On March 2nd, 2023, Bushel, an independently owned and operated software company headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, launched a next-generation farm management software, Bushel Farm.
The software Bushel Farm is designed specifically to provide solutions to crop growers, grain buyers as well as agriculture retailers.
Read the complete story below to know the significance of this advanced farm management software in digitizing, permitting, and accelerating the flow of information throughout the agriculture supply chain.
Events of the past- What led to the software’s development?
In June 2021, Bushel acquired FarmLogs, a farm management software startup, to connect on-farm management data of farmers in the U.S.
With both startups combined, data has been allowed to flow between FarmLogs' farm-level view of an operation and Bushel's post-farm gate view of the supply chain. Bushel also planned to introduce a "grain passport" to ease enrollment and verification requirements for programs that involve identity preservation, crop insurance, and sustainability.
Moreover, the newly developed farm management software Bushel Farm is an upgraded version of the FarmLogs software solution.
The Software- Bushel Farm
Bushel Farm is a farm management software designed to cater to the needs of farmers and their agribusiness partners and saves time and increases productivity.
With automated data capture and real-time data syncing across mobile and desktop experiences, farmers can easily access and update critical information about their operations without the need for manual data entry.
The Bushel Farm offers various features in its lite and essential subscriptions for effective farm management operations, which are as follows:
• Field Mapping: It allows farmers to view their fields from an aerial perspective using satellite maps.
They can easily see what crops have been planted in each field and access driving directions to different fields.
• Live Rainfall Monitoring: It allows farmers to remotely track how much rain their fields receive and when. This helps farmers plan their day better without having to physically check rain gauges.
Notifications about rainfall events are sent directly to their inbox, allowing them to stay informed about field conditions.
• Rain and Heat History: It allows farmers to track and analyze the historical effects of rain and heat on their crops. They can view rainfall history and heat unit accumulation for each field and compare it to prior seasons.
Detailed rain reports are sent via email, and charts can be used to take a deep dive into the rain or heat history over any custom time period.
• Scouting: It allows farmers to log geotagged notes and pictures while out in the field, making it easier to identify and share later. This helps farmers to keep track of field observations and share field knowledge and notes with their team or agronomist.
• Soil Maps: These provide a visual representation of the soil composition and elevation features of the fields to the farmers.
The maps are color-coded to easily show each soil type area, and farmers can compare soil maps side-by-side with other field layers to help evaluate new ground and find opportunities to improve management on existing fields.
• Satellite Imagery: It allows farmers to quickly detect in-season issues on their fields by providing an at-a-glance view of the fields’ health.
With 10-meter resolution images delivered to the account every two weeks, farmers can focus their scouting on areas showing signs of stress and fix issues before they cause more damage.
Furthermore, Bushel Farm offers valuable grain marketing insights that help in making informed decisions about pricing and inventory management.
These insights are based on a range of data points that the tool collects, such as cost of production, marketing position, the profitability of grain sales based on current market price, and profit and loss at the farm, crop, and field level.
For instance, the cost of production insight enables farmers to determine the costs associated with producing crops.
This information is essential as it helps farmers to make informed decisions on input usage, pricing strategies, and planting decisions.
The marketing position insight provides an overview of the amount of grain sold compared to unprotected production, giving farmers an idea of how much grain they can sell and how much they need to protect.
The profitability of grain sales insight is also incredibly valuable for farmers as it allows them to evaluate their grain sales based on current market prices.
This insight helps farmers to determine the best time to sell their grain and at what price.
Furthermore, the profit and loss insights at the farm, crop, and field levels enable farmers to evaluate the profitability of their farming operations and make informed decisions about future crop planting and management.
Moreover, the aforementioned features are making farm management software and data analytics popular in smart farming practices, leading to growth in the market.
According to data insights by BIS Research, agritech leaders and industry experts are developing new solutions and investing in the market of farm management software and data analytics, which is expected to grow with a CAGR of 15.39% and reach $7.28 billion by 2027 from $3.56 billion in 2022.
Moreover, Bushel has also planned to release a new integration that will allow farmers to easily import their grain sales data into Bushel Farm.
This unique integration will be available by mid-2023 and will be especially useful for farmers who have to manage large volumes of contracts or scale tickets.
The first phase of this integration will focus on the auto-population of contracts allowing farmers to import their contract data directly into Bushel Farm with only a couple of clicks.
Furthermore, Bushel also offers packages of subscriptions for commercial grain buyers and other agribusinesses looking to strengthen relationships with its farmer customers.
These packages are beneficial for companies that want to track farm practices for specific grain origination programs or assist farmers with grain marketing through over-the-counter (OTC) programs.
The tool is especially useful for specialty processors that need to share information downstream with their end buyers to provide transparency.
With Bushel Farm, companies can easily and securely share the required information with their end buyers, which is essential as consumers are now demanding more transparency.
Moreover, Bushel also provides cybersecurity by integrating data permission controls into the platform, sharing data only when properly authorized by Bushel Farm users.
Furthermore, Bushel integrated John Deere Operations Center and Climate FieldView to allow for the automatic import of field activities and input data.
With subscriptions increasing continuously, Bushel claims that more than 100,000 farmers are using its products currently.
Conclusion
Bushel Farm management software is an excellent resource for agribusinesses looking to strengthen their relationships with farmers and optimize their grain origination and marketing programs.
With its comprehensive range of features, including field mapping, rainfall tracking, scouting, soil maps, and satellite imagery, Bushel Farm empowers farmers to make data-driven decisions that can improve their profitability and sustainability.
As a result, it has become an indispensable tool for many farmers and agribusinesses across the U.S., unlocking value across the supply chain and driving better outcomes for everyone involved in the agriculture industry.
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