A former corporate software developer turned farmer found it difficult to leave technology behind so he brought it with him to his 150-acre plot between Airdrie and Irricana.
Holger Heckel recently created an iPhone checklist application that allows people to share pertinent information in real time.
Heckel came up with the idea for the avera.crosscheck when his neighbour asked him to do chores around his land while he was on vacation.
“When I was going through the handwritten checklist, I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we had this in electronic form?’” he said.
“I ship horses to Europe and this app simplifies the process. I can go through and show that a horse has been quarantined, has its health certificate and was vaccinated, take pictures of the horse, send documents, make notes and deadlines and send that all to the client immediately. Of course, we have fax and email but you never know if they received it. This just simplifies everything.”
The app allows the buyer to see the steps in real time, receive a full report and view full documents and photos.
He said although he uses the checklist for shipping horses, it is very versatile.
“If a husband is in town and the wife needs something, she can send him a list and he can check it off as he gets the items,” he said.
“It can be as simple as that or it can be broadened to uses such as oil and gas to make sure certain procedures are followed. I think it is going to be very popular because it is so versatile. It is all about making sure you have everything you need.”
Although the simple versions of the app are free, the more complex versions that can read temperatures and locations cost 99 cents. Heckel said the process of developing the app with Apple was simple.
Heckel moved to Canada from Germany in 1999 and decided to change his lifestyle completely when he made a career shift from software development to farming.
“Sometimes life is too complicated,” said the 48-year-old.
“I wanted to get back to the simple values my grandparents taught me and grow something. At the end of the year, you get something that is tangible but I found it difficult to let technology go.”
Heckel’s app went worldwide last week and already has hundreds of users globally. He said he is not surprised because farmers are already using iPhones and Blackberries for many reasons such as real-time weather updates and commodity prices.
“It is only a matter of time before an iPhone or a Blackberry is in every farmers’ hands and is seen as the mobile office,” he added.
To download the app, visit the AppStore and register at http://crosscheck.avera.ca
