Farmers Weekly has joined forces with Swedish tech firm Farmo to launch a new app designed to reduce paperwork, improve job management and simplify agreements between contractors and farmers.

Contractors can list their service offerings for customers in the local area, allowing farmers to request quotes for specific work without the hassle of phoning around.

The arrangements for prospective operations can then be shared between the two parties via the app.

Once agreed, job details, including required activities, location, work area and other key information can be viewed by the farmer, contractor and operator, and it is automatically loaded into a business calendar.

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It’s possible to track the job via the operator’s smartphone GPS, allowing managers to monitor progress, time taken, and distance travelled.

Granular detail is available too, with the app able to break that down into five categories – productive work, downtime, waiting, transport and “paused”.

This should help give a clearer view of output, efficiency and cost.

The app works even when offline, so job data can be recorded and stored when phone reception is sparse.

Upon completion of the task, operators can upload the final details, including engine hours and fuel consumption, to form an invoice that can be sent straight from the tractor cab.

Other features include a paperless timesheet that allows employees to directly input work hours, and a machinery management system that keeps a maintenance log for each piece of equipment.

The staff management, service advertising and machinery maintenance elements of the system are free to use, with a small transaction fee charged for job bookings.

The app also makes it easy for farmers to hire out equipment to provide an extra income stream at quieter times of the year.

Register your interest for early access at fwi.co.uk/farmo.