Running crop records, spray diaries, and yield maps in three different systems that don't talk to each other, so producing a cost-of-production report for last season means a day of manual data assembly?
Compliance record-keeping for environmental schemes and cross-compliance obligations maintained separately from the farm record, creating duplication and gaps that show up during inspections?
Custom Farm Management Software
Custom farm management software for large-scale farms, corporate farming operations, and agri-businesses who need crop planning, field records, and input cost tracking built for an operation that generic apps can't handle at scale.
Generic farm management apps work well up to a certain size. When your operation spans hundreds of fields across multiple properties, employs seasonal crews, and needs cost-of-production data that's accurate enough to make agronomic and financial decisions from, the tools designed for smaller farms stop being useful.
Crop planning by field and variety with planned versus actual activity tracking across the full season
Input records with product, rate, operator, and equipment for every field operation
Yield data by field and variety linked to input costs for margin calculation at harvest
Regulatory compliance records for cross-compliance and agri-environment schemes built into the farm record
RaftLabs builds custom farm management software for large-scale farms, corporate farming operations, and agri-businesses. A farm management platform covers crop planning by field and variety, field activity records with input tracking, operator and machinery scheduling, yield data by field at harvest, and regulatory compliance record-keeping for cross-compliance and environmental scheme obligations. Most projects deliver in 12 to 16 weeks at a fixed, agreed cost.
100+Products shipped
·24+Industries served
·FixedCost delivery
·12-16Week delivery cycles
When your operation is too large for a farm app and too specialised for a generic platform
Large-scale farm management creates data volumes and operational complexity that generic farm apps weren't built for. A single farming operation spanning 5,000 hectares across multiple farms and tenanted blocks, growing eight different crop varieties under multiple agri-environment scheme agreements, runs into the limits of standard platforms very quickly. The field record has to link the variety and seed lot to the spray diary to the yield map to the compliance obligation, and that linkage has to survive harvest, grain store movement, and eventual sale without losing the connection to the original field.
We build farm management software that handles the scale, the multi-entity structure, and the compliance requirements of large agricultural operations. We have built field data platforms, IoT integrations, and compliance-tracking systems for industries with similar operational complexity. We understand agronomic workflows and the regulatory record-keeping obligations of farm businesses in regulated agricultural markets.
What we build
Crop planning and rotation management
Crop plan built field by field for the coming season with variety, target yield, planned establishment date, and the agronomic rotation history that constrains what can be grown on each field. Previous cropping history recorded against each field parcel so rotation compliance for agri-environment schemes and break crop requirements are visible to the farm manager before planting decisions are finalised. Planned versus actual comparison updated as the season progresses so the manager can see where the season has deviated from plan and what the implications are for the rest of the rotation. Multi-farm and multi-entity crop planning for farming operations with multiple properties or companies under common management, with consolidated reporting across the full operation and site-level detail for each individual farm.
Field activity records
Field activity records for every operation carried out on each field: cultivation, drilling, spraying, fertiliser application, irrigation, and harvesting. Each record captures the date, operator, machinery, product, rate applied, and field area treated -- the data required for regulatory compliance and for calculating the actual cost of growing each crop. Spray diary maintained within the field record with product approval checks, application timing windows, and pre-harvest interval tracking so the farmer has a complete and compliant record without maintaining a separate spray diary. Activity scheduling tools for farm managers to plan and allocate work to operators and machinery, with completion confirmed by the operator in the mobile app and recorded against the field record without manual rekeying. Historical field record accessible for any previous season so agronomic trend data is available for planning and for the multi-year records required by some agri-environment scheme obligations.
Input cost tracking and margin calculation
Input cost recorded at the point of application -- seed, fertiliser, crop protection products, and contracted services -- allocated to the field and crop they were applied to rather than accumulated as an undifferentiated farm cost. Variable cost of production calculated per hectare and per tonne at harvest using actual input costs and actual yield, giving a basis for gross margin analysis by crop and by field rather than an estimate based on budget figures. Fixed cost allocation to each enterprise for operations that want a full enterprise gross margin rather than just variable costs. Input purchase costs linked to the farm inventory for operations managing input stocks, so the cost allocated to each field reflects the actual purchase cost of the batch used rather than a standard price. Season summary with cost of production, yield, and gross margin by crop variety and by field for management reporting and bank submission.
Operator and machinery management
Operator task management with daily work allocation by field and activity, accessible to operators on their mobile device without needing access to the full farm management system. Activity completion recorded by the operator in the mobile app with actual start and finish time, area worked, and any observations noted during the operation. Machinery hours and fuel consumption recorded per activity for maintenance scheduling and machinery cost tracking. Contractor management for operations that use contractors for specific activities -- spraying, harvesting, haulage -- with the contracted activity recorded in the same field record as own-farm operations. Timesheet recording for employed farm workers with hours, activity type, and field allocation for payroll and labour cost analysis.
Yield and harvest management
Yield recording at harvest with combine weighing data, moisture at harvest, field of origin, and variety linked to the field record created at drilling. Grain store intake with lot assignment, quality test results (protein, specific weight, moisture), and storage location recorded at the point of intake. Field-to-store traceability maintained so a grain lot in store can be traced back to the field it was harvested from, the variety, and the chemical applications made during the season. Quality segregation management for operations growing for specific end markets -- milling wheat, malting barley, seed crops -- where different quality grades need to be stored and sold separately. Yield map integration for operations with precision yield monitoring on combines, with data imported from the combine telematics and stored against the field record for the season.
Compliance and scheme record-keeping
Agri-environment scheme obligation records maintained within the farm management system rather than as a separate compliance file -- field management restrictions, buffer zone requirements, and habitat management obligations linked to the field parcels they apply to. Cross-compliance record-keeping for farms receiving basic payment or agri-environment support -- soil management plans, hedgerow management records, and field boundary maintenance records maintained in the system and exportable for inspection. Field identification system and parcel mapping integrated with national land registry or cadastral data for the farm's operating country. Environmental scheme payment calculations and area claim data generated from the field records for scheme claim preparation. Inspection readiness report summarising the compliance records for the current scheme year across all relevant obligations for rapid presentation during a regulatory inspection.
Frequently asked questions
Granular, Farmbrite, and Proagrica are built for the median farming operation -- they cover common workflows at a price that works for operations where the standard data model fits. Custom software is the right choice when your scale, structure, or compliance requirements diverge from what those platforms were designed for. A co-operative managing 200 member farms under pooled arrangements cannot use a single-entity farm management app. A corporate farming operation spanning multiple countries with multiple regulatory compliance frameworks needs a system built for that structure. A vertically integrated agri-business that needs the farm record to connect to the processing and sales record needs integration that generic apps don't provide. If the platform handles 80% of your operation cleanly, use it. When the 20% it doesn't handle is the critical part, custom is the right answer.
Yes. Multi-farm and multi-entity management is a core design requirement for large agricultural operations, not an afterthought. The data model supports multiple farms or companies under a common management structure, with field records, activity records, and financial data maintained at the entity level but consolidated across the full operation for management reporting. Access control allows farm managers, agronomists, and financial managers to see the data relevant to their role -- a farm manager for one property does not need access to the financial data of another entity in the group. Pooled input purchasing, shared machinery allocation, and intercompany service charging are supported for operations that manage resources across entities. The specific entity structure for your operation is designed during discovery before development starts.
Agri-environment scheme obligations are configured in the system based on the scheme agreements active on your operation -- the specific management restrictions, habitat requirements, and record-keeping obligations for each agreement. Obligations are linked to the field parcels they apply to, so when a manager is planning activities for a field, they can see the scheme restrictions that apply to it before scheduling the work. Compliance records generated by field activities -- hedge cutting dates, buffer zone management, cover crop establishment -- are captured in the activity record and linked to the relevant scheme obligation automatically. At claim time, the system produces a summary of the compliance records for the relevant scheme year across all fields and obligations, ready for scheme claim submission and inspection. Updates to scheme obligations when agreements are renewed or modified are managed by updating the obligation configuration rather than by changing individual field records.
A farm management platform covering field records, crop planning, input tracking, activity scheduling, and harvest yield recording typically runs $35,000 to $65,000 for a single-entity operation. Multi-farm, multi-entity management with consolidated reporting adds to the scope and typically brings the total to $55,000 to $90,000 depending on the number of farms and the complexity of the entity structure. Adding agri-environment scheme compliance record-keeping, machinery management, and integration with grain trade or precision agriculture systems adds further scope defined during discovery. We price every project at a fixed cost agreed before development starts.
Tell us your operation size, the number of farms or entities under management, your current record-keeping setup, and the compliance obligations you need to meet.
