Croft Technology, Inc., an agribusiness workforce platform backed by Purdue University DIAL Ventures and High Alpha Innovation, has successfully onboarded its first H-2A workers in Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, and Indiana. The platform is set to transform labor-intensive farming in 2023 by eliminating manual H-2A processes and paperwork, thereby improving worker success and increasing profitability across American farms.
Labor costs currently consume up to 40% of a specialty crop farm's operating budget, which shows no signs of decreasing. In addition, more than 12,000 U.S. farms today depend on the H-2A visa program to fill labor shortages. Croft Technology has digitized worker data and automated labor management workflows, including onboarding steps, in response to this issue. This reduces back-office expenses, quicker worker integration, and more precise record-keeping for automated form submissions and audits.
Croft's innovation simplifies the H-2A process, yielding time, money, and hassle savings for farms, H-2A agents, recruiters, and workers.
“Croft's subscription-based online software is straightforward and user-friendly for our workers and staff. The days of waiting to fill out forms and lines of workers are over,” said Courtney Hamilton Griffin, Director of Operational Support Southern Valley Fruit & Vegetable, Inc.
Looking forward, Croft plans to introduce a feature that will assist workers in finding jobs that maximize their success. The anticipated increase in productivity will substantially impact worker satisfaction, which translates into profitability. This allows farmers to achieve more with fewer resources.
“Digitally facilitating the collaboration of H-2A farms and their partners to streamline labor processes is just the beginning. After workers onboard in Croft, we can set them up for success with the right jobs and crews,” said Scott Prince, CEO of Croft. “Croft is helping growers and their partners reach their profit margin goals.”
Croft's groundbreaking platform has vast potential impacts on the agricultural ecosystem. Employers, H-2A agents, recruiters, and workers will experience the benefits of digital collaboration for the first time, leading to more efficient and cost-effective hiring workflows. In the long run, digitization will equip farmers with actionable business intelligence, giving them real-time data and insights and making quick strategic decisions about their operations.
Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash
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