Skip to main content
RWA_Header

ONFARMING – AGRICULTURAL YIELD BASED ON TECHNOLOGY

An online portal for farmers and warehouses for RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria

A successful digital drive for the agricultural sector

What form does digital support take for farmers who wish to run their farms profitably? RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria approached iteratec with this question, keeping all options open. The result was an online portal for farmers.

The free online portal www.OnFarming.at is proving increasingly popular with its target audience: agricultural businesses in Austria. It sets an example across Europe in the agricultural sector because it manages to bridge the gap between all areas of farming – from arable farming and livestock rearing to viticulture – whilst offering a direct line to a customer adviser. The portal can be further developed as required and integrates countless third-party providers. RWA is thus creating unrivalled customer loyalty and excelling with this digital initiative in an industry steeped in tradition.

The development of a digital business model

How do farmers decide which crops to grow in which fields? Across Austria, there are warehouses located throughout the country which act as key business partners for farmers, supporting them with expertise, advice and a wide range of products.

RWA_Screen

They should provide farmers with even more reliable support by offering them fully personalised recommendations that

  • soil conditions
  • climatic conditions
  • varieties suited to the region

and much more.

This initial framework – and an accompanying business case for the Lagerhaus organisation’s new digital business model – was developed by a team from RWA, the umbrella organisation for the Lagerhaus cooperatives, and iteratec, comprising an interdisciplinary team of UI/UX designers, front-end and back-end developers, and product owners.

An online portal for the complete digitalisation of a farm

In the space of just one generation, the agricultural sector has undergone rapid change. As the industry shifts from many small-scale farms to larger, fully automated operations, farmers are increasingly taking on the role of technicians. In theory, an online portal can support them through this transition. To ensure that an online portal would, in practice, be exactly the right technical solution for the umbrella organisation, the team first developed a proof of concept – in other words, a stripped-down test version. It proved successful.

It took less than nine months from the initial contact to the go-live of the first version of the online portal www.OnFarming.at. Since then, the RWA and iteratec have been working together in a spirit of trust and are continuously expanding the portal with features requested by farmers. Here is an excerpt:

  • Integration of weather and geographical data to provide reliable historical and forecast data for each plot
  • Development and integration of an online shop (agricultural machinery shop)
  • Integration of a CMS for the presentation of editorially curated specialist agricultural articles
  • Implementation and integration of digital business processes (e.g. soil sample orders)
  • Information on seeds, crop protection and fertilisers
  • Integration of a machinery service (booking appointments with specialist workshops, fleet management)
  • Integration of IoT devices for tank level monitoring

OnFarming is regarded as unique in the Austrian agricultural sector and is enjoying growing popularity. Thanks to the portal, which can be used on both mobile devices and desktops, farmers often no longer need to make the trip to the warehouse. Furthermore, a wide range of information relating to the farm can be stored within the portal, including, for example, results from third-party providers, such as soil sample analyses from the laboratory.

The challenge we set ourselves was to create a supplementary digital service and, in doing so, add value to the traditional business relationship between farmers and warehouse co-operatives. With a clear vision but an open-ended approach, we developed a suitable business case through joint planning and development. The collaborative partnership in this complex environment proved particularly valuable.

Christoph Pesl, Head of the Agricultural Marketing Department, RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria

Innovative processes for ambitious projects

To achieve good and swift results, we also took an unconventional approach, for example by integrating the design process alongside the technical implementation. Trying out new things is a recurring theme throughout the project, and so we at iteratec are also in constant dialogue with many departments, specialist areas and the cooperatively organised warehouses, each with their own specific requirements. Together, we test new ideas and continue to develop the platform both functionally and technically. Furthermore, RWA also had the courage to break new ground in our collaboration, and so we work agilely in short two-week release cycles using SCRUM, and at times also Kanban.

Are you facing similar challenges?

If you have any queries or questions regarding a project for your company, please send us an enquiry and we will get in touch with you.