What AgConnexion mobile field records can do for you

Mobile field records help farmers and their agri-advisors document and track field operations when they’re on the ground. Read on for an overview of this digital tool, available in AgConnexion | SmartFarm.

AgConnexion SmartFarm is a digital platform designed to support farmers all season long, from planning to harvest. It offers multiple planning and decision-making tools and functionalities, including:

• Screening management

• Laboratory analyses

• Map layers

• Field testing

• Reports

• Crops at a glance

• And digital field records

   

What are digital field records?

“Digital field records are a functionality of SmartFarm, which is part of the AgConnexion platform. Farmers and their advisors can use them to produce agronomic recommendations and create product application records for the growing season,” says Hicham Bencharki, agronomist and senior director of Digital Products, Analytics and Innovation at Sollio Agriculture.

Digital field records help you manage recommendations, agronomic justifications, and product application records by allowing you to record details such as:

• Which crop protection products were used

• What active ingredients they contain

• What dosages were used

• Which plots they were used on

• Which fields they were used on

• Which crops they were used on

Digital field records are also available on the SmartFarm app, so farmers and advisors can keep using them directly in the field. “The mobile app also works online or offline, which is a big advantage in remote locations with poor cell service,” says Bencharki.

How to use mobile field records

If you’re out in the field, simply open the AgConnexion SmartFarm app. From there, you can access information about your plots and view it on maps or in tables.

For example, you can take notes about the crops you’re planning to grow next season and which varieties you’d like to use. Your advisor can then add their scouting observations and the corresponding input recommendations.

It’s all right there on the app, just a click away whenever you need it.

Regulatory compliance

Digital field records were developed with regulatory requirements and best practices in mind.

They allow you to document your operations throughout the season, produce reports and product application records, and then access those documents whenever you need them in just a few clicks.

“Right now, our team is working on finalizing the integration between digital field records and agri-environmental fertilization plans (document in French only). This will make the whole record-keeping process more efficient for users, because they’ll only have to enter the data once,” adds Bencharki.

Digital field records and contractors

Bencharki says digital field records are already widely used to facilitate contractor work.

“The GPS functionality makes it easy to locate plots, minimizing the risk of errors,” he says. “In the field, the mobile app lets you see which plot you’re in and view the corresponding spreading recommendation (product and dose) quickly. When the work is done, you just follow the steps on screen to confirm that it’s been completed, and the record becomes available.”

An enhanced user experience

“The user experience is a priority for us,” says Bencharki. “We’ve worked hard on it in recent years.” Here are a few examples:

• Frequently used products can now be marked as “favourites” in the product list.

• We’ve added information on active ingredients, including registration numbers and health and environmental risk indices (HRI and ERI).

• The product list has a keyword search function.

• There’s an integrated weather module that allows users to plan recommendations based on climate conditions and record the actual application conditions.

Bencharki sums it up: “This tool grew out of farmers’ and advisors’ real needs out in the field” (video in French only).

*Article inspired by an original content published by Le Coopérateur.