Agricultural Data-Tracking System Helps Farmers Maximize Output

Oct 10, 2023

By Vienna McGrain

Fifth-generation apple farmer Jamie Sonneville understands the stresses that come with predicting revenue in the agriculture industry. Variables such as crop yields, weather, and costs associated with production and labor all equal unpredictable outcomes. That’s why Sonneville built an intuitive labor management software tool that, in her words, “allows farmers to do what they do best—be farmers.”

Sonneville’s company, Agri-Trak, part of Rochester Institute of Technology’s Venture Creations business incubator, ensures that labor practices are in compliance with the U.S. Department of Labor and optimizes farm operations’ tracking of time sheets and production records. The customizable software system also collects valuable data including farm locations, blocks and rows, produce types, jobs, paid wages, employees, and teams and crews. The result gives farmers a birds-eye view of their operations. In addition, farmers can use Agri-Trak customer success coaches to tweak data to further understand and maximize costs.

In the last 12 months, the company increased its subscribers by 400 percent and its revenue has skyrocketed 500 percent. It also made waves at the 2023 Tech Crunch Startup Battlefield competition in San Francisco, which showcases the top 200 startups from around the world from a field of 3,000 applications, who are recognized as industry disrupters. Sonneville and her team were selected as a top six company.

“We knew that we were on to something big, but we really had no idea that our product would be so well received,” said Sonneville, whose farm is in Pultneyville, N.Y. “I understand that paperwork can be a nightmare and it takes away from managing so many other crucial aspects of a working farm. Farmers are not data analysts. Our tool helps growers make data-driven decisions, save time, effectively negotiate with vendors and, ultimately, take care of their families.”

Source : rit.edu

Video: Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Understanding how a plant responds to stress is one thing.

Using that knowledge to make better management decisions is another.

Systemic acquired resistance, or SAR, is the plant's more direct defense response. When stress or infection occurs, the plant begins signaling throughout its system and preparing defensive compounds.

But if we know that response exists, can we help prepare the plant before the stress arrives?

The answer starts with understanding what triggers the response and what the plant needs to carry it out.

The Trigger and the Fuel

Salicylic acid plays an important role in triggering the SAR pathway.

Think of it as turning the truck on.

The engine may be running, but it still needs fuel to do the work.

In this case, manganese plays an important role in supporting the enzyme systems involved in the plant's defensive response.

This makes manganese status an important part of the conversation. Whether a producer is using tissue testing, sap analysis, or simply scouting for visible deficiency symptoms, the goal is to make sure the plant has adequate manganese available.

Manganese is required in relatively small amounts, but that does not make its role small.

If the plant receives a signal to defend itself but lacks the nutrition needed to support that response, it may struggle to carry out the process efficiently.

The trigger matters.

The fuel matters too.

Prepare Before the Stress Arrives

The best time to think about stress management is before the plant is overwhelmed.

Once a crop is already struggling, management can quickly turn into a game of catch-up.

This is similar to nitrogen management. Once a plant becomes severely deficient, correcting the problem does not necessarily erase the time and yield potential already lost.

Plant defense can work the same way.

Low-rate, targeted approaches designed to support the SAR pathway may fit best ahead of an expected stress event rather than after significant damage has already occurred.

That requires producers to think about predictable stress.

We may not know exactly what the weather will do tomorrow, but we generally know summer heat is coming. We know certain field conditions increase disease pressure. We know a herbicide application can temporarily stress a crop as the plant processes the chemistry.

Even a properly timed and labeled herbicide application can create a temporary response in the plant.

That does not mean the herbicide is bad.

Weeds can create significantly more yield loss than the temporary stress caused by controlling them.

The question is not whether we should eliminate every stressor.

The question is whether we can better prepare the plant to manage necessary and predictable stress.

Not All Stress Is Bad

Stress is a normal part of plant growth.

A perfectly stress-free environment does not exist in the field.

In fact, some stress is necessary for normal plant development. A plant responds to wind, temperature, moisture, sunlight, and countless other environmental signals throughout the season.

The environment is stress.

The plant's job is to manage it.

Problems begin when the stress load becomes greater than the plant's ability to respond.

Extreme heat, drought, high salt concentrations, disease pressure, and even certain management practices can add to that load.

This is where understanding SAR becomes useful.

Instead of waiting until the plant is visibly struggling, producers can begin identifying periods when stress is likely and make management decisions around those windows.

ISR Starts With the Soil

While SAR is a more direct defense response, induced systemic resistance, or ISR, brings the conversation back to soil health.

The longevity of a farm is closely connected to the health of its soil.

Carbon plays a major role because it supports biological life within the soil. Bacteria, fungi, and other organisms interact with plant roots and influence how the plant grows, accesses nutrients, and prepares for stress.

This is why soil health cannot be reduced to one product or one application.

It is a system.

Keeping living plants in the field longer can support biological activity. Cover crops may fit some operations. Better water management can improve soil conditions.