Farmers Reveal Their 10 Favorite Apps
Never accuse farmers of being afraid to use new technology.
According to a recent Farm Journal Media survey of more than 1,800 farmers, 59% of farmers use a smartphone, and 44% use a tablet computer. That’s slightly ahead of the national average – the latest Pew research shows 58% of Americans use a smartphone, while 42% use a tablet.
The FJM survey also asked farmers to list the apps they use regularly on their mobile devices. Without furthest ado, here are the 10 most popular apps they listed.
Honorable mentions: SoilWeb, Tank Mix Calculator, DTN Weather, Cash Grain Bids and agIndex all fell just shy of making the top 10.
#10 – Grower’s Edge. This app offers a variety of functions, including access to cash prices and market quotes, market commentary, weather, news and more. One online reviewer calls it “one of the most handy tools to have in ag.”
#9 – FarmLogs. Like Grower’s Edge, FarmLogs deploys a “more is more” philosophy when it comes to functionality. Farmers begin by collecting and logging detailed information on a per-field basis. But they can also make task lists, track rainfall history, plan and budget as the season unfolds, manage inventory and more.
#8 – Weather Apps. Unfortunately, the survey respondents rarely specified which weather app they use. Our standard recommendation for a broad category like this is download a few, keep the one you like best and delete the rest. The technology website TechHive also did a recent write-up of their favorite weather apps for Android devices.
#7 – Ag PhD App Suite. From the South Dakota brotherly duo of Darren and Brian Hefty comes several farmer-favorite apps, including the Field Guide, Fertilizer Removal By Crop, Drainage Calculator, Planting Population and Harvest Loss Calculator Apps. Of these, farmers mentioned the Fertilizer Removal By Crop app most frequently.
#6 – Pioneer/Encirca View. Launched earlier this year, Encirca View lets farmers record field observations that are automatically geo-referenced for their convenience. Paired with the Encirca View website, users can also access “Community View,” which shows aggregated data from a community of Encirca View users.
#5 – TractorHouse. Buying or selling a tractor? This app lets users browse and sort thousands of listings. Drill down to find the exact make and model you’re looking for. The app also can sort results by location and display the for-sale equipment nearest to you. One online reviewer says, “You'll find your [next] machine flat out easy and fast!”
#4 – Farm Futures. From the makers of Farm Futures magazine, this app provides a no-nonsense, quick-hit look at the day’s top industry headlines, commentary, futures quotes and audio podcasts.
#3 – Climate Basic. From the Climate Corporation, Climate Basic lets users track up-to-the-minute, field-level information such as current and future weather, soil and crop growth stage information. They can also add notes and set alerts for each field. “Instead of a gut check, let’s give you data and recommendations to make better decisions,” says CEO David Friedberg. “Ultimately, farming has a lot to do with mathematics, statistics and probability.”
#2 – Weed ID. (Or ID Weed?) Another quirk in the survey, farmers didn’t specify if they were referring to BASF’s Weed ID app, Monsanto’s Weed ID app, or the University of Missouri’s ID Weeds app. But either way, these three apps have the same goal at the end of the day – help farmers identify which pesky weeds have invaded their fields so they can dial in the herbicide active ingredients and rates that will get the job done. Again, consider downloading all three and keeping the one you personally like using the most.
#1 – AgWeb. Markets, news and weather – you’ll get your fill with this award-winning app. Plus, sign up to get free market quotes from Commodity Update, listen in on top industry radio shows including AgriTalk and Market Rally, and more.
Have a favorite farming app that didn’t make this list? Share your thoughts here. And discover more great agriculture apps by using the AgWeb App Finder. Click here to get started.
