“The spray history server module of the TIGER JILL Program allow us to check the validity of all growers’ applications against our own data bases,” says Eric Dekuiper, senior knowledge analyst for the Gerber Products Company of Fremont, MI. “We have many of our own defined limits and this program allows us to determine what material is being used and when, where, and even how it is applied.”

“Our battle cry is knowing what is on and around the produce we buy for our products and that includes having information about what pesticides are being applied,” says Todd DeKryger of the Gerber Products Company. “It really gets down to being able to track the product from, as we claim, the dirt to the jar.”

“We have also set up regional data entry sites at six locations throughout the United States – they are either a receiving station, a packinghouse or pesticide distributor, to collect the data for us,” DeKryger says. “Essentially, the grower hands them a paper copy of their spray records and they enter that information into the TIGER JILL Program for transfer to us.”

“We believe that the TIGER JILL software really lends itself to our goal of knowing pesticide use information literally down to the block level,” DeKryger says. “We do a lot of residue testing and with this program we can go back to a specific spray history to a specific block and tie the whole thing together. We can say that the product in this jar came from John Doe’s back 40 block of cling peaches on a specific day.”

“We were free of all organophosphate (OP) materials on the peaches we received from California last year,” DeKryger says. “It’s a push-pull type of situation-if we are going to close the door on OP’s, we want to open the door on other control measures such as mating disruption,” DeKryger says. “Last year in peaches, we relied heavily on mating disruption and the use of non-OP alternative sprays.”

“With the TIGER JILL Program we can input all the spray information telling us what materials were put on a particular crop,” says Tami Vassallo, safety coordinator for the Nunes Company. “We can get a report out quickly showing us when each spray job was done on a specific lot instead of having to look up each report individually.”

“One nice thing about this program is that it won’t let me write a recommendation that is above what is allowed for a particular material, ” says Kelly Morrow, a Crop Care Associates consultant. “If I enter all the data and the program says you can only put this much material on that crop, then when you get to that point it will let you know-it has those safety valves built in.”

“With the connectivity program, you can trade information so that if there are two or three people in our company working on one big account and writing different recommendations, we can update each other’s data,” Morrow says. “I can send them my records and they can send me their records – we can see what each other is doing and what is working for them.”

“I use the connectivity module to export the application recommendation to our customer so they don’t have to enter all the information by hand,” Morrow says. “Now we don’t have to duplicate all the paperwork.” Morrow says, “ You can print something out at the end of the year and the grower can look at it and say this program cost this much to complete.”

Galen Heitt a PCA "The best PCA recommendation program, It's very useful for keeping the previous history on property of material applied with cost information. I really like the program. It's simple and saves time."

Sam Bennet General Manager for Valley Warehouse
"Tiger Jill will be able to show what we did in the field, maybe we missed the timing on something. Using the program helps us review what has gone on in the past years. This kind of information was not easily summarized before."

"The biggest benefit to the state of California and the counties with this type of system is timely reporting," says AdaAnn Scott pesticide use reporting specialist with the DPR. "The people who are using the system may send in reports on a daily or weekly basis—it is so automated that they can do it off line at the end of the day." Scott says, "You are getting the data on pesticide usage right from the source—you are not going through multiple hands to process it, so data quality is a real key for us."

"The information that comes to the county is just one line of information—the permit number is on the line, the grower’s name is on the line, the acreage is on the line," Stanislaus County Ag Commissioner, Gordon Sweeney says, "We take all that information, compile it and then send it on to the state DPR."

"They have been more than helpful in changing things or correcting problems – they want their software to work correctly and they have been more than helpful in that regard," says Gordon Sweeney.

"When pest control advisors write recommendations, they need to know what is on the label, the correct application rates and the appropriate use for the product," David Lemos, head of pest management information services for Stanislaus Farm Supply, says. "We have not used the Program as a substitute for the judgment of the pest control advisor, but use it to help make a good advisor better," he adds.

"The Program has really helped us, for example, with the spring rains we have been having this year when we have to do a lot of fungicide applications," David Lemos says. "You are putting a lot of the same cautions down time after time, and even though it may be tedius, it is also very necessary – if you can automate that you can delegate the busy work to the computer and give the advisor more time for judgement issues."

"With the Program we can either generate a use report on paper and fax it or send in in the mail to the ag commissioner’s office, or we can send them electronically, in a paperless manner with a computer talking to a computer," says David Lemos.

"I am using it for keeping track of our pesticide usage and recording at the county level," Todd Berg, vineyard manager for Sutter Home Winery, says. " I am also using the program for internal purposes – for reports that I need to submit to the winery prior to the delivery of the fruit – we use it for all chemical usage on the Sutter Home acreage."

"You can generate some nice cost analysis reports with the program – you can look at your mildew program at the end of the year and find out what materials you were using and what you were spending to control it," Berg says. "Since ag chemicals are one of the more costly inputs we have in our farming operation, it is important to keep track of them."

"I think that being able to file the reports electronically will make my time a lot more efficient," says Berg. "The program has allowed us to keep accurate records of our pesticide use – you can track what materials you used and at what rates you applied them."

"All materials that are applied in agricultural situations need to be reported and we do it electronically with the Program, we don’t have to print them out anymore,"

Christine Gomes of Gomes Farm Air Service in Salinas says, "We have all the data bases to do with sites, the crops and the chemicals that are included inour coastal farming area with the Program. In our case we do aerial applications, so we don’t post anything until after the work is done – we input information on time and from that I get an invoice to send to the grower and from that I get a use report that is sent to the county."

"For instance, we can get all our costs per helicopter," Gomes says. "The program is flexible enough where you are able to get into it and modify certain keys to represent something you want."

Gomes says, "We can give them (customers) a whole year’s diary – take a crop like green onions or head lettuce, we can go back and give them a report showing them exactly how much of a certain chemical they used, the total cost of all their aerial applications and average cost per acre for those applications."

Jesse Sanchez, a manager with R.A. Sano Farms in Firebaugh, says, "With the Program, we have a real accurate cost of what we are doing in every crop. I can also send the notice of intent and the monthly pesticide use reports to the ag commissioner’s office."

"We have been using the Program for about three years – it can accommodate all our ranches here with ease," says Dr.Mohamed Younes, a manager with Dole Fresh Fruit in Bakersfield.

"They (pest control advisors) write recommendations for people who apply the materials and I enter that information into the computer using the program." Younes says. "At the end of the month, I spin out a report for every site, and we have several sites."

"Whatever you want to track with the program you can do – if you want to see what materials you used on a piece of ground for the past year, you can just ask for that information and it will give you the history for that site," Younes says. "You can do it by crop, by site, by material – it’s a very handy tool for us."

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