Chances are, you inherited (or purchased) the method for keeping your farm records, and it's been way, way down the list of jobs for you to look at improving. Have you ever calculated the amount of administration hours it takes to manage a paper-based system? It's a LOT (about 10 hours per week depending on the farm size, plus many, many hours to prepare for audit) and it's costing you money. As more and more regulation has been introduced to your farming operations, you may have thought that continuing to use paper-based records has been the only option for you.
Consider your farming operations though; you may have implemented or considered implementing new technology to your farm, and these things are more than likely to help improve productivity and increase revenue. But have you considered cost-saving technology?
One area of technology that is quick and cost-effective is transitioning from paper-based to digital records. It's easy, I promise.
First up, you can start at anytime. You needn't wait for your certification audit to be renewed. Your auditor will be more than happy to inspect both paper and digital records during your audit. What is important is that you have adopted a suitable and working quality management system to demonstrate your compliance with the scheme or regulation.
Secondly your workers or staff need to be onboard too. Set aside some time in their work day to get them set up and run through the software. Grower Support has been designed to be simple and intuitive, so you can expect it to be easily adopted by all staff.
And lastly, go all in. Don't be tempted to keep some documents or records on paper. It will be confusing and you won't be using the digital platform to its full advantage. You want ALL your records in ONE place. It may take a few hours to transfer everything, but come update and audit time, you'll be organised and stress-free. Just select what you are being audit for, and all your records and relevant documents will be made available instantly.
Start today, Grower Support offers a free 14 day trial so you have nothing to lose.
Or you can contact me on jennifer@growersupport.com.au if you want to discuss your farm record keeping needs.