A recent article on AgWeb.com speculated that 87% of farmers will own a smartphone by 2016. These powerful devices allow producers to keep production and labor records, track the weather, and get up-to-the-minute pricing info. There are also hundreds of apps that are designed specifically for farmers. Here are 5 of my personal favorites.
- ID Weeds by the University of Missouri. I have several weed ID apps on my phone but this one is my favorite. It allows you to search weeds from a list if you know the name, and it has a weed identification feature if you don’t. Each weed has multiple pictures at different growth stages to assist with identification.
- Cattle Market Mobile. Keeping up to date with current beef prices is super easy with this app. Farmers can find out what prices were last week in Carthage, Cookeville, Lafayette, or literally any other market in the nation that reports.
- Vegetable Garden Guides. The only app on my list that isn’t free, this one is still a good bargain at $1.99. You can get row spacing, planting depth, and fertility information for most common garden vegetables. Keep in mind this app isn’t TN specific so you may also want to use the UT Extension publication “Growing Vegetables in Home Gardens” when planning your garden.
- Beef Cattle Repro. This app is from the University of Tennessee and is designed to assist beef producers in keeping up with their reproduction programs for their herds. In this app you are able to set cow and heifer AI programs, record bull and cow information, record calving dates and information and much more. The app will also email you a nice report which makes record keeping easier than ever.
- This app from DuPont is a calculator application which allows you to easily calculate the amount of product you will need to treat a specific field area, the amount of product you need to apply to a specific tank size, the amount of water you’ll need to treat a specific field area or the amount of product you need to get the desired Volume to Volume ratio. Changing the units such as ounces or pints is very easy which is helpful.
We live in a time where information is more plentiful and easier to find than ever before. Good information though can still be hard to come by and these apps, along with several others, can help farmers in their daily lives. If you have your own agriculture related apps feel free to share them with me at cbhicks@utk.edu or stop by the University of Tennessee Extension office at 125 Gordonsville Hwy in Carthage.
The Cattle Market Mobile app is one of many smart phone applications that can make farmers’ lives easier
