Ag contracting throws up many challenges, not least getting the job done, breakdowns, bad weather and finding suitable and committed staff.
At the same time, once the tractor is parked in the shed on completion of a job, contractors need to scrutinise time sheets and raise invoices for payment.
At Fieldays, UK-based Ag-drive launched a new paperless solution for agricultural contractors that should make the end of the day tasks just that bit easier.
The designer, third generation farmer/contractor and agricultural university graduate Will Dunn, wanted to solve the everyday challenges his father Simon faced in their family’s contracting business in Yorkshire, UK.
“From growing up working for the family contracting business and then coming home full time after university, I wanted to improve the running of the contracting business at home,” says Dunn, who started Ag-drive two years ago.
“At home, my old man used to spend hours trailing through job sheets every week, which seemed bizarre in an industry that operated high value machinery, yet in many cases was still invoicing based on notes written on the back of a cigarette packet.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, with a little time on his hands, Will starting to develop the Ag-drive app and web portal.
Ag-drive is an all-in-one app for agricultural contractors that eliminates the need for paperwork by streamlining the process of job recording to invoicing with common accounting software packages like Xero, Sage online and Quickbooks. Other key features include live location tracking of operators, timesheets, field mapping, job reports, health, and safety checks as well as invoicing.