GrowData’s Harvest app is proving itself to be a winner for growers around Australia.

As Australia’s leading horticultural management software provider, it was important that their new app would not only be easy to use and functional in the field, but it also had to be capable of meeting the increasing legislative requirements in regard to payment of pickers.

Even when paying by the bin, GrowData Developments managing director, Brian Riordan said the pickers’ hours must also be recorded. This has created yet another layer of data collection which growers must deal with during harvest.

GrowData harvest app makes compliance easy.

Mr Riordan said the app does not require any expensive specialised hardware – it works from either an iPhone or iPad or any Android device. Barcode recording of bins and pickers is a breeze and can be carried out in the field or in the shed. There is also an option to record the information without using barcodes.

Crews from the previous day can be carried forward to the next day to minimise setup time. Pickers can be removed from the crew if they do not return, and new pickers can be added in the field. If they have a Madec card, their information can be added simply by reading the QR code on their card.

Team picking is when two or more pickers pick into the same bin. When a bin is filled only one of the team needs to stick their barcode to the bin card. When the barcode is read, the bin is divided by the number of team members and a percentage of the bin is allocated to each team member and a percentage of the $ bin rate is assigned to each picker.

Pickers can be linked to contractors, and they can also pick in teams. For larger growers there is a function which can be configured so multiple supervisors working in the same or adjacent blocks can link their devices, so they share the same crew and teams. Part bins can also be recorded as well as fruit quality and bin location within a block if desired.

Blocks, pickers, bin types etc are all downloaded from GrowData into the app. Once these are selected into the harvest screen, all that has to be done is to barcode read the bin and the picker.

Waikerie citrus grower David Arnold from G M Arnold & Son said GrowData's harvest app had saved them significant time and the extensive reporting makes QA compliance and paying contractors easy. “No internet? No problem, the data is auto synced as soon as the phone is back in internet range,” Mr Arnold said.

Mr Riordan said the extensive reporting can detail the date and time a bin was picked, each picker’s full name and an optional ‘Known As’ for nick names. There is also the ability to add a payroll number for permanent employees who help out with the picking and lots more.

Full traceability is possible as every bin is linked to the block and every picker is linked to a bin. Picking costs by bin or by hour are also allocated back to the block, giving the grower an accurate record of tonnage off a block and a cost per hectare, per tonne and per bin.

If you are using GrowData’s Packing Program, the bins when tipped can be rescanned and the batch number can then be automatically attached to the bin number to give you total traceability from block to the customers who received stock from a particular batch.

If your crop is being sent to MFC for packing, GrowData can upload the MFC pack-out file and allocate the pack-out performance back to the appropriate block(s).

Fruit grower, Jeremy Smart from Batlow said GrowData has been an integral part of their business now for more than 20 years. “The addition of the harvest app has really helped us to streamline our data collection,” he said.

“With instant upload of each bin recorded onto our system we have full traceability of our fruit. This day and age, having so much historical data at our fingertips is proving very valuable and is helping drive decisions of the business into the future.

“New technology is a key part to our business in the future and the GrowData harvest app has been a part of this. Utilising barcodes on all our bin tickets has saved time and money in the field.

“GrowData continues to provide a system that meets our needs at a very affordable rate,” Mr Smart said.