From Launch to Success: AcreConnect™ Celebrates 6 Months

In March 2024, AcreConnect™ was launched with the ambitious goal of offering a tool for spray drone operators looking to enhance their operations and deliver better customer service. Established to meet an operator need for application maps to show their work, AcreConnect™ received strong interest and demand from launch. As of September 2024, the software has prioritized adding new features that help spray drone operators run their businesses.

Launch and Initial Response

AcreConnect™ launched with essential features aimed at boosting productivity for spray drone operators. Available in two suites, Essentials and Premier, the software’s initial offerings included core business tools. The response from early adopters was overwhelmingly positive, praising its user-friendly interface, field-edge usability¹, and capabilities to reduce downtime, office work, and manual note-taking.

Introductory Features

• Work Orders offered operators the ability to get work started fast, assign team members, and select chemicals with confidence from the integrated label database provided by TELUS® Agriculture (formerly Agrian).
• Product Usage Reports gave operators the ability to accurately record products sprayed, acres applied, and weather on site.
• Application Maps let operators show their customers where products were sprayed.

User Growth and New Features

By June 2024, AcreConnect™ had expanded its user base to include independent operators and large retail operations. During this period, we introduced new features and announced compatibility with XAG drones, establishing AcreConnect™ as the only provider of application² maps for both DJI and XAG drones.

• Job Estimator (formerly Invoice Assistant)³ helped users quickly estimate work and generate job quotes for customers, then send the estimate directly via email or text.
• The Log File Management feature gave users the ability to view, delete, and filter uploaded flight logs with ease.
• XAG Compatibility allowed XAG drone users to upload flight logs and generate detailed application maps.

Job estimator (formerly Invoice Assistant³) quickly became one of the most valued features, enabling operators to estimate work before a job and send invoices to customers afterward. Organizing flight logs became easier with log file management. The integration with XAG drones was a crucial enhancement for operators using both XAG and DJI drones in their fleets, also attracting a new set of users to the software.

Opportunities with Farm Management Systems

Next, we identified opportunities to integrate with industry-leading farm management systems. We aimed to create a software ecosystem that complemented these systems. By partnering with John Deere Operations Center™⁴ and Climate FieldView™⁵, we ensured that customers could include spray records alongside other application information and field data.

• The John Deere Operations Center™⁴ connection through John Deere API services allowed users to directly share application maps with Operations Center.
• Application maps could also be uploaded into Climate FieldView™⁵.

These features streamlined sharing spraying information with customers’ farm management systems. This ultimately gave growers and retailers a more comprehensive view of their field operations.

Supporting Operator Compliance

The AcreConnect™ development team worked tirelessly to ensure the software’s capabilities met operators’ needs. In late September 2024, we introduced a critical new feature. We understood the importance of operators maintaining regulatory compliance as part of their business operations. That’s why we introduced the FAA reporting feature to help them do just that.

• The FAA Reporting feature helped simplify the often complex and time-consuming task of compiling information for the FAA. This feature allowed operators to easily generate the FAA’s monthly required report, enabling them to spend more time flying and less on paperwork.

The FAA Reporting feature was launched to help operators flying drones over 55 lbs. create monthly FAA flight reports and operators flying drones under 55 lbs. maintain records as required by their Part 137 license. They could also document incident records, as needed.

Six Months In: A Collaborative Effort

In just six months, AcreConnect™ has become a valuable tool for the agricultural spray drone industry, enhancing business productivity. We are proud of our team’s ongoing efforts to make AcreConnect™ the go-to software for spray drone operators.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Visit AcreConnect.io to create a free account and start a 7-day free trial to start enjoying the benefits today.

Are you already using AcreConnect™ and have a feature in mind you’d like to see added? We’d love to hear from you!