LiveFarmer; automated crop costings

LiveFarmer is a software platform that uses data and artificial intelligence to automate crop costing for farmers. The platform collects data on various factors that affect crop production, such as soil quality, and seed costs. It then uses this data to generate detailed cost estimates for each crop and field, taking into account things like labour costs, fertiliser, pesticide, and equipment usage. This allows farmers to more accurately budget for their crop production and make more informed decisions about which crops to grow and how to manage them. LiveFarmer can be integrated with other farming equipment and software such as tractors, yield monitors, and precision ag tools to provide more accurate and up-to-date data for cost estimation. 

What data can you add to LiveFarmer, to get accurate crop costings? 

Seeds 

You will need seeds in order to start growing crops. The price of seeds is variable, and is subject to market conditions at the time of purchase. Seeds are usually purchased in large quantities and held in storage. The cost can be worked out, for example, as seeds per hectare; automatically allocating the right amount of seeds you need, cutting down waste.   

Labourers 

One of the biggest costs to any business, labour is especially key to the productivity of a farm. The costs for labour are usually calculated in hours. Not only can you track how much labour costs to perform tasks like sowing, harvesting, and packing, you can also locate inefficiencies to bring down costs.  

Fertiliser and pesticide 

Prices for herbicides and pesticides fluctuate, and you may not have a set schedule for introducing these chemicals to our fields. For this reason, it is important to know exactly how much is used and when, to correctly cost the crop yield.  

Equipment 

This can include new machinery you needed to purchase, and running costs of existing equipment. These are usually aspects of farming that aren’t factored in to crop costing, and yet these can be the costliest.  

Irrigation 

Many farms have incorporated some form of reservoir or rain capture, in order to bring these costs down. You should still cost in the water used from other sources, if not for crop costing, then for your sustainability pledges.  

Transportation 

The fuel required to move your crop yields, and any vehicle maintenance needed during this period should be documented. Transportation includes moving crops around the farm, and to its final destination.  

Storage 

All stock, equipment, clothing, and miscellaneous inventory needs to be stored. If any of that storage is leased, then you should factor that into your crop costings. 

Land 

Not all farmers own the land they work on, it was estimated that 30% of UK farmland is rented or leased. By adding the cost of the land into the equation, you can spread that over the cost per crop, to make sure you are still making a profit.  

Energy 

The cost of energy bills has sky rocketed in 2022, with many businesses in other sectors choosing to cease trading. The agriculture industry is one of the most important, as it keeps the public fed. You can’t keep the stocks shelved if you aren’t making enough money to operate. Which is why energy costs need to be considered in your crop costings.  

Yield 

Basing decisions on historic data can give you a good indication of the expected crop yield. This helps with future planning, and to see what is the most profitable crops to grow. The great thing about being consistent with crop costings, is that you can find even more ways to save money. This could be very time consuming if all the data is in different places. Which is why LiveFarmer Management software is the best solution to long term and short-term cost cutting. Fill in the form below, call us on 0333 358 9000, or email sales@livefarmer.co.uk, today!