Proof in Every Pass - Digital Records for Contract Spraying
Challenge
Murray Cridge runs Windwhistle Spraying, a contract spraying operation, on New Zealand's Canterbury plains. Murray's season involves spraying crop protection products across a wide range of crops, fields, and client farms, often under tight timing and weather constraints. Managing his volume of work using paper diaries and printed recommendations created growing pressure. Records were difficult to store, retrieve, and verify, particularly when questions arose after an application. As compliance expectations increased and clients required clearer proof of work, Murray needed a better way to manage spray records that reduced admin burden while protecting both his business and his relationships with growers.
Solution
Murray adopted Agworld as the central system for managing spray recommendations, application records, and compliance information. Agronomy recommendations now arrive digitally through the platform, providing clear instructions before any spraying begins. Murray records completed applications directly into Agworld, capturing details such as timing, weather conditions, and products used. By replacing paper diaries with a digital workflow, Windwhistle Spraying now operates from a single, reliable source of truth for every job completed.
Result
Using Agworld has brought clarity, consistency, and confidence to Windwhistle Spraying's operation. Spray records are complete, tidy, and instantly accessible when needed. The system reduces the risk of misapplication, supports compliance requirements, and provides clear proof of work for clients. Most importantly, Agworld removes guesswork during busy periods, allowing Murray to focus on accurate spraying rather than paperwork.
Windwhistle Spraying
Location:Canterbury, NZ
Crops covered:25+
Equipment:Mercedes 4x4 truck with Croplands sprayer
A contract spraying business servicing the Canterbury Plains
Windwhistle Spraying is based on the New Zealand Canterbury plains, and services a broad range of cropping clients across the region. Murray Cridge established the business in 2020 after working as a stock manager on a large Central Canterbury property. His previous role involved managing livestock alongside a substantial cropping program, giving him a strong understanding of how important timely and accurate spraying is within wider farm systems - especially on the Canterbury plains. Says Murray: “Our peak period is mid-September through to the end of January but whether you can spray or not obviously depends on weather conditions, so we sometimes have periods where we can't spray at all followed by periods where I'm extremely busy.”
When Murray moved into contract spraying, his motivation was driven by independence and the opportunity to provide a reliable service to farmers who need consistency they can trust. From the outset, Windwhistle Spraying has focused on delivering accurate applications while supporting growers with clear communication and dependable follow-through.
Windwhistle Spraying works across a wide range of crops, from cereals and forage brassicas to ryegrass seed and other specialist plantings. The diversity of crops adds complexity, particularly when moving between different clients and field requirements. Murray explains that, while no individual crop is especially challenging on its own, “The real complexity comes from managing many different jobs across multiple locations.” Accuracy becomes critical when switching between products, rates, and fields, especially during peak periods when spraying demand is constant, and days are long.
Leaving paper records behind
Before adopting Agworld, Murray relied on a traditional paper-based system. Spray diaries, printed recommendations, and folders of documents formed a long paper trail that was difficult to manage over time. While this system technically met record-keeping requirements, it created inefficiencies. Locating historical records, confirming what had been applied to a specific field, or responding to client questions often meant searching through lots of paperwork. As the business grew, this approach became unsustainable.
Murray got introduced to Agworld through an agronomist who was already using the platform. What stood out immediately was the systems functionality and ease of use, particularly for a contractor working alone. Unlike other options he explored, Agworld brings together spray recommendations, safety data sheets, chemical labels, and record-keeping in one place. Having all this information accessible through a single app means Murray can manage jobs efficiently without juggling multiple systems.
For an owner-operator, ease of use is of course essential. Murray did not require any formal training to get started, instead found the system intuitive enough to integrate quickly into his day-to-day workflow.
How spray jobs flow through Agworld
Today, most of Windwhistle Spraying's work comes through agronomists using Agworld. Recommendations are created digitally and assigned to Murray for spraying. Once completed, Murray records the application in the system, and the information can be shared with growers as a record of what was applied, when, and where. This process creates transparency for all parties. Growers receive accurate records without needing to manage the platform themselves, and Murray retains a complete digital history of every job completed.
One of the most valuable aspects of Agworld for Murray is having all spray information recorded and stored in a consistent format. Details such as application timing, weather conditions, wind speed, humidity, and products used are captured for every job. This level of detail supports compliance requirements and provides protection if questions arise later. Murray adds” If there are ever any situations involving spray drift or crop damage concerns, having clear records removes uncertainty and helps establish exactly what occurred.”
Murray continues: “ We've had a couple of cases where farmers had a failed crop and they came back to me and asked whether I had applied something wrong on the crop perhaps. Because of Agworld we were able to go back through the records and actually found that there was a residual chemical applied in a prior season that was the actual root-cause. So the crop came up and was able to grow for a little bit, but it just wasn't able to grow through residual chemical; Agworld helped me pinpoint this exact issue.
Murray: “Having my records on Agworld also helps protect my long-term client relationships; instead of getting into a ‘you did / I didn't conversation, I can show the facts. In one instance I could show a grower exactly which chemicals had been through my spray rig 10 fields back before I sprayed the field in question, which were all on his farm as well, and he was comfortable with what had happened; so it takes the guesswork out of the whole conversation.”
Murray concludes with: “Since I've started to use Agworld it has really become an important tool for me to help manage my spray activities. Agworld keeps things crystal-clear for me, even when an event occurred 12 months ago, and it gives me the ability to quickly find any information I might need. And, most importantly for me, with Agworld it takes me less time to create my spray records - so I can focus on what I do best: helping my clients grow their crops.”cd
Glen Keeley, together with brother Jason and their parents, farms 2270 acres across two separate blocks in Canterbury, combining a diverse cropping rotation with lamb finishing and dairy cow grazing. With such a diverse operation, Glen needed a clear system to stay organised across multiple agronomists, staff and field operations. As irrigation expanded and cropping intensified, so did the complexity of chemical programmes, nutrient management and compliance requirements. Paper notes and memory alone could not keep up with the demands of traceability, record keeping and profitable decision making for this scaling operation.
Roper & Son is a second-generation, family-owned cropping and processing business operating across 280 hectares on the Canterbury plains. Growing over 19 different crops, they manage a complex rotation across multiple blocks and contract operations. With multiple agronomists, contractors, and audits to coordinate, paper-based tracking was no longer efficient. Maintaining chemical traceability for NZ GAP audits, managing multiple suppliers, and aligning staff and contractors on recommendations required a single, transparent system to manage all field operations and input records.
