Innov8.ag, a pioneering farming intelligence company, is revolutionizing how CFOs and farm crew leads understand their operations. By converting badge scans into actionable insights, the company provides innovative solutions, including AI-generated podcasts that offer daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal updates on farm performance. Founder Steve Mantle shared these advancements during the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco.

Founded in 2019, Innov8.ag integrates analytics software with in-field weigh stations and badge-scanning devices. These technologies enable farmers to analyze metrics and address operational and labor challenges in real-time. Last year, Innov8.ag bolstered its capabilities by acquiring 2nd Sight, a company specializing in labor tracking and inventory systems, which brought advanced weighing stations and badge scanners into their tech portfolio.

Utilizing GPS, mathematics, and AI, Innov8.ag captures badge scans to track crop movement from fields to weighing stations. This approach allows for precise calculations of crop types and quantities harvested, which are monitored as farmhands scan their badges while weighing the crops.

Farmers can compare current conditions against historical data, considering factors such as weather and air quality variations over time. This not only enhances operational efficiency but also improves traceability, which is crucial during recalls or disease outbreaks. For example, the Oregon Potato Company recently issued a voluntary recall of 55,000 lbs. of frozen blueberries due to a potential listeria contamination.

“With a decade’s worth of data, we can analyze typical labor behaviors across different sizes of farms, then look across multiple seasons for deeper insights,” Mantle explained.

HarvestReplay: Redefining Farm Operations

Recently, Innov8.ag launched a groundbreaking podcast feature named HarvestReplay, which serves as an “instant replay” of daily farm activities. This innovative concept was conceived from the observation that many farmers had stacks of unread reports piling up on desks.

“The name HarvestReplay embodies the essence of tracking all farm events, from thinning to mowing and spraying,” Mantle elaborated. This feature tailors information relevant to different roles within the operation, allowing crews to pinpoint high and low performers, thus fostering opportunities for coaching and improvement.

“Our podcast allows relevant discussions about farm data to take place. For example, conversations between your CFO and operations manager can focus on economic and operational aspects, respectively,” he added.

Future Growth and Funding Plans for Innov8.ag

With a commitment to serving specialty crop growers—ranging from apple to blueberry and cherry farmers—Innov8.ag has expanded its reach into countries including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Chile, Peru, and New Zealand. The company aims to enhance its offerings with strategic seed funding, currently generating around $1 million in annual recurring revenue.

“We are cautiously pursuing a seed round and focusing on strategic investors to be selective about who joins our cap table,” Mantle noted. “Having raised about a million dollars over the past six years, we feel poised to scale further and leverage data for growth.”