, it makes it a lot easier to plan from there.”
If you would like to have a further chat to see how we can help you get on top of your record keeping, please give me a call on 001 724 249 6753 - I look forward to helping you spend more time with your family in the evening instead of sitting behind your computer!
