Agricultural drone use soars among NZ contractors
Use of agricultural drones by contractors in New Zealand is soaring.
A new task management system allows farmers and agricultural contractors to keep track of job and time records with an app, helping reduce mistakes and saving time.
FarmBackup’s app, called Task, allows users to ditch the paper job sheets they use to keep track of daily tasks and times worked.
The digital platform collects and collates data to provide the information needed for correct invoicing, machine analysis and calculation of salary. It integrates with the most commonly used accounting systems, says FarmBackup’s co-founder Anders Knudsen.
“As an administrator, you get a better overview of submitted job sheets and tasks planned for the future, instead of a pile of job sheets to look through and transfer.”
The system handles all registered work and payroll digitally, taking advantage of the already high digitalisation in farming and contracting, where everybody uses a smartphone and keeps it close to their side during the working day.
FarmBackup in 2018 launched a digital marketplace for agricultural services, making it more transparent who was offering combine harvesting, cultivating, drilling, etc. Many contractors and farmers across New Zealand have joined the marketplace, so the arrival of the Task app is sure to be of interest.
Development of the Task app saw the developers team up with a group of farmers and contractors who delivered valuable feedback during developing and testing.
FarmBackup will continue to develop the app to suit its users in the best ways possible and has already engaged with the first contractors in NZ.
Farmers appear to be backing the Government's recent Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms announcement.
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Fonterra has announced an improved third quarter performance – with a profit after tax of $1.15 billion, up $119 million on the same period last year.
The Fieldays Innovation Awards competition has attracted a diverse and impressive array of innovations from across the primary industries, highlighting the growing importance of technology shaping the future of farming.
Coming to the fore following the carnage of Cyclone Gabrielle, Starlink became well known for providing internet access even in NZ's most inaccessible places.
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