App helps make management of contracting business easier

Kalin Contracting services about 50 dairy farms in South Taranaki, all with 250-550 cows and covering a wide area. 

With staff working at different locations every day, owner Alastair Kalin had been looking for a system that would help make everyday management easier for him and his operators.

He recently found the answer in an app called FarmBackup Task, which manages jobs, time registration and billing. 

“We were looking for a system for two years before we found this app, wanting a system that was easy to use by our staff and our management team. 

“A crucial point for us was that it could be integrated into our accounting software, and tailor made for our needs,” said Kalin. 

Besides benefiting the contracting operation, it also benefits the company’s customers by eliminating invoicing mistakes to ensure that any charges are correct.

The app is the work of the Danish AgTech company FarmBackup, which develops solutions for farmers and agriculture contractors. It takes advantage of the high levels of digitisation already in use in farming and contracting. Typically, everyone carries a smartphone and keeps it close during the day. 

“My staff are already on their phones all the time, so it has been easy for them to adapt to the new system,” Kalin says.

“With the contracting team not all based at a central location, it can be difficult for the management to keep track of every employee. 

“The app has solved this problem by allowing staff to take on their own job and management to keep track of what employee is doing what job.” 

FarmBackup Task app integrates with Xero accounting, a bonus for Kalin Contracting and many other agricultural businesses. 

The co-founder of FarmBackup and developer of the app FarmBackup Task for New Zealand, Anders Knudsen, has worked to specifically customise the app to fit the agriculture and contracting industry in New Zealand.

“The system is user-friendly and can be customized to each company’s specific needs, while the integration with Xero, makes everyday accounting easy without human errors,” Knudsen said. 

The development team behind the app use feedback from users in New Zealand to optimise the experience. This is something not lost on Kalin.

“The guys from FarmBackup listen to my concerns, so when we have a problem or want something changed they are very quick to implement the changes that we need.”

As part of the initial sign-up to use FarmBackup Task the team behind the app contacts the company, sets up a conference call and then agrees the key needs for the company to customize the app.

About FarmBackup

FarmBackup was founded by brothers Anders and Søren Knudsen who grew up on a farm on the Danish island of Lolland. 

FarmBackup is a digital marketplace for agricultural services such as harvesting, baling, planting, etc, targeted at farmers and agricultural contractors and has quickly gained ground in Denmark, New Zealand and the UK. 

The business received €1 million in seed funding from Danish Tech investor Promentum Equity Partners to develop solutions to the challenges of agriculture in environment and financial sustainability. 

FarmBackup Task was launched in Denmark during 2018.