From Spreadsheet Struggles To Up-To-Date Inventory, Grain And Harvest Tracking

Aaron Gingerich | Farmer | Traction Conservis Customer Since 2020 (Acquisition) | Conservis Customer Since 2012

I’m Aaron Gingerich with Gingerich Farms in central Illinois, in Lovington. We farm corn, soybeans, and wheat. The farm started in the seventies, three generations ago, and through the years it has progressed into what it is now.

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Before Traction meant slow spreadsheet struggles

We've always been a organization that plans a lot of our procedures before the season starts. Before Traction Conservis, I was using a lot of spreadsheets to communicate the plan. What I was finding as the season went on, is that I could not keep spreadsheets updated fast enough to make the following decisions correctly. So I was looking for a system to update in real time, and reflect what actually happened on the fields. Then that would give me the ability to make the following decisions better and faster. 

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Up-to-date inventory management 

The part of Traction that we use the most is inventory management. That covers everything from the products in the shed we’re going to use in the fields, to the inputs, and then the grain management after the fields are harvested. We can see exactly where the grain is in inventory and where we’re at, versus deliveries. The reason I like Traction over other competitors is that Traction was built for inventory. That was exactly what I needed, and we’ve grown with them ever since.

There have been multiple times where Traction [Conservis] saved the day. For example, I might see in a report that we shorted nitrogen on a load, so I know I need to make an adjustment on the next pass. Or when we’re hauling corn, we might think we’ve got 21 loads to deliver, but by load 20, we’ve already met the contract. Instead of overhauling grain, we can stop right there. Having the information in real time keeps us from guessing, and helps ensure we hit our targets.

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Harvest accuracy and time savings 

We also rely heavily on Traction at harvest. Each load harvested generates a ticket in the system, which goes straight into inventory. We assign it to the right location, and as we deliver out of that inventory, we can track which customer it went to and which contract it was tied to. That full grain tracking suite is a big piece of what we do.

Another huge benefit is the time savings from multiple people being able to work in the system at once. We’ve got somebody delivering the grain and someone else entering the tickets, and it all stays accurate in real time. We can be up to date within 20 minutes of a ticket being delivered, instead of waiting until the end of the day when everything gets handed in. That alone saves us a lot of time.

Company independence backed by knowledgeable support

I appreciate that Traction Ag is independent. It puts them in a unique space in the market to target the customer’s needs, instead of making software changes just to sell a certain product they might be promoting. On top of that, the customer service is really good. Whether it’s using live chat in the software or just calling, there are always knowledgeable people on the other end. If one person doesn’t know the answer, they quickly find someone who does.

Most of all, I like that Traction has continued to reinvest in the Advanced Farm Management product. They’ve always worked to make it better, they’ve listened to what customers need, and they keep improving it in ways that make it more useful for us on the farm. That’s why we’ve stuck with it and will continue to.

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