Organic Valley is one of our 15 Hubs that are using our suite of tools to help them manage everything from farm planning to organic certification. Of the many tools available to farmers, Organic Valley uses farmOS to keep track of all their records, documents, and logs of what is happening on the farm, ultimately using that information to maintain their organic certification.
Lexi Leum is the Farm Resources Coordinator in the Sustainability Department at Organic Valley. Leum’s work primarily includes applying for grants, offering field support for Organic Valley’s Farm and Land Program, and collaborating with the organic certification department, which is where farmOS primarily comes in, says Leum.
“We use farmOS for the filing of documents and events throughout the growing season. When we are audited at our organic inspection, we can reference the log of events in farmOS to showcase our work,” Leum states.
Of the features farmOS has to offer, Organic Valley appreciates the visual aspect of drawing maps, seeing field boundaries, and then being able to manipulate those as necessary in order to track their progress. farmOS also offers a Field Kit, an app accessed from your phone which allows you to record data without having to be at your computer. These features help Organic Valley and other farmOS users to adequately keep track of all the events and plans that happen during each season, which can later be reported and looked back on.
Leum sees their commitment to using farmOS as a major accomplishment, helping them to manage all of their records in one place. “Because we had been filing data in many different ways, to commit to one is where we really have been giving our best effort to utilize farmOS”, Leum states.
Leum says there is a growing desire from farmers to be able to use softwares like farmOS, “I think there is a true desire for applications like farmOS, especially 1for producers who utilize technology as a management tool. For those folks, this platform could be useful to sort and file their data.”
farmOS is a web-based application for farm management, planning, and record keeping. It is developed by a community of farmers, developers, researchers, and organizations with the aim of providing a standard platform for agricultural data collection and management.
You can learn more about farmOS and see it in action from the GODAN Open Farms Mini Documentary.
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