Farmanco to launch new iPestbook app for WA growers to assess cost per ha for treatments

One of Australia’s biggest independent farm advisors has launched a new app set to help WA farmers tackle pests while saving thousands as chemical and input prices continue to skyrocket. Farmanco’s 300-page pesticide handbook — compiled by the Wheatbelt-born company’s agronomy team and independent agronomists around Australia — is now accessible at growers’ and agronomists’ fingertips through the company’s new iPestbook app. Product manager Georgia King said its digitisation journey began abut five years ago, when the team started working to put the 30 years worth of “innovative research” in the Pestbook into an online database. “We regard it as best independent guide to pest control in Australia,” she said. “It’s not just a list of labels, but recommendations from clients and our experience of what actually works in the paddock. “But at 300 pages, it’s quite a hefty book to have on the dashboard of your ute, so this has been developed as a user-friendly search engine at your fingertips, where you can get the same recommendations without flipping through 300+ pages.” Previously available internally, the publication was released to the wider agricultural community two years ago and the online database launched in app-form mid last year. It’s official launch — which was due to take place earlier this year but was postponed due to COVID — will take place in Mundaring later this month. “We launched it internally with great success and have spent the past six months test-driving the product,” Ms King said. “We’ve had 200 downloads of it now and that’s doubled in past six weeks and after the launch we hope it doubles again.” The app provides a treatment efficacy star rating system, from one star representing suppression to three stars representing “excellent” control, as well as an indicative cost per hectare for each treatment. Farmers input their application type, crop type, then search for the weed, insect or disease they wish to control and it provides a list of results and recommendations. Ms King said it meant farmers could compare different treatments, how effective they would be and the cost of each before making a decision. “We believe that the app has the potential to save farmers thousands on chemicals,” she said. “Across your whole program it can save a lot of money and that’s especially important in 2022 when prices are going through the roof.” The subscription-based app provides information applicable to all major broadacre crops across not only WA, but South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. It’s official launch will take place at the Mundaring Hotel on Tuesday April 26 from 4pm-6pm and growers and agronomists interested in attending can contact the Farmanco team via email at ipestbook@farmanco.com.au.