askcust develops farm management software: fields and crop rotation, field operations, inventory, harvest and cost per hectare in one app with phone access. For farms of 100–3,000 ha that need order in their records without a heavyweight ERP and without paying for every hectare.
Farm management software is an app in which the farmer and a few staff keep the records of a whole season: fields and crops, completed operations, receipts and write-offs of seed, fertiliser, crop protection products and fuel, the harvest, sales and cost per hectare. Unlike an enterprise management system or an ERP, it is designed for a small team: few roles and approvals, simple forms and work from a phone.
Yield by weight from each field is matched with its costs: seed, fertiliser, crop protection, fuel and operations. The farmer sees profit by field and crop and decides what to sow next year based on numbers rather than gut feeling.
Instead of a dozen files there is one database: fields, crops, machinery and inventory items each have one record that the operations log and reports refer to. Past seasons stay alongside instead of in file copies with different dates in their names.
The storekeeper or the farmer records receipts and issues from a phone, so the stock of seed, fertiliser and fuel is visible for any date. A minimum stock reminder arrives before field work starts, not mid-sowing when the supplier can no longer deliver.
The app has only what a farmer needs: fields, operations, inventory, harvest and sales. With no clusters, budget committees or approval routes, the forms stay short, and a new worker needs a walkthrough on a real field rather than a training course.
Modules follow the order of the season; the farmer picks only the ones they need.
Field boundaries and areas on a map, crops and previous crops by year, the sowing plan and the need for seed, fertiliser and crop protection products calculated from planned rates.
Ploughing, sowing, fertilising, spraying, harvesting: who, with which machine, on which field, how many hectares and which inputs. The entry is made from a phone right after the work.
Receipts from suppliers, issues for operations and write-offs to the field by actual use; stock by item and batch, minimum stock levels and reminders.
Yield per field from weighing data, storage on the farm or at a grain elevator, sales and shipments to buyers, payments and debts.
Direct costs per field and crop are collected from operations and inventory automatically, and overheads are allocated by area. The report shows which field and which crop made a profit.
Lease and supply contracts with dates, seed certificates, payment deadlines; Telegram reminders about what needs doing this week and who is responsible.
The same app on a phone and a computer: in the field, the operations log, inventory and photos; at home or in the office, reports and documents. Records do not wait until the farmer gets to a laptop.
A farm usually needs two or three integrations; the others are added when the need appears.
| criterion | Excel spreadsheets | Ready service on subscription | Own app by askcust |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Already there: they work from day one and need no training. | A few days to sign up, import fields and adjust the reference data. | After the processes are described and prototyped; the app launches with your fields and reference data. |
| Profit per field | Calculated by hand once a year, if someone finds the time. | Calculated automatically, but by the service's logic, which cannot always be changed. | Calculated automatically by your cost items and your overhead allocation rules. |
| Work in the field | Spreadsheets are awkward on a phone, so entries are made in the evening from memory. | A mobile version with a feature set the vendor defines for everyone. | A mobile version with exactly the forms you actually use in the field. |
| Cost | Free, but the price is hours of manual work and errors in the numbers. | A monthly or yearly subscription, often per hectare: the fee grows with the area. | Payment for development and support by agreement, with no per-hectare fees. |
| Data | In files on staff computers, with no change history or backups. | On the vendor's servers; after cancelling, only what the export provides. | On your server or in your cloud account, with backups. |
| When to choose | A small area, one or two crops, and records kept by one person. | Standard processes, and the service's features are enough without changes. | Own processes, own reports, or a link to software you already use. |
The farmer shows how records are kept now: spreadsheets, notebooks, reports for the accountant. The result is a list of what moves into the app first and what is not worth automating.
A clickable prototype of the main screens built on your own fields and operations; the farmer checks whether entering data from a phone is convenient before development starts.
Fields, crops, machinery, stock levels and past seasons are imported from Excel; discrepancies are shown as a list so that they are fixed once.
The app launches before field work starts so that staff get used to it in advance; everyone who will enter data gets a short walkthrough on their own phone.
After the first season come improvements based on experience: new reports, extra form fields, integrations. Support is by agreement, with no mandatory monthly subscription.
examples of askcust's work →not agriculture, but the same kind of task: records, CRM, automation
Yes, if it contains only what 200 ha needs: fields, an operations log, inventory and cost per hectare. askcust does not add modules for future growth, such as roles, approvals or budgets, until the farm needs them. For very simple records it is more honest to stay with spreadsheets or take a ready service; an own app pays off when spreadsheets are no longer enough or you need your own reports.
Yes, moving data from spreadsheets is part of the launch. Fields and areas, crops by year, machinery, counterparties, stock levels and records of past seasons are imported from Excel or Google Sheets. Rows that could not be recognised, such as duplicates, different names for one field or empty areas, are shown as a list so that the farmer fixes them once instead of hunting for errors in reports.
Yes, the mobile version stores entries on the phone and sends them as soon as there is a connection. Reference data for fields, machinery and inputs, and the map, are downloaded in advance, so the operations log and warehouse transactions work where there is no mobile coverage. Which functions must work offline is agreed at the prototype stage.
It depends on the size and state of the existing spreadsheets, so askcust gives a timeline after seeing your files. The move is planned between seasons: data is transferred, staff try the app on real entries, and the spreadsheets are kept in parallel until their numbers match the app. After that the spreadsheets can be closed.
The cost depends on the number of modules and integrations, not on the farm's area or the number of users. After a conversation and a look at your spreadsheets, askcust estimates the first set of modules with a fixed scope. There is no monthly per-hectare fee; support and improvements after the first season are agreed separately.
The data is stored on a server or in a cloud account that belongs to the farm, and the app's code is handed over to the farmer. For a small farm askcust can deploy the app on an inexpensive cloud service and set up backups; moving it to another server or another developer is possible at any time.
A reply within one business day; a call only if we agree on one.