The rules regarding crop registration are being observed more and more strictly, also in Belgium. It is therefore not easy to keep track of everything during a season. The CropVision program from AgroVision (formerly CercoSoft) offers a solution for arable farmer Kristof Van Hoecke from Watervliet. “We have a mixed farm with pigs and arable farming. We already used the Ceres program from the same supplier for the pigs. Last winter we started with CropVision for crop registration, mainly for potato cultivation and now I wouldn’t want to do without it ”.
Kristof Van Hoecke, son of Ivan van Hoecke, has a mixed farm consisting of a pig branch and an arable branch. Within the arable sector, potatoes are the main crop and Fontane the potato variety with which they work on the family business.
Make no more mistakes
The combination of both farms requires a tough organization. Van Hoecke has noticed in recent years that it is difficult to update all this properly and in good time throughout the year. “The program takes into account all laws and regulations, such as Global-GAP, Food Safety and Vegaplan. Also in terms of spraying it helps us to keep a finger on the pulse. Today’s products all have strict conditions. They are all in CropVision . If necessary, the system comes up with warnings, so that no mistakes can be made. It therefore helps us to further optimize the cultivation and the cultivation support ”, the grower from Watervliet notes.
Ease
But the most important reason for the Van Hoecke family is the ease with which the crop registration takes place. “The data is processed in a handy app, so I always have the data ready. This simplicity makes CropVision a tool that leads to time savings that – during the season – certainly provides room to spend more time on other things. During planting or after (soil) tillage, we enter the required data directly, which saves significant time, which is useful elsewhere on the company.
Pros
Because the company is close to the Dutch border, Van Hoecke also has a few customers from their northern neighbors. Because CropVision is also used in the Netherlands, all those customers are also known in the registration system, just like the Belgian ones. “That is certainly a plus. That way you can easily send your crop registration. Combined with other advantages such as the possibility to enter the tuber size and the integration with the PCA (Experimental Center for Potato Cultivation, ed.) Advisory system, it was the deciding factor for us to choose CropVision ”. Thanks to the integration, we also receive phytophthora advice from the PCA in CropVision.
“Can be used for any crop”
Nowadays, the first question when the potatoes are delivered to the manufacturer is increasingly common: What are the figures? Van Hoecke therefore outputs the data as standard and sends it directly to the purchasing party. “Previously I had to create a file myself, draw up an agenda and then make an overview per plot. That was soon a day or two of work. CropVision is an easily workable system. Very user-friendly and not even very expensive. But the time savings we achieve with it, the option to enter everything directly and therefore not forget anything, ensure that we are very satisfied with this program. We use it first and foremost in potatoes, but the system is designed in such a way that a simple crop registration can take place for any crop. We have already used it for corn, for example. ”
No missing data
Van Hoecke is ready for his second year of cultivation with CropVision and effortlessly pounces on one advantage after another. Are there no disadvantages at all? “I haven’t discovered any drawbacks yet. The program always works well on both my home computer and my mobile phone, also in terms of accessibility. Entering the data is also very simple. We need the program in the first place to be able to show figures to the factory and the control authorities, but it is mainly the ease of use and the time savings that ensure that CropVision offers a solution for our company. We no longer have any missing data at the end of the season that we still have to look for. ”
Long season
Especially now that the harvesting continued well into November, according to the arable farmer, it is nice that when everything is off the land, the work is really done. According to his own words, the Flemish grower can therefore give his full attention to the storage of the harvested product, so that the quality is also guaranteed there.
“Wouldn’t like to give up”
Van Hoecke can therefore still hardly imagine that he would still have to work without CropVison: “The kilos are very good this year, but due to the wetness there is still a bit of a mess here and there. We have to be careful about this in the storage. It is therefore very pleasant that, thanks to good crop registration, we can have a good focus on storage. Of course you can always do without it, but I would not like to give up working with AgroVision’s crop registration system. ”
