A digital platform designed to help producers is adding another feather to its cap with a partnership with the Alberta’s Agriculture Financial Services Corp. to provide advice on insurance matters.
Robert Saik, chief executive officer of AGvisorPro, said the partnership with AFSC is the latest for the company’s mobile app, which provides a range of services for producers.
“The mission that we are on is to create a channel where farmers seeking agricultural advice can quickly connect with experts,” he said.
Users of the app can post questions anonymously, but which are geo-located to provide area-specific responses, so that they can receive answers from a large range of subject-matter experts.
Read Also
Farming Smarter receives financial boost from Alberta government for potato research
Farming Smarter near Lethbridge got a boost to its research equipment, thanks to the Alberta government’s increase in funding for research associations.
That applies to insurance, whether it’s private or public, Saik said.
“The real beauty of AFSC coming on board is if a farmer in Alberta asks a question about insurance, the AFSC technical reps on the platform can see the question coming in and they can respond immediately,” he said.
That includes sending images, written messages as well as either an audio or video chat within the app.
“So, no email, no Zoom, no texts, no Facetime, everything, all the connections are inside the app,” said Saik. “For AFSC, it creates a real good way for them to respond instantaneously to farmers interested in insurance and the AFSC people don’t have to give out their personal cellphone numbers and the farmer doesn’t need to go through the 1-800 system.”
The app is free to download with companies paying to be on the AGvisorPro service, said Saik, with information available on subjects including spraying, ranching and equipment.
“We have over 300 experts on the platform already,” he said. “We’re in early stages, we’re just building but companies like AFSC and Manitoba Agriculture, Saskatchewan Agriculture are on the platform. This is a way for farmers to connect really fast with those representatives in those organizations that can answer a question now.”
Saik said the app allows producers to connect with experts they didn’t know existed and provides the resources to make good decisions on any changes an operation may be considering.
“We’ve created a trusted channel. We vet our experts, we look at their designations, work experience and education and all of the profiles are listed,” he said. “Because the questions are posted anonymously, nobody gets gaslit.”
