Nathan Holmes farms with his dad near Oran in Agri-Ready Designated Scott County. Like other farmers growing rice, corn and beans in southeast Missouri, the Holmes farm realized that too much valuable time was being lost managing irrigation. Nathan explored available management tools, but when none of them solved the real issue, he decided to personally invest in an innovative solution. He dusted off his one year of college education in computer programming to create his own app: PumpTrakr.

Nathan development of PumpTrakr gained traction when he participated in the American Farm Bureau’s Ag Innovation Challenge. The Challenge is - a national business competition exclusively for entrepreneurs developing innovative solutions which address challenges facing America’s farmers. Nathan credits the Challenge for giving him an opportunity to look at his app’s development from different perspectives, target exactly what he was building and focus on what he needed and wanted the app to do. Farmers using aim to save time, water and fuel. Nathan says that farmers know how to do those things, but the real issue is the higher level of labor management such processes take; however, PumpTrakr offers the solution.

Nathan said he is excited about working with local technology experts who are helping him to deploy a product to all farmers that is accessible, economical and rugged enough for agriculture’s conditions. Nathan’s innovative PumpTrakr system was designed to eliminate communication glitches and barriers on farming operations that cost farmers valuable resources each growing season.

“PumpTrakr is just as effective for a Louisiana farmer growing sugar as it is for a Missouri farmer growing rice,” Nathan said. “As a manager (using PumpTrakr), I have confidence that what I need to happen on our farm is getting done.”

Nathan credits PumpTrakr’s time and labor saving for more time to spend enjoying farm life with his wife and three kids.

“If PumpTrakr helps farmers get home to their families, then we have done what we meant to do,” Nathan said.

For more information, check out Nathan’s “why” for PumpTrakr at https://youtu.be/PiZsG3dYvGU and follow along with PumpTrakr on social media at https://www.facebook.com/PumpTrakr.

Nathan was also recently featured on the AgDaily podcast; listen here Global Ag Network | Tuesday March 1, 2022: #TechTuesday with PumpTrakr .