Why Change? Understanding your Strawberries 🍓
The Power of Knowing Your Crop | Dr Raymond Martin
Farmers worldwide use Microsoft Excel to manage their harvest forecasts, each with their own unique formulas to set themselves apart. It’s a reliable tool, so why change something that isn’t broken?
Excel at Farming, Not Spreadsheets
Dr. Martin has built strong relationships with farmers across the UK, and they’ve asked him to develop a system that truly works. In response, FruitCast was created to provide the precise data you need, empowering you to make informed decisions and confidently manage your farm’s success. Keeping value on farm, increasing margins and resource efficiency with methods rooted in tradition.
We understand how valuable your time is and how long it takes to input data into a spreadsheet. Unfortunately, human errors can occur, making your forecasting unpredictable. Collaboration and communication to other partners using spreadsheets or outdated software products is wearisome. Using a dedicated system like FruitCast simplifies the entire process.
Farming is ever-evolving, and farmers are constantly seeking ways to manage external factors more effectively. FruitCast enables you to manage your crops, count your berries at any stage of maturity, forecast your yields and provides access to the most accurate weather forecasts 42 days ahead!
Offered through a modern, collaborative dashboard for managing the farm. Through this dashboard forecasts are provided, historical yield is stored, labour is scheduled and resources optimised.
Being prepared for the future always gives you options. With more accurate crop predictions, you can alleviate pressure, increase your revenue, and free up your time to focus on other important matters.
Here’s how upgrading your planning and forecasting system can benefit you:
Save Time with Ultimate Control: No need to spend hours walking the rows to count your berries to estimate yields. Grab a camera while harvesting to video record your crop and upload to our app for analysis!
Artificial Intelligence: The FruitCast system offers soft fruit AI scanning, data analytics and forecasting to commercial farms, focusing initially on strawberries, but with future expansion to various crops, both nationally and internationally. The AI crop scanning counts flowers and berries (3.6M per day on farms in 2024) and estimates weight and time-to-maturity metrics at farm scale.
Gain Insights into Today’s Crop: With the ability of predicting yield up to six weeks, FruitCast will also provide a level of certainty by integrating state-of-the-art ensemble weather forecasts. FruitCast also provides a level of certainty, offering deeper insights into the data. This increased certainty empowers growers to make confident, data-driven decisions, enabling more effective farm management.
Transitioning from Microsoft Excel to a more sophisticated system enhances accuracy and frees up your time for more strategic tasks.
Embracing Tradition with Innovation
Farming is a profession rooted in tradition, yet it continually adapts to meet new challenges. As global climates shift and market demands evolve, farmers are at the forefront of feeding the world while stewarding the land. Integrating advanced technologies like AI and data analytics doesn't replace traditional wisdom; it enhances it. By combining age-old practices with modern tools, we can improve crop yields, reduce waste, and make farming more sustainable for future generations.
Building the Future Together
Over the past year, our UK growers have enjoyed early access to our services. We've been listening closely and incorporating changes that matter, ensuring that FruitCast meets the real needs of those who use it daily. Creating a community focused on accurate forecasting is vital to us, as it not only improves individual farms but also strengthens the industry as a whole.
"We are delighted with FruitCast's innovative yield prediction system for soft fruits. It enhances our operational efficiency, planning, and resource management, meeting market demands effectively"
- UK Strawberry Grower
Our goals are ambitious—we aim to put more skin in the game and scale up in 2025 to continue our trajectory of improvements. We'll only get better, especially working alongside the wealth of knowledge and expertise provided by our partners. Together, we're committed to enhancing the future of farming, blending tradition with innovation for a more sustainable and efficient agricultural landscape.
We’re a friendly team and love hearing from farmers. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us via https://fruitcast.co.uk/ We're here to support you every step of the way. Don't hesitate to reach out, we're fast filling our slots for 2025 and would love to hear from you!
