How to Track Every Dime and Remove the Guesswork: Case Study

September 21, 2018

For Mitch Konen, peace of mind means knowing exactly where every dollar is spent in his 1,500-acre farm operation near Fairfield, Montana, and how it’s impacting his bottom line.

Thanks to his Trimble Ag Software Farmer Pro subscription, Konen has full visibility over his farm finances and knows exactly what his break-even price is when harvest time rolls around.

“For the field record and tracking inputs, it works great. Knowing what the costs are on a day-to-day basis means I know virtually what my cost of production is at any time. I also really like the cash and accrual portion, that way I know my break-even cost at the end of the year. It’s just a good business practice,” says Konen. “The key is the enterprise statements — on a per-crop, per-field, per-farm, per-equipment, per-person type of report. You can make decisions based on that.”

Trimble Ag Software garnered attention in recent months as more and more farmers leverage this online, mobile, and desktop software platform to turn farm data into actionable reports they can use on a daily, and even hourly basis to make quick decisions and adjustments that save time and drive farm profits.

With the Farmer Fit and Farmer Pro ag software software bundle, farmers get access to Trimble’s integrated desktop mapping, field record-keeping, and simple cash accounting. Built on the foundation of Farm Works Software®, which Trimble acquired in 2009, the desktop platform is turning farm data into profitable decisions for customers around the world.

With the software farmers can:

• Track Cost Per Unit of Production for each field to get real-time knowledge about expenses and break-even calculations throughout the growing season.
• Generate Profit Maps so you can deep-dive into each field and see what precision farming practices are most profitable.
• Sync your desktop data, including field records and precision farming maps, to the cloud and mobile app to access data anywhere, anytime.

“Come tax season I have everything on one platform, all I have to do is print off an income statement and every detail goes with it. I can also print off a depreciation schedule that has all the equipment purchases,” says Konen.

He also uses the platform to print out a family living report so he knows where the family money is going. “It’s even broken down into utilities, what propane costs it took to heat the house, groceries,” says Konen. “It gives me a full spreadsheet of every dime and dollar that’s spent on the farm. That’s tied to my field maps so when I pull my yield maps off the combine I know exactly what my break-even is, so I know what price I need.”

Konen is also starting to leverage Trimble Ag Mobile and Crop Health Imagery.

For more information ‘Take a Tour’ of Trimble Ag Software and find the offering that’s right for your farm!