Farm Atmosphere
As I traveled through the Yakima Valley on the way to a customer site, I looked out the window on tranquil farms, and I felt blessed to be traveling through the Valley on such a beautiful winter day.
Upon arriving at the customer’s farm, I was struck by the collegial atmosphere among the office coworkers as well as among the employees in the field and maintenance areas. I enjoyed meeting each crew boss and learning about the farm’s roadblocks and struggles. Getting ideas from people in the field allows us to adjust our products to best fit our customers’ needs.
I’m new to this business, so, after listening to our customers, I was reassured to know 2nd Sight has products that can help overcome time-tracking and piece work issues quickly and effectively. After all I saw and learned, I look forward to returning to the Yakima Valley soon.
Not so Marginal
Small discrepancies can be easily overlooked, but, when it comes to paying by the pound, they can result in lost profit. When growers pay and get paid by weight, accuracy is important.
In an extreme case, a 2nd Sight customer overseas experienced a weight discrepancy of 10% between the weight recorded by 2nd Sight’s FairPick scales and the weight recorded by its packing house. This customer shipped over 8,000,000 pounds of blueberries to the packing house but was told that the packing house scales recorded only 7,200,000 pounds. As a result of this “small discrepancy,” the customer requested that the packing house check its scales with a calibrated weight. The customer learned that the FairPicks had recorded the correct weight, and the packing house owed the customer payment for an additional 800,000 pounds of blueberries. Based on this alone, the customer’s 35 FairPicks paid for themselves in only six months!
2nd Sight’s FairPicks are NTEP certified and very reliable. While this extreme case is unlikely to occur in the U.S., using a FairPick can eliminate questions between growers and pickers about weight picked. In addition, this accurate weight data uploads to the 2nd Sight Customer Portal where growers have easy access to picker efficiency information, pay information, and much more.
Overtime
Our customers have expressed concern about Washington’s new overtime regulations. As of January 1, 2022, Washington State requires employers to pay overtime to all agricultural employees who work more than 55 hours in a week. Starting in 2023, that hourly maximum per week will drop to 48 hours, and, in 2024, to 40 hours per week.
2nd Sight has been stockpiling customer recommendations and ideas to create an overtime alert feature that will best suit our customers’ needs. Based on customer input, 2nd Sight has been diligently working to develop software and tools to let our customers know when an employee approaches the overtime threshold, so employers can avoid overtime expenses.