Farmanco’s iPestbook officially launched, 270 downloads already

Agronomists and farm consultants came together on Tuesday to celebrate the official launch of a new app developed by Wheatbelt-born independent farm advisor Farmanco. Two years in the making, the iPestbook has been dubbed a “one stop shop” for WA farmers and agronomists to access 30 years worth of research — lifted from Farmanco’s 300-page pesticide handbook — at their fingertips. At the official launch at the Mundaring Hotel on April 26, attendees listened to Farmanco staff talk about the app — which provides a treatment efficacy star rating system and indicative cost per hectare for each treatment — and got to try it themselves on iPads. Product manager Georgia King, who has been working on the app for the past two years, called it her “baby” and was pleased to get positive feedback from the event, which drew about 20 people. “It’s great to have people come along and see how much I love the product,” she said. “They can soak up my enthusiasm and love it as much as we do in head office. “We have had 267 downloads of the iPestbook, and we hope that this can continue to grow over the coming months.” Ms King said the integrative approach with the iPads also gave her the opportunity to have “fresh eyes” over it and she would be getting to work on implementing some suggestions from the night.