May 2024
DigiFlux is a national project developed by the Federal Office of Agriculture in Switzerland. It offers Swiss growers a simpler way to manage compliance while opening for collaboration with agtech teams.
Change is coming for Swiss Farmers:
In the wake of Switzerland’s evolving agricultural landscape, a change is coming to how farm teams will be expected to document and report their farming operations. To support the implementation of the 2021 parliamentary initiative, “Reducing the risk of pesticide use“, the Federal Office of Agriculture (FOAG) is preparing for farms to report crop applications to a central, digital system. State-level digital reporting is expected to be a requirement for plant protection product sales starting in 2026. One year later, in 2027, farms will be required to report where and when these products are used.
The changes in Switzerland are not isolated and reflect similar regulations being developed by the EU Commission.
With the increasing pressure to meet growing food production demands while minimizing environmental impact, Italian farmers are recognizing the need to modernize their farming operations. This has fueled a significant shift towards digitalization in the agricultural sector. Farmers are increasingly turning to innovative technologies to optimize their operations, enhance efficiency, and improve sustainability.
Welcome DigiFLUX
The project responsible for the new digital work processes on Swiss farms is called DigiFLUX. So what is DigiFLUX ? It’s a web based portal being developed by the FOAG in response to two initiatives:
Both initiatives focus on the reduction of pesticide use in Switzerland. DigiFLUX has been developed to simplify a future obligation to report the application of plant protection products as well as for the trade of nutrients.
Agree or disagree, the EU Commission is also taking steps to mandate reductions in pesticide and nitrogen usage across European farms. While changing reporting obligations for hardworking farmers is no easy task, the FOAG deserves credit for taking steps to be ahead of broader EU mandates.
The benefits of DigiFLUX for the farm:
The DigiFLUX system aspires to support farms with a secure, user-friendly digital solution for national reporting obligations. Here is what farms can expect from DigiFLUX:
- It’s Free – The application will be free to use
- Available Anywhere – Whether you prefer to work on a mobile, tablet or desktop computer; anywhere you have internet access, farms can fulfill their reporting obligation.
- Easy to Use– The application is being built with a modern user interface
- Once and Done – Farms can expect to record their fertilizer and spray applications in one system and have the ability to reuse or share this data as they need.
Choice of System – The DigiFLUX team is encouraging other industry solutions, such as farm management apps, to integrate with DigiFLUX. This creates a real choice for those who prefer to enter data in a private software system and assures the farm that necessary data is shared with DigiFLUX when approved accordingly.
Allowing farms to control how they report farm data is an important principle for successfully implementing a reporting obligation. In line with this, DigiFLUX is opening for public and private collaboration to offer the best solutions to the farm.
DigiFLUX meet Farmable
Farmable, a farm management app, pioneered by Norway’s largest fruit farm, has gained recognition across Europe for its user-friendly interface and effective compliance reporting. Today, more than 12,000 farms across Europe are using the digital platform, which allows producers to easily manage their operations and, most notably, simplify compliance reporting.
While there are bigger agriculture markets in Europe, the team at Farmable has their eyes on Switzerland. Why? In a word, DigiFLUX.
The proactive approach being taken by FOAG and the DigiFLUX project, gives teams like Farmable the possibility to customize its product for Swiss farms.
“Switzerland is an ideal market for agtech teams because it is taking proactive steps, communicating openly and encouraging collaboration. This is exactly how government teams should support their farms for technology adoption”, reflects Farmable CEO, Lars Petter Blikom.
Farmable's Commitment to Swiss Farmers
Here are 3 Initiatives happening right now by Farmable for Swiss Farms:
- January 2024, the Farmable app became available in German, French, and Italian
- May 2024, The team will launch an integration with “Meine Agrardatenfreigabe” in Agate, ensuring a seamless account setup for farmers across Switzerland. This will include approved data sources for field maps and a federally approved product list.
- Coming Soon – DigiFLUX Integration. An automatic connection to the national reporting tool will simplify the reporting obligation. The team aspires to be the first private application with a live integration with the new DigiFLUX tool.
Farmable has dedicated resources to ensure Swiss farms will get the best possible user experience through their product for compliance reporting. The platform is prioritizing integration with the DigiFLUX tool, guaranteeing Swiss farmers a simple, affordable, and user-friendly solution to comply with future reporting regulations.
Why Farmable?
With a free version of DigiFLUX coming to Swiss farms and many other farm management apps on the market, why should farms consider a tool like Farmable?
1. More than Compliance
With the new reporting obligations, farms will have to capture and report field data anyhow. Farmable will allow farms to comply with regulations automatically, saving valuable time.
But this data is worth a lot more than compliance reports.
Using a farm management app to capture this data means you have a tool that not only supports your compliance reporting but also your farming business decisions.
Farmable allows farm managers to easily get an overview of daily farm operations such as:
- What job is recommended to be done today?
- Where was a pest or disease spotted yesterday?
- GPS location of current work happening on the farm
- Do we have enough product inventory for upcoming work?
- What is the withholding period on a specific field?
- What was the production yield of a field for a given time period?
2. A Track Record with Swiss Farmers
Farmable has a track record with Swiss farms like Fruchthof Diethelm, near Siebnen. The farm owner and manager, Kilian Diethelm, shares his first impression of the Farmable app:
“I felt a huge relief. I could calculate and document the spraying work straight away.”
Farmable app offers GPS tracking, smart alerts, and easy-to-view reports for crop treatments in addition to a future integration with DigiFLUX, for verified compliance reporting.
3. Affordable and Transparent Pricing
FarmablePro is available for Swiss farms today for an annual cost of 99 EUR per farm, always with unlimited users and hectares. The DigiFLUX connection, when available, will cost 249 EUR. Bundled together, Swiss farms can benefit from a user-friendly farm management app with verified compliance reporting for 349 EUR per farm.
Not ready to invest? Farmable offers a freemium version of the tool for farms to try, with no fixed timeline. Users of the freemium tool can upgrade for more features, if and when they are ready.
4. A Track Record with Reporting Obligations
Farmable has a track record of successful collaboration projects for farm compliance. In March 2024, the Farmable team became the first farm management app to integrate with Spain’s federal farm reporting system, namely SIEX.
Farmable is already making the same level of commitment to Switzerland and fast-tracking development work to be ready to support Swiss farms with their compliance reporting.
Ready to Experience Farmable?
Farmable invites Swiss farmers to download the mobile app on Google Play or the App Store and explore the freemium tool before committing to the annual subscription. With a mission to minimize the compliance burden on farms, Farmable offers a user-friendly solution tailored to the unique needs of Swiss agriculture.
