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Innov8.ag Launches HarvestReplay No-Risk Pilot Program to Help Growers Survive Farm Cost Crisis

U.S. farm analysts calling current cost conditions the worst since the 1980s farm crisis
Available immediately for specialty crop growers, including blueberries, cherries and apple growers

Walla Walla, Wash. — May 21, 2026 — Innov8.ag today opened applications for a 15-slot paid pilot of HarvestReplay™, its operational intelligence platform for specialty crop growers, backed by a two-times savings guarantee. If participating farms don't identify at least $20,000 in operational savings within a year of activation, Innov8.ag will refund the $10,000 pilot fee in full.

Innov8.ag estimates that farms using HarvestReplay will find annual savings of $25,000 to $100,000 for small-scale growers, $100,000 to $250,000 for medium-scale growers, and $750,000 or more for large-scale growers.

The pilot program was launched in response to the dire situation U.S. farmers, especially specialty crop growers, are currently experiencing, said Steve Mantle, Innov8.ag founder and CEO.

"Growers are in survival mode. Costs are climbing faster than they can recover, and every day we're hearing from operations running out of room to absorb it. They don't have the luxury of experimenting with new technology," Mantle said. "That's why we're offering the pilot program — to take their risk off the table and deliver real savings, quickly, when growers need it most."

An April 2026 nationwide survey of 5,700 farmers found 70% cannot afford the fertilizer they need this season, with diesel up 46% and urea up 47% in a single month. Specialty crop growers are facing the shock of accelerating input costs on top of a massive disconnect between rising labor expenses and market prices. In just the past decade, Washington tree fruit labor costs rose 127% while grower revenue rose just 22%, according to a Northwest Horticultural Council analysis.

An apple grower's early result

Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OSF), a vertically integrated Washington state apple grower that started using HarvestReplay shortly after it was released, has already identified substantial operational savings within weeks of implementation.

"We've invested in soil testing, labor management, packout and sensing platforms for years. What we haven't had was anything connecting those puzzle pieces into a single clear picture. The pilot was labor-focused, but once HarvestReplay started doing that across all our data, expanding it was an easy call. In this market, it's imperative to make better use of what you already have."

— Joel Carter, Orchard Operations Manager, Okanagan Specialty Fruits

Labor-first, expandable as growers see results

The HarvestReplay paid pilot program focuses on labor, the area where most growers say their pain is sharpest and the room for fast operational gains is clearest. However, participants can choose to expand their HarvestReplay capabilities beyond their labor management to other areas where significant financial savings and higher price premiums can be found, such as irrigation optimization, input management, harvest logistics, pack-shed efficiencies and crop quality.

For the pilot program, onboarding can be completed in about 30 minutes using a farm's existing labor data exports. Participating farms will begin receiving daily insights within a week of activation, Mantle said.

How HarvestReplay Works For Growers — Delivered Via AI-Generated Audio Briefings

Already deployed on West Coast blueberry, cherry and apple farms, HarvestReplay works by ingesting data exports from a farm's own labor management and harvest-tracking systems and layers in on-farm and off-farm data sources such as regional weather networks, on-farm weather and soil sensors, on-farm crop mapping, industry fruit ripening research and a farm's own historical crop performance data.

Insights are delivered via daily audio briefings tailored to key roles on the farm — for example, crew lead, farm owner, and farm CFO — and available in multiple languages. That structure is intended to make the service easy to use inside the operation's existing workflow, rather than forcing teams to change how they already work under pressure.

The result is a unified view of crew logistics, cost per unit and block-level performance, informed by historical trends and actionable changes a grower can put to work immediately.

"HarvestReplay pulled six years of my farm's history into one place, revealing trends across hundreds of acres. Now I can see which blocks are in decline, right-size my labor for each field, and decide whether to rehabilitate or rip out underperforming acres with a lot more confidence."

— Ellie Norris, owner and CEO, Norris Blueberry Farms (Oregon)

HarvestReplay insights can be as simple as recommending moving where a harvest scale station is placed to maximize picking versus walking time, or adjusting crew start times based on changing weather conditions to protect fresh product quality and capture high-value price premiums, Mantle said.

"HarvestReplay plugs a farm's 'leaky bucket' — those small, everyday issues that quietly drain profitability or fail to capture premiums, but that can be solved with simple operational changes," Mantle said. "It's not a big new thing solution, it's an optimize what you've already got solution, meeting growers where they are and working with the data and systems they've already invested in. Especially in today's high-cost environment, it's remarkable how quickly those savings add up once you can identify the leaks and fix them."

What pilot participants receive

• Rapid onboarding, with setup typically completed in about 30 minutes using existing data exports from leading labor management and harvest-tracking systems.
• First insights within one week of onboarding.
• A labor-first pilot structure that focuses on the most immediate operational pain point.
• A $20,000 savings guarantee. If the operation does not identify at least $20,000 in quantifiable savings during the pilot period, Innov8.ag will refund the pilot fee in full.

Because only 15 pilot slots are available, Innov8.ag is encouraging interested operations to apply immediately.

For more information or to lock in a HarvestReplay pilot slot, visit innov8.ag/harvestreplay or contact [email protected].

About Innov8.ag

Founded in 2019, Innov8.ag is transforming the future of data-informed farming and food production by delivering actionable solutions that turn farm and supply-chain data into profit-generating intelligence across the agricultural value chain, from the field to the grocery shelf. The company is strongly committed to data transparency and grower trust in every solution it delivers. To learn more, visit www.innov8.ag.

Digital Assets

HarvestReplay media kit — photos and promotional video (Google Drive)