Vasily Zheludkov, Director of LLC "Agrarij," which manages 3,000 hectares of land, shared with the AGRO XXI portal the challenges of working without digitalization and the results of its implementation: a 40% increase in the land bank with the same costs over 2 seasons.
In 2017, we were unable to process the land due to expensive labor, fuel theft, and plant diseases.
...When I started working at "Agrarij," we were struggling to process our planted areas. This was due to many factors. First, when we were working the old way, the accountant had to get up at 6 a.m., drive around all the fields, measure everything, then go back to the office, enter the data, and pass it on, then repeat the procedure at the end of the shift — it was a big task, difficult and time-consuming, an extra vehicle, additional load on employees.
Secondly, interpersonal relationships played a role, especially between accountants and mechanics. Employees did not always perform their work properly, there was downtime and fuel theft. Moreover, we used water from different sources with varying compositions, which caused pesticides to be applied unevenly, and plants got sick. In addition, the accounting system was not automated, and there was high consumption of planting material, expensive plant protection products, and fuel. As a result, the farm lost crops, profit, and time due to this.
Decided to Transition the Farm to Digital
One day, while talking with colleagues from neighboring farms, we discussed digitalization. At that time, I was cautious about digital assistants. The neighbors told me how they track equipment movement and maintain reports in AgroSignal. The most important thing I noticed was the online accounting system that works here and now, not in two hours or tomorrow. I decided to try implementing AgroSignal for work tracking in our farm.
The first thing we did was equip all the machinery with sensors. The deployment took less than a week. In three days, the technical specialists from AgroSignal installed and set up IoT sensors and installed the software. Initially, we were concerned that there would be difficulties with implementing the new approach and training the staff. But everything turned out to be so clear that even my 80-year-old father easily mastered the interface and main functions of the platform.
As a result, within a week, we had all the machinery equipped, software installed, and we started receiving the first data on work progress. This allowed us to immediately increase the processed planted area by 200 hectares.
Eliminated Fuel Theft
One day, by tracking data from the sensors on the equipment, we noticed that one of the machines was stopping in the field every day, standing for 10-15 minutes, then continuing to move. I found this suspicious. I went to check what was going on. It turned out that one of the mechanics had hidden cans there and was siphoning fuel every day. We explained to the mechanic how the sensors worked, the accounting of output and speed: that if they worked according to technology, they could still earn without siphoning fuel. Since then, no one has stolen fuel from us.
Reduced the Impact of the Human Factor
This is one of the main achievements of automation. It's a case where technology greatly helped the person. Previously, our agronomists were responsible for tracking work, which was an additional heavy load for them. When sensors were installed on the machinery, it became unnecessary to evaluate work at the start and end of the day using the old technology. Now the agronomists no longer get distracted by non-core tasks, and we have accurate data on equipment movement, plus we no longer need to pay for manual tracking, allocate separate machinery for this work, or doubt the accuracy of the data.
We Calculate Salaries Based on Accurate Output
The work of the mechanics has also become more transparent. We control it automatically — for example, it is no longer possible to attribute extra hectares worked. Furthermore, the mechanic can open the mobile app at any time to see how much they have worked and what salary they will receive.
After we showed the mechanics how their performance is calculated in real-time, our output even increased. There was a case when one mechanic received a lower salary than a colleague. He became upset. We checked the output, and everything was clear: the calculation based on hours was correct. Objective labor accounting helps avoid many conflicts and unfair "leveling," while automatic salary and bonus calculations based on work quality and volume motivate employees to work better.
We Controlled Every Planting Unit, Fine-Tuned Seeding and Spraying
Agronomic mistakes prevent the farm from achieving planned yields. A slight increase in speed during seeding can reduce the yield of a crop by half.
For example, some seeds — just treated and moist — are stored outside. Others, treated earlier, are in the warehouse. They are affected by different humidity and storage temperatures. So even though these are seeds of the same crop, their flowability differs. Previously, we didn't take this into account and seeded with the same settings for seeds stored differently. With one batch, everything went according to plan, but the more moist seeds at the same seeder settings resulted in overuse. We planned to cover 20 hectares with the loaded amount, but ended up with only 16.5 hectares.
If seed moisture differs by 1.5-2%, the error in sowing rate could reach 20%. How we discovered this: AgroSignal allowed us to see the exact work intervals from one seeder refill to the next. This indicator showed that there were differences in the seeds, as the seeder settings hadn't changed. Thus, we identified a difference in seed properties that we hadn't suspected before. To prevent this from happening, we decided to control sowing through AgroSignal. Using sensors, we collect data on the amount of seed in the hopper, the operation of seeders, and the speed of equipment. We know the sowing rate for seeds with different flowability. By comparing real-time sensor data with the sowing norm, we can immediately see if there is overuse and adjust the seeder settings.
The data from the sensors is immediately transferred to the system, so both the mechanic and the agronomist can see the need to change settings right away. After completing the work, we can check the tracks, stops, and results, and adjust the route and sowing speed for the next day.
The same goes for fertilizing and pesticide spraying. Spraying from different water sources occurs differently. We adjusted the spraying in the same way as we did with the seeds. We used the same technology during harvesting: by controlling the combine's speed, we achieved high-quality threshing and eliminated grain loss.
Results
We have become more efficient in utilizing the capabilities of our mechanics, stopped wasting time on reprocessing land due to inaccurate machine settings and navigation errors. As a result, we can process more land in the same number of working hours.
Some processes became automatic or significantly accelerated. As a result, we saved money — for example, on the work of accountants. Labor became more precise and efficient, output increased, and expenses on seeds, pesticides, and fuel decreased. Now we process 40% more land and can pay our employees more. AgroSignal has proven to be a multifunctional tool: both a sledgehammer and a microscope. It covers weather, storage, movement, accounting, and real-time online information retrieval.
