Farm TrackerData findings

Gráinne Byrne, Cathy Lambert, Oran O’Donoghue, Kaan Yucel

and Damien Hanlon

Our product● FarmTracker is precision farming software for record

keeping & traceability purposes.● Aims to replace log-books by storing farm data about

farming affairs and offer an online platform to purchase farming goods.

● Its purpose is to make life easier for farmers so they can keep track of all accounts and farm affairs in one place in one simple app.

● Additional features such as weather, farming journal and newspaper subscriptions, animal tracking, stock warnings and ordering through in-app purchases.

Sampling Procedure ● Low response rates initially - difficult to target

farmers● Contacted IFA centres by phone:● Leitrim, Longford Roscommon & Sligo Office● Galway & Mayo Office● Kildare, Wicklow & Wexford Office● Carlow, Kilkenny & Waterford Office

Research Design● Exploratory Research● Objectives:● To distinguish the agricultural demographic and it’s

accessibility to technology● To understand the data storage needs of farmers● To discern whether Farmtracker software would

appeal to farmers● To rank the software’s additional features in order of

preference (weather, farm material purchase, farming calendar)

Our Survey

Determining our target market

based on age and gender.

Our Survey

Establishing the extent of use our

software would receive and by what

sector of the industry.

Our Survey

Determining whether or not the function our software provides is a necessity.

Our Survey

Determining whether or not our softeware could provide a solution to the problem.

Our Survey

Highlighting key components of our future development.

Data analysis - SPSS key findingsAGE x RECORD KEEPING

Count

 

How old are you?Total18-25 26-40 41-65 65+

Do you keep log books?

Yes 10 16 13 4 43No 7 2 0 0 9

Total 17 18 13 4 52

Graphic Rating Scale Averages

• Accuracy of Log Books – 6.67• Satisfaction with Log Bookkeeping Method –

5.44

Internet Accessibility – Wifi/3G/4G

Additional Features in order of preference1. Stock Alerts

2. Farm Material Purchase

3. Weather

4. Animal Tracking/Tagging

5. Farming Calendar

6. Subscription to the Farmer’s Journal

Limitations-We struggled in getting people to complete our survey as contacting our target demographic proved to be difficult.

-We found it very hard to use SPSS as we couldn’t get it to work properly on personal computers due to licensing issues.

-Design wasn’t very useful as we had to contact IFA centres over the phone and fill out surveys ourselves. This was time consuming and meant most of our participants did not actually view our survey.

-A larger number of respondents is needed for more accurate results.

Conclusions and recommendations●Carrying out surveys has helped us realise the

direction in which this software is going. Gave knowledge of what is necessary in the software and what isn’t

●We gained a deeper understanding of how we could appeal to our target market and what our priorities will be when designing the software

●If the surveys were to be carried out again, one thing we would do differently is target aquaculture farmers rather than just land based farmers.

●It is clear to see that there is definite demand for our app as 73% of respondents said they would subscribe to and use our software

………..

Looking to the Future Thanks to our findings in

this survey we have established the major components necessary. We will develop our software with stock alerts, in app purchases and weather being the most desired features.

Due to 77% of our respondents having regular internet access, an offline version of the app is not a necessity.

Thank You!