Field Records

[Southpaw]

Does anyone know of a good but not complicated Field Record system? One that keeps track of inputs, varieties, yield, dates, seeding depth and etc.

[dave4441]

A good ol fashioned excel spreadsheet works for out operation. Everyone is given a copy with their field maps binder and have instructions on what they need to document daily.

At the end of the season or when there is a break, I get all the copies from each person and enter in the master spreadsheet.

In the binder that each farm member/hired man gets is a copy of this spreadsheet that shows land description, crops to be seeded, hail ins rates, seeding date, swath and harvest dates, spraying information etc. There is also copies of sections of an RM map with each property numbered and a master key. This field map book is great for NH3 trucks and the wives if they are trying to find us.

AgExpert makes a field manager software that will work too but the people must be familiar and comfortable in working with pocket PC's

[joedales]

FCC Field Manager Pro is the leading field recording system in Canada.

[URL="http://www.fccsoftware.ca/en/index.asp"]You can find more information on www.fccsoftware.ca Click Here.[/URL]

Or this link takes you to a new features form.

http://www.fccsoftware.ca/en/AboutUs/News/Releases/pdf/FieldManagerPRO2010_e.pdf

[joedales]

Sorry I answered before I read SaskFarmer99's comments.

Ideally everyone would program up their own customized spreadsheets to track the information that is relevant to their operations...

The key thing is to use a system to generate the information that helps you make better decisions.

The software and hardware (Laptops or handhelds) are relatively inexpensive...what is expensive is your time to learn how to use the tools and to capture the data when you are busy...

Good luck,

Joe

[Southpaw]

Thanks everyone. It looks like FCC's product is the only one I could find other than doing your own thing with an Excel spreadsheet.

[Lyndsey]

Hey SaskFarmer - Lyndsey here, the new editor of Grainews. I'd love to do a story on setting up this spreadsheet. Would you be interested in talking about it? Email me at lyndsey at fbcpublishing.com

[mbratrud]

Our company is Launching Field Records hotline for our clients. Members call in from whereever and whatever their doing and leave voice messages that are then entered into a database where the info can be accessed at any time.