Agriculture has a particularity that breaks most enterprise software: data is generated where there's no internet. A field 25 miles from the road, machinery in motion, operators with gloves and dirt up to the elbows. That's why, for years, the notebook and the paper sheet won — they were the only thing that worked there.
Today there's an alternative that also works without signal: a PWA (Progressive Web App) that captures data locally and syncs when it recovers connection, without the operator having to think about it.
How the system is set up
1. Fields
A table with each field: name, area, location (lat/lng or link to a map), current crop, season, foreman. Work entries link here.
2. Work entries
Each field operation is recorded as a "work entry" with: type (planting, spraying, harvest, fertilization), field, date and time, operator, machine, applied product, dose, and weather conditions where applicable.
The operator loads it from their phone, on the spot, without signal. The app saves locally and syncs when network comes back.
3. Inputs and stock
When a spraying with product X and dose Y is recorded, the app deducts from stock. When stock drops below the threshold, an automatic alert goes to the purchasing manager.
4. Reports and traceability
Any auditor or certifier asks: "what was applied in this field, when, and how much". The report exports to PDF/Excel in seconds. No reviewing notebooks.
Why a PWA and not a native app?
- No Google Play / App Store needed: the operator opens a link and installs it to the home screen.
- Automatic updates: no need to ask every operator to update.
- Works on any cheap phone: basic Android, old iPhone, whatever.
- True offline: if data was captured, it's not lost even if the phone dies on battery.
Traceability isn't built at the end of the season, it's built every time the operator opens and closes a work entry. The question is whether that capture takes 20 seconds or 20 minutes.
Start with one field
A risk-free way to try it: create your account, load one field and one work entry from your phone. If it works for one, it'll work for 50.