New online tool for planning diversified crop operations
The global market is seeing a growing interest in controlled environment agriculture. Competition for land and water provides a powerful incentive for more resource-efficient agricultural practices.
According to IBIS World: “Over the five years to 2016, revenue for the Hydroponic Crop Farming industry has maintained positive growth. Over the five-year period, a growing number of individuals shifted to healthy eating and consuming organic produce, resulting in high demand. In addition, extreme weather conditions damaged many crops for fresh field farmers, so grocery stores and farmers markets quickly turned to hydroponic farmers to meet their demand.”
Like most entrepreneurs, these farmers are wearing a lot of hats, and working hard to meet customer expectations. One of the biggest challenges is having information available for accurate planning and forecasting.
Chris Lukenbill is the Director of Software at Bright Agrotech. “The growers I am talking to are committing to a delivery schedule months before the harvest, and then wondering if they will have the crops available for delivery. They are spending hours each week monitoring crop performance, and calculating delivery dates.
“This challenge is amplified when you are handling multiple crop rotations, and trying to keep the customer happy”, Lukenbill says. “After the sale, they need to keep accurate production and profit numbers for each crop. They need the information to help them make better decisions about their growing methods and crop selection.”
Ultimately, his team decided to dedicate a significant effort to confronting the problem. The result is Able.
Lukenbill says that “Whether you are a startup farm just learning about agriculture, or a veteran company with 10 years of experience under your belt, you always start your next cycle by planning. That plan is critical to make for a successful season and the information that you enter into the plan is what drives every step afterwards. You enter data once and use that same data going forward.”
Able addresses an industry challenge of the gap between demand and knowledge, a gap Bright Agrotech has been very focused on closing for several years. Able allows farmers access to critical information in quick and concise manner at the times they need it most. Farmers can sign up and start planning their next crop today by visiting www.able.ag.
For more information:
Bright Agrotech
1461 Commerce Drive
Laramie, WY 82070
307-288-1188307-288-1188
brightagrotech.com