Local farmer creates app for irrigation info

Local farmer creates app providing real-time info on irrigation

For Nathan Holmes of Oran, keeping track of agricultural irrigation was "like trying to unscramble an egg."

Between employee miscommunications, sometimes tedious record-keeping and uncertainty about irrigation pump status, he said he felt frustrated with the system of irrigating his family's farmland.

And so he decided to build a better system.

In an app Holmes launched Wednesday, users are able to have better control over the information about their farm's irrigation system. PumpTrakr, available free on the Google Play and Apple App Store platforms, provides farm management resources by creating a better flow of information between farm managers and employees.

Nathan Holmes of Oran, Missouri, founder and creator of "PumpTrakr," displays a screen from the app while posing for a portrait Thursday at the Southeast Missourian photo studio in Cape Girardeau.Jacob Wiegand

The app can be used by itself to manage farm records, Holmes said, but users can also purchase additional hardware to track and manage irrigation pumps. Later this month, users will be able to start utilizing a $500 annual Headquarters subscription, which would allow them to manage the farm's account. Farm employees, after being sent an app invite by managers, can also download the app to check in and convey information with co-workers. From there, a user can purchase individual pump subscriptions at $25 each to track the status of the irrigation pumps. Pump modules are also available at $225, with an additional data charge, to provide more information on each pump as well as the ability to stop pumps remotely.

PumpTrakr gives subscribers real-time information on fuel levels, employee tasks and the on/off status of pumps. The app's user-friendly interface features two-step authentication for security, as well as the ability to manage multiple farms at once. An in-app map lets users see the location and status of each pump on the farm they manage.

Using what he learned from computer science classes he took in college, Holmes said he created and launched an early version of PumpTrakr for individuals working at his family farm to use. The app brought his idea to life -- something Holmes said validated the concept and aided in sharing the idea with technology management company Broadtek and later, Codefi.

In late 2018 into early 2019, Holmes began working with the downtown Cape Girardeau business Codefi to build the back end of the agriculture app. Part of the Marquette Tech District and located in the Marquette Building, Codefi provides office space and resources for local entrepreneurs. It has been involved in startups such as CarGO, a ride-sharing and food delivery app serving Cape Girardeau and other Missouri communities. Holmes said Codefi created a version of the app that would be easier to distribute in anticipation of the January 2020 launch, as well as provided a space to work.

Nathan works with his father, Bill Holmes, on farmland where the family cultivates beans, corn and rice. Bill Holmes said the app not only creates better information flow between farmers but also stores farm records for future use.

"Before, in the past, you'd rely on memory or some kind of spreadsheet that gets lost. An update doesn't happen. [PumpTrakr] effortlessly captures data for records for labor-intensive maintenance," Bill Holmes said, noting it is especially useful for government programs that require farm records. "It's good management practice to have that on hand. It makes it easier to gather it and to store it."

While the app is especially useful on larger farms with multiple employees, Nathan Holmes said PumpTrakr can be utilized by any farmer -- especially those on smaller farms who travel or work multiple jobs outside of the agriculture business.

PumpTrakr has been nearly two years in the making, Nathan Holmes said, but has grown into something that's completely changed how the family controls and maintains their irrigation system.

"I needed help managing what was going on at the whole farm, just so I could keep my head straight around it while I was trying to swim through the other details of farming."