A local technology company has been recognized by the Ontario government at its Excellence in Agriculture Awards ceremony.
Croptracker, a Farm Management Software, was developed by Dragonfly IT and received a 2024 Honorable Mention for Research and Innovation Excellence at the annual event.
According to a release from the provincial government, the annual Excellence in Agriculture Awards for 2024 recognizes farmers, processors, industry organizations, and businesses whose contributions are strengthening growth across the province’s $50.7 billion agri-food sector.
Dragonfly IT, founded here in Kingston as a consultative software development company, was approached in 2006 by the Ontario Apple Growers and the Ontario Tender Fruit Growers Association to help build a way for their users to track and report back to the organization on their spray and fertilizer applications. The Croptracker software was developed from this initial project and has since expanded to be an all-in-one platform for inventory, labour, and cost tracking for the horticulture industry, the company shared with Kingstonist.
According to the organization, farmers use Croptracker to: track plantings, crop rotations and crop treatments; log employee hours and activities; run employee payroll; track chemical and fertilization applications; maintain inventory traceability; track sales and costs; and keep accurate and up to date quality assessments of their inventory, growing areas, and production facilities.
The software includes a cloud-based browser and mobile application that allows for easy report and information sharing across organizations, and supports mobile data recording in rural areas with no internet connection.
Croptracker has also reportedly developed cutting-edge AI and computer vision solutions to help fruit growers assess the size, color and quality of fruit before and after harvest with its Crop Load Vision, Harvest Quality Vision, and Starch Quality Vision tools.
“Kingston has been a good home as it is located close to many of our first users and it’s easy to travel to meet users in other parts of Ontario. Kingston’s labour pool is highly educated and skilled which has helped Croptracker find a talented and agile staff who can develop useful software solutions for growers,” the company told Kingstonist in an email.
“It is validating to be recognized amongst the talented recipients of this award and is affirming of Croptracker’s dedication to support safer, more efficient and more profitable agriculture growth in Ontario. Although Croptracker now supports nearly 500 growers globally, the impetus for starting the company was from Ontario growers so it is great to be recognized here for our work.”
When asked what else they have in development, the company shared that it is constantly working on new solutions for its users.
“We have recently expanded our traceability software to make it easier for growers, packers and shippers to meet ever increasing traceability standards. We are also expanding the use of our employee management software to ease the record keeping burden of agricultural HR staff and help better manage high labour costs.”