agCOMMANDER Timeline

We released our Crop Analytics module, powered by EarthDaily EarthDaily delivers cutting-edge geospatial analytics and AI-driven insights, empowering commodity traders, agribusinesses, food supply chains, and insurers to make data-driven decisions, mitigate risk, and drive profitability. EarthDaily offers unmatched scale, precision, and reliability. Our vertically integrated approach—from data acquisition to advanced analytics—enables customers to detect broad-area change, monitor critical activity in near real-time, and unlock meaningful value.

Over the months November 2022 to the end of 2023 we developed integrations with Meteogrid, Geodim, Nutrisens, Ranch Systems, Lattech Systems, Progres Electronic Systems and Adcon in the process of building a complete integration of the “Nutrisens Methodology” which provides insights into plant nutrient stress, moisture stress and more, as well as an irrigation recommendation system. The module also includes an enhanced industry standard soil moisture monitoring system for clients not taking advantage of the Nutrisens Methodology.

agCOMMANDER was officially released in May 2021 after 4 years of development and 14 months trialing at over 50 operations across 4 countries with an array of enterprise types: nut and other tree crops, vegetables, kiwi fruit, wine grapes, grain, cotton, sugar cane, sheep and cattle.

MindMyAssets is a cloud-based application (mindmyassets.com) developed to replace our aging “MAX” application. MindMyAssets is used globally in English speaking countries by an array of different business types. The software can be used to keep track of repairs and maintenance of any asset type as well as usage logging, running costs, inspection checklists, inventories of parts, and consumables & More… There’s a dashboard in the form of a calendar showing past services and other events plus future “service due” dates.
MindMyAssets 2 is now available in 5 Languages

The redevelopment of Pocket PAM to work with the relatively new “Smartphones” started in 2010 and the “apps” for iOS and Android devices were released in mid-2011. PocketPAM works offline suiting the needs of most of our clients who’s internet coverage is not good enough run the applications online. Pocket PAM consisted of 12 modules covering cropping, livestock, mapping, crop and pasture scouting, viticulture grape yield estimates, weather records, inventory purchases, adjustments and stock-taking and a general-purpose diary.

Our precision farming data analysis and mapping software, FarmStar, was rewritten during 2007 – 2009 under the new name of PDP. PDP was available as a precision data processing module for the PAM application and also for the gpMapper application. In 2014 we created a derivative of PDP, a cut-down, standalone version of the software called PDP “Lite” which is used to convert variable rate maps (or recipes) between the various formats used for the various consoles.

A large percentage of our PAM Enterprise clients found that the software suited their operations right “off the shelf”. However, many requested minor and sometimes major customization to make it better suit their particular operations. As well as several quite large customization jobs for Fosters Wine Estates and Landcorp Farming NZ, we undertook customization projects for organizations like Pacific Seeds (enhancements specific to pedigree seed production), Saratoga Holdings (the world’s largest macadamia nut producers, whose requirements around the processing of harvested nuts prior to final dispatch to processors were extensive) … Throughout 2009, we worked on a set of complex but extremely powerful features to manage AAco’s new cattle breeding, growing out & feedlot processes. We developed powerful features to assist head office marketing staff to gain insight into the numbers and location of specific weight ranges of cattle to fill specific contracts.

We were approached by the GWRDC (Grape & Wine Research & Development Corp) to commercialise an application that incorporated all the cleverness of extensive research into refining and improving grape forecasting. We developed a desktop application and a handheld application for in-vineyard data collection. GrapeForecaster has been taken up by vineyard operators in every corner of the world.

In cooperation with Syngenta and Barret Burston Malting, we developed the beginnings of what was to become known as PAM Enterprise. Specially selected Victorian Barley growers running our PAM QA+ application would push their cropping records via the internet to a PAM system hosted in our office. That central PAM application would then be accessed by Syngenta and Barret Burston Malting as well as a brewer in Japan who was the acquirer of the Barley.

After 2 years of initial development, we finally released the individual animal records module for PAM, catering for any farm animal type and both commercial and stud operations. Our aim was to make the module as versatile and adaptable as possible. The I.A.R. module continued to evolve over the next 4 – 5 years with many enhancements added during the PAM Enterprise implementation project for Landcorp Farm NZ. Landcorp employed two geneticists and ran stud deer, sheep, and cattle operations.

Pivot Fertilizer negotiated with us to have a specially branded version of PAM that had enhancements built into it that focused on Quality Assurance requirements for their “Great Grains QA” initiative. Pivot PAM also had special electronic import capabilities for the PivotTest soil and leaf test laboratory results. Pivot PAM’s life came to an end after Pivot went into liquidation and was eventually absorbed into the Incitec organisation.

A tender process was undertaken by AAco (Australian Agricultural Company) to find a suitable software developer to build for them a comprehensive system to manage their vast cattle herd and 22 cattle stations covering more than 1% of the Australian landmass. We were awarded the job and customised PAM and PAM MultiClient over a year or more to fill their needs. We also developed “LIS” (Livestock Inventory System) to accumulate cattle numbers and number change (sales, purchases, agistments, transfers, natural increases, deaths, rations, re-classes) from the customised PAM system on the stations into a system for head office staff to use. We also developed “LSB” Livestock Budgeting that was used on the stations and a head office version that accumulated the station’s budgets into a master budget. That project ran through until the end of 2001. With internet coverage being either absent or unreliable, all data was being transferred between the stations and Brisbane head office, automatically via email.

The PAM for Windows rewrite was finally released and was well received by our clients, who by that time numbered several thousand. We released two versions: PAM MultiFarm and PAM UltraCrop. UltraCrop being designed for horticulture. The main difference between the two versions being the catering for permanent plantation crops by UltraCrop.

We began our long association with Senwes, Klerksdorp, South Africa. Senwes established themselves as leaders and pioneers of precision farming adoption South Africa, in particular in the maize growing areas. Together with Senwes we built solutions for analysing spatially variable data from grid soil sampling programs and yield monitors. We also worked on several world-first variable rate applications of fertilisers using a range of controllers.  Over the years since our client numbers in South Africa have grown. Farmers are still using Farmstar to prepare for variable rate application projects.

Through 1995 we developed our first farm mapping application, designed mainly for farm planning, with layer management and the ability to import and geolocate aerial imagery. Interfarm also interfaced with the PAM application to some extent.

Our PAM program won 1st prize in the Farm Production Recording Section of the annual Farm Software Competition run by the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales

We developed a farm record-keeping system that we named HORRIS for the publicly listed Universal Waldeck Limited (UWL) who had established a 640-acre irrigated wildflower farm in Western Australia. UWL employed over 50 people and much of the work carried out was manual tasks performed in teams. All processing, cold storage and packing for domestic and export markets was done on-site. Horris was later adapted to become a general-purpose application for the permanent crops horticulture sector and used by government horticultural researched stations in  Australia and a range of clients across Australia until it was replaced in 1998 by PAM UltraCrop.

PAM Version 1.0 released Released by Country Soft at the Dowerin Field Days in Western Australia. The application covered in a quite basic manner, cropping, livestock, and rainfall records.

We developed an application for Tyrell Wines of New South Wales to manage and report on their petiole and soil test results