Steve Johnson was glad he was using HarvestPay™ when the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division audited one of his crews in the field. Inspectors were in search of time entry records.

The crew leader pointed out the computer on his goat with the CitriTrack™ System. After following up with Johnson, and seeing the precise record keeping generated by CitriTrack, the federal agents were on their way. Johnson reports that everything was accounted for, and no fines were incurred.

New labor laws are making running a harvesting operation more challenging. “Things that can streamline a business and keep accurate records are definitely a benefit,” says Johnson. With new labor law penalties equaling up to $12,000 per employee, per week, CitriTrack™ with HarvestPay™ is a logical choice.

Like most customers, Steve Johnson was a little skeptical introducing this technology to his crewleader. However, after only a few days, the crewleader had the hang of it and Johnson says, “My crewleader doesn’t want to work without it now.”

Johnson was also concerned about the performance and reliability of the computer in the rough citrus harvesting environment. There were very few problems with the computer, and “GeoAg responded quickly, most of the time within an hour, if I ever did have any problems,” states Johnson. Johnson appreciates the ability to pick up his Nextel and have instant service. “It isn’t like I’m going to be on hold for hours like with my desktop PC.”

The price of the system was initially a barrier to purchasing the product. However, the time it has saved has helped make up for the initial cost of CitriTrack™. In addition, Johnson says that his company has “been able to secure jobs with the value added benefit of providing yield maps to our growers.” Johnson Harvesting is able to offer their customers cutting edge information about the grove’s production while also reducing their customer’s labor law exposure. “I’m planning on expanding with GeoAg Solutions this upcoming season.”

The HarvestPay™ component has been the main reason for CitriTrack's™ success with this harvester’s business. HarvestPay's™ streamlining ability has cut Johnson’s payroll processing time in half. It also means that he doesn’t have to spend “valuable time running from grove to grove collecting payroll sheets from his crewleaders.” Payroll information can be accessed directly through the HarvestPay™ website eliminating tedious data entry. The old way of handing out tokens, punchcards and keeping payroll sheets is becoming less convenient for Johnson and his crewleaders.

Johnson Harvesting is proud to be a family business. But make no mistake, Johnson Harvesting is an industry leader when it comes to making good use of current technology in their harvesting operations. Tools such as CitriTrack™ and HarvestPay™ give companies like Johnson Harvesting the ability to run more efficiently and keep input costs and wasteful fines to a minimum.

The value added service they can provide for their customers helps gives them the edge over their “larger” competitors.