Getting the Dirt on Dirt Agriculturist uses computer programming skills to create farming software

Like many inventions, Mike White’s new computer software for farmers was borne out of necessity.

In 2002, White, a well-known agriculturist who has lived in Aroostook County for about 40 years, was overseeing a “few thousand-acre” potato operation in Easton and needed detailed information about the crops and fields on a daily basis.

A self-described computer programmer, White threw together a system based on spreadsheets so he could easily view the data he needed. One day while ordering supplies at Maine Potato Growers, a crop services center, he pulled out his notebook of information and an employee commented that White should “do something to develop that as software for farmers.”

The software developer said he looked to see what was already on the market but found nothing “efficient, effective or comparable to what I had already,” so he decided to develop and refine his program.

That, White said, was the humble beginnings of Dr. Dirt.

Working hand-in-hand with Maine Potato Growers on the project, White said he created a program that goes beyond a personal agronomist or soil specialist: It compiles statistical information on crops, makes soil recommendations, suggests custom fertilizer blendings and pesticide mixtures for fields, and offers crop storage advice. It also helps farmers trace their crop from seed to storage and has an import-export feature so that if farmers trade fields, one farmer can put the field’s information on a disk and give it to the other farmer.

“All farmers need a planning, record keeping and traceability tool,” White said in a recent interview. “There are any number of methods farmers can use to do this, like a pencil and paper. The advantage the computer program has is that it’s about as easy to record as a pencil and paper but it’s easier to sort through all the data.”

For example, explained White’s son and business partner, Terry White, the program separates soil management from crop management.

“In order to grow a crop, two things need to happen,” he said. “You need to get the soil prepared. Then, when you plant the crop, that crop needs certain nutrients. Dr. Dirt recommends per field and per crop the fertilizers and nutrients you need to put in the ground before and after planting.”

Most farmers do not have the time or energy to gather the soil pH levels and past crop yields per field and then run the calculations to make custom fertilizer blends, he said; instead, most use separate fertilizers on different fields. But in White’s software, the results of soil sample tests are simply entered into the data stream.

Terry White said that using separate fertilizers is overkill. “The software says what blends will work better for your fields and crops. So instead of five piles of fertilizer and saying, ‘This goes on that field and that goes on this field,’ this allows for one custom fertilizer on all the fields.”

Mike White said that in some cases, the software has saved farmers 30 percent in fertilizer costs without reducing the crop yield.

The Whites, who own White Information Technology Services LLC, put Dr. Dirt on the market this spring after three years of testing. A handful of local farmers tested the software – either in its entirety or individual modules or pieces – on about 15,000 acres of farmland. For those willing to make the jump from talking with a local agronomist to using the new technology, the business partners said response has been very positive.

“I think it’s a very good product. It’s helped me in managing my farms and soils,” said Bruce Flewelling, who runs Flewelling Farms Inc. in Easton with his father, Gerald.

Flewelling began using the program when Maine Potato Growers officials introduced it to him during the software’s testing phase.

“Trying to keep all the balls in the air is a big problem,” Flewelling said. “I have 34 farms I manage. It’s hard to remember everything.”

Flewelling said the Dr. Dirt software enables him to manage all the farms and crops more efficiently.

“For me, it didn’t work to keep it [farm information] on a notebook here and a notebook there,” he said. “This puts the information in one place and enables you to make the right decisions.”

Though the program has been used only in Aroostook County, the Whites say it will work for any farm across the United States. They are hoping to make inroads with the product throughout the state and country – they’re in initial talks with a major software company, though they won’t say which one – and have sent demos to Canada and Germany.

“Being utopian, we’re hoping to put the best thing out there on the market,” Mike White said. “We’d be happy having 40 to 50 percent of farmers locally using a system like this in the next four to five years.”

There is no set price for the software, which has leasing and purchasing options and is set up on a sliding scale so farmers with small operations have equal access to it, Terry White said.

Farmers can lease the full system, which includes field and farm maps, for 83 cents per acre per year or a long-term lease of $3 per acre. For the full system without maps, the Whites charge about $499 for the software, while the most basic module – a tracking system for crops – costs about $100.

The business partners believe the program is well worth the cost, especially in light of food safety and product traceability issues coming to the forefront in the agricultural industry. Companies such as McCain’s, Terry White said, want to know all the details of a particular crop.

“They want to know basically down to the potato what you did to grow that potato,” he said.

The men foresee such legislation at the state and federal level and ultimately farmers moving in a similar direction.

“People are saying, ‘We want to know what was put on this potato.’ With that on the horizon, I think we’re three to five years ahead of the curve in getting this product developed,” Terry White said. “We’re well situated on the marketplace so if and when it [these issues] becomes legislated, hopefully, Dr. Dirt will be … a common name.”