Dale DeShane, president, Supervised Control Service Inc.
As president of Supervised Control Service, out of Bakersfield, California, Dale Deshane and his six employees are depended upon by upwards of 75 farmers for crop advising and writing recommendations for 80,000 acres. For years Dale and his employees generated hand-written recommendations; however a number of the counties in which Supervised Control Service operates made increasing demands - requiring more detailed crop data information, and no longer accepting hand-written recommendations.
“The days of remembering something off the top of your head are gone,” says Dale. “Materials are changing and new restrictions are constant, so a computerized solution like Agrian is much safer for everyone.” These days, Dale deals with restrictions he didn’t have to think about a few years ago. Counties are demanding more information and advisors like Dale can get penalized and fined for a small oversight. An integrated, Web-based solution, says Dale, “is really a sign of the times.”
He learned about Agrian solutions at an industry meeting, and researched Agrian and some competing firms. Dale found that Agrian filled his particular needs more ideally than competing firms. He found the company’s comprehensive, Web-based solutions easy to learn and easy to use; and as Supervised Control Service adapted the Agrian solutions, he found Agrian employees extremely responsive to his questions.
“I like Agrian because your source of information is in front of you all the time,” says Dale. “It’s a huge time savings not having to look things up in label books, plus we don’t have to worry that the label information is out of date or inaccurate. The system offers an enormous amount of integrated information that helps us eliminate paperwork, meet county mandates, and we don’t have to worry about incurring fines for an error or oversight. Agrian’s integrated, Web-based solutions are a real sign of the times by providing an easy, private and secure way to collect and distribute accurate data.”
James Mose, independent crop advisor
Like any self-employed person, James Mose, an independent crop advisor in California’s Central Valley, always looks for ways to cut expenses. In writing up recommendations and use reports for clients, he used to depend on a paid contract with a company in order to access pesticide label data. The contract cost him about $2,000 per year.
“I heard about Agrian from one of my distributors and spoke with one of its founders at an industry gathering,” says James. “I kept track of Agrian and saw how many manufacturers’ labels it was adding to its database.” While he was hesitant to make a change and depend on a new system, he kept hearing about Agrian. He decided to dedicate some extra time during his slow season to investigate the company and its solutions.
He’s glad he did.
“Accurate, trackable agricultural data is critical in our jobs,” he says. “Keeping hand-written notes is impossible, and entering label data yourself really exposes you to liability. Agrian is easy to learn, easy to use, it’s free, and it has a huge database of up-to-date, accurate manufacturers’ labels. I now use Agrian exclusively, and I would encourage others to check out this system.”
Kirk Ellis, AgRx
AgRx is a full-service agricultural retailer/distributor, with headquarters in Oxnard, California and four regional locations in Central and Southern California.
Kirk Ellis depends on Agrian every day as he consults with and writes recommendations for company clients growing any number of crops, including vegetables, ornamentals, and strawberries.
“Because Agrian is Internet-based, I can get on a computer anywhere and make a recommendation - I can be at home, in a coffee shop, or out in the field with a laptop,” he says. “Also, the growers we work with can be shared partners on the system so it eliminates a lot of faxing back and forth. We just create a shared account and everyone who needs to can access the account, review a document, and request changes or approve it.“
Kirk found the Agrian system easy to learn, easy to use, comprehensive, and very accommodating.
“If I have a site that is 50 acres of celery, I may only need to treat 10 of those acres, not the whole 50,” Kirk says. “I like how Agrian allows me to create blocks within sites so I just treat what’s needed. Also, our growers who are shared partners can access the account and easily get data themselves the moment they need it rather than going through us and waiting for us to get to it.”
He notes that the growing demand for data shows no signs of slowing.
“Growers are under enormous pressure to document and track for food safety,” he says. “They go through audits with buyers and sellers, and they need to provide pesticide histories more often. “All of these demands make data more important than ever.”
What Agrian customers say...