Farm Works has replaced its previous Trac Mate and Site Mate software modules with a new integrated software package called Farm Works Mobile. Mobile includes all the features from those two software packages for $500, a fraction of the $1,500 cost of buying a full set of Trac Mate and Site Mate modules.

“Keeping the different products straight was sometimes confusing,” said Brian Stark, Farm Works marketing manager. “We combined all those modules and also made it affordable for any grower or service provider.”

Farm Works Mobile bundles recordkeeping, scouting, soil sampling and the ability to drive single- and multiple-product variable-rate applications. The new software package operates on any field computer with Windows Mobile, XP, Vista, or 7.

There’s one new feature: When using field computers with built-in digital cameras for scouting, such as the Trimble Juno, Nomad or Yuma handhelds, images of weeds or pests can be captured and geo-referenced in one step. “Not only do you have a map of the problem area, but a (clickable) picture that is georeferenced to that point” when viewed on Farm Works desktop software.

Other new introductions from Farm Works include Farm Works View, a free software program designed to read and write data from popular farming devices. View software displays and prints yield maps, coverage maps, guidance paths and more. It can be upgraded to other Farm Works software for additional functionality.

Farm Works 2011, the latest version of the Farm Works office suite, also is available. Among new features, the 2011 update adds automatic display of roads and streets for any location in the world, an automated seed variety layer (including tracking split planting information), plus full support of formula-based variable-rate prescription maps. The update is available to owners of Farm Works office software through the $300 annual update service plan, which provides all software updates and phone support for 12 months.

Farm Works is a division of Trimble Navigation.