Rural Missouri - March 2020 - 29

Left: Nathan Holmes created his PumpTrakr app in order to manage a far-flung network of
pumps, including those used for this crawdad pond. Below: With little experience in computer
programming, Nathan still managed to create Version 1 of the app in order to demonstrate the
concept before turning it over to app developer Codefi for the finishing touches.

because there's not enough hours in
the day."
Armed with the knowledge learned
from two college computer classes he
took and a book on coding, Nathan
created Version 1 of the app he now
calls PumpTrakr. He then turned his
efforts over to Cape Girardeau app
developer Codefi to apply the finishing touches.
The process sped up dramatically
when GoSEMO Fiber, the internet
company launched by SEMO Electric,
connected Nathan's shop with highspeed service. This allowed him to
work with the Codefi without traveling to Cape Girardeau.
The result is precision management of farm irrigation never before
possible. From his cell phone, Nathan
can see at a glance all aspects of his
far-flung wells. Push notifications
tell him which wells are running and
alert him to any problems.

Once set up, a pump that has an
issue can not only signal the problem,
it also can tell a farmer the battery
is dead and he or she might need
to bring jumper cables to the field.
Better yet, the app can send a list of
parts required to the nearest parts
store, which can dispatch a driver to
the farm with what is needed.
The same technology alerts when a
tank is running low and can quickly
schedule a fuel truck. Even a new
driver can find the pump, because
the app includes GPS coordinates for
each well.
The information gathered by the
app can be used to plan next year's
planting. For example, farmers using
the app can tell exactly how much it
cost to irrigate the rice crop or compare inputs on corn grown in sandy
soil versus that grown on gumbo.
Nathan says PumpTrakr has ended
the confusion that once plagued his

operation. "It's a passing of the baton
of information," he says. His helpers
used to end their day with a lengthy
"interrogation" on what had been
done. "They come in now and say,
'Nate, I'm going home. Everything I've
done is on PumpTrakr,' " Nathan says.
After months of testing on local
farms, the cloud-based technology is
now being offered to farmers who can
start with just the app or add hardware that greatly extends its capabilities. It works with diesel or electric-powered pumps. The entire package is designed for future upgrades
which Nathan is already planning.
"This platform can be applied to
more than one thing on the farm,"
he says. "It can be applied to a lot of
things farmers do on a daily basis."
For more information on PumpTrakr,
visit www.pumptrakr.com or call 573579-0335.
MARCH 2020 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP

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Rural Missouri - March 2020

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