1. Compliance

Whether it is a quick bite at your favourite café or dinner with your family, eating is vital to our social and cultural wellbeing as well as our physical wellbeing. We want to know that the food we consume is clean and safe from anything that may cause us harm. Tracking has become a critical part of the agricultural process and helps consumers ensure that their produce safe, healthy and reliable.

Farmers need to track the seeds, fertilisers and pesticides (if any) they use to produce our food. They need to track the growth and sales of their crops; they must know which field it grew in and who it was sold to. Farmers form the early links of the worldwide food supply chain and by utilising agricultural ERP tools, we can trace the lifecycle of our produce from farm to table more effectively than ever before.

2. HRMS Integration

Much of the labour performed on a farm is seasonal work and therefore requires logistical and operational support to ensure all the work is managed and the workers are compensated. An ERP tool-set that has integrated HRMS (Human Resource Management System) functionalities will help to track who worked and when, how much they are owed and when their upcoming shifts and seasons are.

Farm workers do their jobs outdoors and will move from field to field and farm to farm along with the work. These workers go through hard days and require food and water during their work hours, along with adequate sanitation facilities that can move with the crews. ERP systems with HRMS integration help farm managers ensure that farm workers are well taken care of and all the work gets done.

3. Livestock Tracking

As much as it may feel this way, meat does not simply appear on your dinner table or even in your local store. There is an animal that is born and raised, and agricultural ERP helps ranchers track each animal throughout its life. They keep important information, such as: When was it born? What is its lineage? What and how much food did it eat? Was it ill or did it receive any veterinary care or medicine? It the animal going to a customer with a no-hormone requirement? With ERP systems, ranchers can track, monitor and prove all of this information to their buyers.

4. Breeding Calendars

Breeding calendars are another important part of farming livestock. Agricultural ERP will help ranchers manage and organise their breeding calendars to get the best calf production possible. This is done by ensuring every cow and heifer are monitored to determine when they are in season and ready for breeding. As the time approaches, they are held for the right bull and then ERP systems help track the cow’s health during gestation and record the health of the calves produced.

5. Field Mapping

Today, fields are rarely left to nature and require a deliberative process of field mapping. Fields are graded absolutely flat to avoid water runoffs and ensure that all the water seeps down into the roots. Within any field, there are some areas that will be more fertile than others. By identifying and marking these less fertile areas, farmers can pay more attention to them and ensure a more balanced crop yield.

Crops must be planted closer together in the more fertile zones and wider apart, with more fertiliser and water, in the less fertile areas. The data collected and distributed via the agricultural ERP setup will use that data to automatically signal farm equipment, such as tractors and irrigation systems. These farming tools will be optimised for all of their uses from ploughing and fertilising to planting and harvesting.

These are just some of the features and uses that are unique to agricultural ERP systems. There are many more tools and benefits that can be purpose-built for farmers and ranchers to help them become more productive on any type of farm.

Find the right agriculture ERP solution to suit your farming and business needs. Explore our comprehensive and expert ERP consulting services at Lorge, today.

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Farmers are automating, managing and executing tasks like irrigation, ploughing and harvesting more efficiently and more capably than ever. However, the technological advancements do no end there. Agricultural ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems are having an incredible impact on the sector, too.

ERP software is allowing South African farmers to – more easily – manage their businesses day-to-day activities, access actionable data and make informed decisions. Sophisticated machinery and advanced digital systems used by giant corporations may not be within reach of the average farmer. Luckily, ERP software is affordable, easy-to-use and offers rapid ROI as your processes and procedures become more streamlined whatever the size of your farm.

What is ERP software?

ERP software is designed to help businesses manage, organise, automate and digitise their day-to-day business activities, such as accounting, project management, compliance and supply chain operations. From finances to inventory control, ERP systems help managers run their operations via a central system with real-time data and accessibility making them more capable and effective leaders.

In the agricultural sector, ERP software is being used to streamline farm management and farming processes; automate tasks and field equipment; and facilitate more informed decision making.

How does ERP software help South African farmers?

Technological advancements in agriculture have already seen the automation of a variety of processes across the industry, such as irrigation, ploughing and harvesting. ERP software has proven itself to be a truly transformative technology for South African farmers, allowing them to automate and optimise a variety of tasks and functions in the following management areas:

Compliance: farming has strict rules and regulations when it comes to the food and produce, they deliver to retail stores. Every item from farm to shelf must meet all necessary safety standards. ERP allows for the traceability and tracking of all produce that farmers grow and sell.

Seasonal HR Management: most farms have seasonal work schedules and may hire extra labour during busier times of the year, such as harvesting or planting crops. ERP software makes managing and remunerating new or temporary staff, often found on farms, much easier and more secure.

Breeding Calendars: ERP software can help ranchers manage and organise their breeding calendars and track information like health, gestation and yield during this time. In addition, animals can be monitored to see when they are in season.

Field Mapping: field mapping requires significant planning and all the data that comes with field maintenance, ploughing, fertilising, planting and harvesting can be stored, monitored and analysed using ERP software to ensure optimal production processes.

Livestock Tracking: livestock needs to be tracked and traced throughout their life, from birth and lineage to feeding requirements and weight changes as well as veterinary and medicinal needs. ERP software helps to keep track and prove all of this vital information for ranchers and customers alike.

Cold Chain Management: meat, dairy and fruit farmers must keep their produce at very specific temperatures when in storage and out for delivery. ERP software helps ensure that all cold storage requirements are met and deliveries are kept on track.

Procurement: farmers need to know when to buy new supplies, stock or equipment. All of these vital cogs in the farming process can tracked and even automated using ERP systems.

Fleet Management: large farms often require a fleet of agricultural vehicles for activities from farm work to delivery routes. ERP systems can be used to track details like maintenance requirements, work hours, fuel consumption and more.

Soil Quality: soil quality testing is a frequent part of farm management and all the resulting data can be recorded and analysed for reporting and identifying needed changes. Scheduling for future tests and specific points of interest can be organised and automated.

Resources and Yields: monitoring and tracking the quantities and types of resources, such as water and fertiliser, that it takes to produce healthy crops and sufficient yields from different fields can be done using ERP software and its multitude of tools and functions.

The post Digital Transformation in the Agricultural Sector appeared first on Lorge.