Agricultural Technology Platforms and Software to Manage Risks

Technology exists to solve agricultural challenges and manage business risks, yet the landscape of available options can be confusing and overwhelming.  Which technology solution or software application is right for my farm?  Is the cost worth the investment?  How much time and management will I need to invest to see a return on my time or money?  Join us to gather insight into these questions through a series of 12 educational workshops featuring experienced farmers, software developers, agricultural technology companies, and agricultural service providers.  Workshops will provide risk management solutions to help address:

  • legal risk (farmland access and tenure tools)
  • production risk (field and yield tracking systems)
  • financial risk (record-keeping, sales integration, and enterprise analysis)
  • marketing risk (online sales and customer management systems)

Workshops will feature software demonstrations by leading technology platforms alongside local farmers providing user testimonials and 1:1 advising. Technology risk management decision-making tools, workshop recordings, and a fact sheet series with producer case studies will be posted here as the series unfolds. 

Register Here for the workshops.  All workshops are free, but registration is required.

Legal Risk Management Workshops

Financial Risk Management Workshops

Production Risk Management Workshops

Marketing Risk Management Workshops

Upon registration, a Zoom link and pre-assessment questionnaire will be sent to join the workshop. After the workshop, a post-session assessment will be sent to help us capture results of the workshop on improving your farm business.

All workshop recordings, presenter resource materials, and fact sheets will be posted to this webpage following the workshops.

Resources

Legal Risk

 

Financial Risk

Resources

  • The Carrot Project (Jeff Cole)
    • The Carrot Project website:  https://www.thecarrotproject.org/  which contains information on their programs and also has recorded webinars and financial templates to download
    • Workshops and Trainings
    • Loan Programs
    • 1:1 Business Coaching and Technical Assistance
    • Slides from Jeff’s presentation (attached)
  • FarmOS (Michael Stenta)
    • FarmOS - https://farmOS.org  and visit the user group of other farmers using the software:  https://farmOS.discourse.gro
    • Farmier.com - https://farmier.com/signup  Hosting service and signup for Version 1 of FarmOS and soon will be upgraded to Version 2
    • GOAT (Gathering for Open Agricultural Technology) - http://goatech.org/  Global cooperation and coordination group around  software and hardware technology in agriculture.
    • Open TEAM (Open Technology Ecosystem for Agricultural Management) - https://openteam.community/ A farmer-driven consortium collaborating on tools to provide and share knowledge around soil health
    • Open Collective - https://opencollective.com/  An “open source” online and transparent platform that accepts donations and sponsorships and can fund particular projects – also offers fiscal host options [Can contribute to the FarmOS/Farmier support services here]
    • Open Food Network USA - https://openfoodnetwork.net/ Another open source community to focus on distribution side; supports Food Hubs and connecting producers and consumers
  • Farmbrite (Janine Russell)
    • Farmbrite – www.farmbrite.com – is a full service platform that can help track tasks, livestock, crops, resources, contacts/customer base/vendors, farm maps, accounting/financial data, and connect to your e-commerce platform hosted by Farmbrite to manage your marketing orders and invoices (uses Stripe as payment processor – can create QR code for customers to scan with phone and pay online).
    • For integration with tax preparation, the program offers links to TaxJar and Avalara (if producer has accounts set up with them)
    • New Customer Discount:  Janine is offering attendees of the workshop a discount code if you are interested in subscribing to their platform, use l0ZMUiu2 at checkout.
    • Slides from Janine’s presentation (attached)
    • Rich Faucher – learn more about Faucher Farms based in Northern Shannandoah (VA, WVA, MD, PA) of Virginia.

  • Excel to Quickbooks Workshop - LINK TO: December 16, 2021 Workshop Recording

Resources:

Resources:

  • Square POS App – not just a “credit card machine” but a robust and free data collection tool (fees are only for credit card processing fees)
  • LeRoux, Matthew; Schmit, Todd. “Electronic Point of Sale Systems Bring New Opportunities to Improve Sales for Farmers Market Vendors.”  Smart Marketing. Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. (2020): 4pp
  • Modernizing your Farm Sales with Mobile Point-of-Sales Systems – publication by Grown NYC.  Features a comparison charge of various POS services such as:  Square, Shopkeep, Infotouch, Mobile Market Register, Revel, Clover, and NRC Silver Basic (attached)
  • Local Line – online e-commerce platform for selling local food online
  • Toast – a POS system more geared to the restaurant industry; has decent interface for self-serve check out terminals; can be adapted for farm stands/retail operations
  • ECRS – self-checkout terminals / POS for retail operations with scale integration and accepts SNAP/EBT transactions.

Production Risk

Keeping Production Records for Enterprise Budgets - LINK TO January 13, 2022 Workshop Recording

Keeping Records for Soil Health and Organic Certification - LINK TO January 20, 2022 Workshop Recording

Marketing Risk

Which E-Commerce Platform is Right for Me? A Food Hub Panel - LINK TO February 3, 2022 Workshop Recording

Navigating E-Commerce Platforms: An Introduction to Barn2Door and Local Food Marketplace - LINK TO February 17, 2022 Workshop Recording

Navigating E-Commerce Platforms: An Introduction to Forager and Farm Drop - LINK TO February 24, 2022 Workshop Recording

Thank you to our Sponsors!

This project, titled, “Supporting Producers to Manage Risks through Online and Novel Software Technology Applications,” is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2018-70027-28588.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Farmer Training

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