“As a farmer, I've always been interested in using spreadsheets to calculate data and find new ways to improve our harvest. When you’re driving a tractor, you have hours to think. I got more and more interested in finding underlying patterns, which is why I started using Glide. One big reason I use Glide is its ability to ingest and process the huge amounts of data we collect from our farms. It's become an invaluable tool. It works amazingly fast and is constantly getting better.”
Meet Siebe. He's a farmer with years of experience in growing organic vegetables. After working at larger vegetable farms in Denmark and feeling like he wanted to share his knowledge with a broader audience, Siebe started his agricultural advisory company, Aarde.
Aarde is focused on helping organic vegetable growers increase productivity in all aspects, from optimizing field processes to reducing complexity in their processes. Siebe was looking for a solution to make registration and optimization of his farm's processes easier, so he started researching app-building tools. After several meetings with developers, Siebe realized that he didn't have the budget for a traditional solution.
That's when he discovered Glide, an easy-to-use and customizable app-building tool that allowed him to create an app to manage his farm. He was able to build an app that tracks crops and keeps tabs on equipment and supplies, all from his phone or tablet. With Glide, Siebe was able to streamline his farm management process and save time on administrative tasks. In fact, he estimates that he avoided having to hire 2 full-time managers and buying off-the-shelf farming management software that would've cost him $100k+/year.
Using his custom-built app, Siebe was able to track his crop forecasts, plant and harvest schedules, and real-time feedback from his harvest team. This allowed him to reduce waste and optimize his farm's productivity. He was also able to collect valuable data that helped him improve his growing schemes for the next year. He was able to implement his app on two farms so far, and his customers were extremely satisfied with its success.
Looking forward, Siebe plans to expand Aarde and implement his app on more farms. He's open to new customers and is using his broad network in Denmark to find interested vegetable farms. He's also looking to add more capabilities to his app, including machine lists, a service diary, and the ability to make observations and take pictures to track plant health.
Thanks to Glide and his custom-built app, Siebe was able to take his farm management to the next level. He plans to expand the use of the Aarde app to other farmers and share his success with the broader fresh farming community in Europe.
“I love how fast you can go from an idea to implementation with Glide. I am able to collect specs from new farms and onboard them—all within a couple 1 hr. meetings. I like that with Glide, you don’t have to change what they're doing, but try to find a solution that helps them do what they’re already doing, but better.”