About Patchwork
Patchwork was founded in 1998 By Richard Price and Nick Walters to develop the Precision Farming concepts initiated during their work together at Chaviot Sprayers.
The name Patchwork was based on the concept of precision farming at that time which saw fields as a series of areas of different properties, whether it was soil type, yield potential or nutrient status. At that time there were many competing methods of displaying and using this information and the original Patchwork project was to produce universal software. Patchwork Office was produced to process this information in same way that a Patchwork quilt combines different materials.
During the first few years of trading period Patchwork operated as a software developer for Raven, AGCO, Dalgety and others. Patchwork Office was developed as a powerful PC mapping software which was able to deal with data from multiple sources such as different types of yield and image data. Patchwork produced the original Variable Rate planning software for Raven multi product controllers. These products were sold to Precision Farming service providers and enthusiasts.
In 2002 Patchwork decided to enter the end - user market for GPS equipment and introduced the BlackBox. BlackBox derived its name from the journey recorder used in planes and was intended to help farmers record keeping by doing the same task on tractors. In order to produce a cost effective product Patchwork pioneered the use of low cost pda computers in conjunction with a specially designed ruggedised casing. In 2003 Blackbox was further developed to include a low cost BBGuide GPS guidance system Leading to an explosion of interest in these devices due to low cost and ease of use.
More recent developments include a network of enthusiastic dealers in UK and Ireland and sales agreements with industry partners such as SOYL, Farmade and others.
In 2006 Patchwork became retail distrbutor for the Raven range of guidance products for the UK and Ireland with the release of the successful Envizio guidance systems with 3D screen and last-pass guidance.
In 2007 Patchwork moved to new premises at Llancayo Court, occupying a spacious 2 storey building in the heart of fertile Usk Valley farming country.
In 2008, following significant R&D efforts Patchwork release 3 major new products.
- WebTrack is our all new internet based work recording and display system.
- BlackBox Cruizer is the most significant development since the original BlackBox
- Links have been developed with Software partners to allow spraying plans and other operations to be directly recorded using the BlackBox device and sent back to your farm management system.