If you’re looking for ways to help manage your land, there may be an app for that. (photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com)
To most of the people in Arizona, the agriculture industry may seem like one of the few areas where technology wouldn’t play as much of a role. But as those of us in the industry know, technology plays a huge role in modern farming, assisting with everything from deciding how much seed to lay down on any given piece of land to accessing real-time information on the rain. With that understanding, it is no surprise that there are a whole host of smart phone apps aimed at helping our farmers boost productivity and manage everything about their crops, fields, and equipment.
Here are some of the best smart phone and tablet apps for farmers.
Raindar
Wondering if rain is on the way? Raindar provides an animated Doppler radar projected over Google Maps right in your pocket! This handy app also provides information on storm tracks, inclement weather information including identifying what type of storm the precipitation is or will be coming from including thunderstorms, hail storms, and extreme storms like those capable of producing tornadoes.
HandyMan Calculator
This app is handy for anyone who works with their hands. It helps calculate materials, track time spent on individual tasks or projects, and saves calculated information to a notepad function. No matter where you are on your ranch, you will have everything you need to complete and store complex calculations.
FarmBooks
This all-inclusive farm/ranch accounting system provides mobile functionality to help ranchers manage their finances on the go. The full app provides accounting registers, invoicing functions, check writing capabilities, and tools for managing payroll, account receivable, and accounts payable. This package also provides inventory control functions and reporting capabilities.
MyShed
This invaluable app provides access to parts manuals, part number lists, and even assembly diagrams for most machines used in the agriculture industry today. In addition, it makes it easy to create a list of parts needed and send the list directly to your preferred dealer. The functionality included makes it easy to manage all your machines from anywhere on the ranch.
Farm Logs
This app provides farmers with a big picture view of their farm without having to leave the barn. It provides satellite map views of fields and crops and gives farmers access to rainfall figures for the past 5 years. Powerful reporting capabilities make it possible for farms to use real data from their fields and yields for better decision making. The app automatically synchronizes across multiple devices to ensure the most up-to-date data is always available.
Field360 Notes
By offering farmers the ability to capture notes and photos while in the field and associating those notes and photos with the farmer’s current location using satellite imagery, Field360 Notes provides a powerful tool for managing many aspects of the farm. The app makes it easy to keep crop scouting details organized and accessible and to see field boundaries superimposed on the easily accessible satellite maps.
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- The Faces of Arizona Agriculture: Cochise County Farmer & Rancher Stephen Klump (fillyourplate.org)