On-Farm Record Keeping

If it’s not measuresit’s not managed

ACORN 2016Ironwood Organics

Historical Look Back• Starts with sharing memories and methods• History is based on it, it is our ‘knowledge

base’• All living things carry a ‘memory’ of the

past• Human records represent collective

learning:– first in oral tradition, then mnemonics, then art, epic

poems, written texts, and wiki’s

Why Keep Records• Compliance• Financial• Cost of production• Traceability• Too much to remember• Long time frames• Knowledge capital of the farm• Form the basis for analysis and management

A management question• Ultimately it is about management• If it’s not measured, it’s not managed• The success of management is tied to

success of measurement• But if your not going to manage, why

measure – just another overhead• Move towards organizational maturity• If it didn’t happen twice,

it didn’t really happenAssess

Change / Modify

Measure

Types of Records• Assets / Inventory• Activities• Financial• Spatial / Maps• Certification /Accreditation / Memberships • Observations• Contacts• Breeding (plant / animal)…….

Record Keeping: All-in

• If you’re going to choose to record something, make it complete and accurate.

• Better to have less data that is relevant, accurate and complete than more data that is inaccurate and incomplete.

• Bad data results in bad decisions

What is appropriate data• Mandatory recording keeps you in compliance• Optional record keeping is based on your

questions• Incomplete or inaccurate records can be very

costly• Work backwards from your questions

– What are my questions?– What do I need to answer that question over what

time period?– Where can I get that data from?– What do I need to record?

Possible questions• Which crops take the most man hours, tractor hours?• What equipment isn’t being used to its potential?• What is costing me too much to maintain?• Is preventative maintenance paying off?• Which implement is being used the most – replace for a

‘better one’?• What is the crop history for a certain field?• What is the grow history for a certain crop?• What is the max/min/mean rainfall for the last 5 years?• Which crops were most profitable from a labour

perspective?• Which crop varieties performed best in a drought year?

Moving from Lists to Insights• Basic level is a series of lists or inventories

– List of equipment– List of fields– List of crops for the year– List of field activities

• Linking lists provide a ‘view’ from a different perspective

• Stand on the ‘entity’ and look at the ‘attributes’

Entities and Attributes• Ones person’s entity is another person’s

attributes.• The same ‘thing’ can mean something

different to different people.• How do we model the vast array of ‘things’

on a farm operation, and the relationship between and among those things, over time?

Entity Relationship Diagram• List the entities ( person, place, things)• Lists of attributed that describe each entity• List the relationships between those entities

• Each entity has a unique number or key– Serial number– Employee number– Lot number– Field number– Variety Name

Data Model

Data Model with Attributes

How much fuel did it take to grow that crop?

1122

33

44

55

Mapping

• Most events have a space and a time• Spatial data (where) can be characterized

as points, lines or polygons• Points have a location ( e.g. well head)• Lines have bearing and distance ( e.g.

fence line)• Polygons have perimeters and areas (e.g.

field or green house)

1st record of the farm

• 1867 Survey• 1 building• Owner: Mrs Johnson• A river headwater

W4 14.6

E2 7W2 11.5

E1 5

W5 7.5

W1 7.3

E5 6.5

E4 6.5

E3 6.3

W7 4

W6 4

WO 74.5

W3 3.6

E3H 1.8

GF 1

W0 1.1

SBC 4.1 SBE 3.6

SBW 3.7

E4H 0.2

W3O 0

BA 0

0 70 140 210 28035Meters ³1 centimeter = 50 meters

W4 14.6

E2 7W2 11.5

E1 5

W5 7.5

W1 7.3

E5 6.5

E4 6.5

E3 6.3

W7 4

W6 4

WO 74.5

W3 3.6

E3H 1.8

GF 1

W0 1.1

SBC 4.1 SBE 3.6

SBW 3.7

E4H 0.2

W3O 0

BA 0

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E211E210

E209E207

E206E205E204E203

E201E312

E311E310E309

E308

E307

E306

E305E304

E303

E302

E301

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E410E409

E408E407E406

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E402E401E512

E511E510E509

E508

E507E506E505

E504E503

E501W702

W701

W609

W608W607

W606

W605

W604W603W602W601

W515 W514W513

W512

W510W509W508 W507

W506W505W504W503W502

W501

W405

W409W408

W402

W401

W304

W303W302

W201

W4 14.6

E2 7W2 11.5

E1 5

W5 7.5

W1 7.3

E5 6.5

E4 6.5

E3 6.3

W7 4

W6 4

WO 74.5

W3 3.6

E3H 1.8

GF 1

W0 1.1

SBC 4.1 SBE 3.6

SBW 3.7

E4H 0.2

W3O 0

Other Spatial artifacts that give context;

•Watersheds

•Soil maps

•Slope

•Zoning

•Elevation

•Hydrology

•Buildings

•Fences

•Well heads

Imagery Field Map Drain Tile Apple Trees

Work Flow• Initial design and data population

– Do your compliance lists– Ask your questions– Build your reference data sets– Set your primary keys

• On-going data population– Field capture - real time– Clean up and record in permanent log book - weekly– Data entry to digital file – at least 1 pre quarter

Example of List Reporting

Field Activity

Litres of Fuel by Tractor by Year

Summary of Man Hours and Tractor Hours

Details of all ‘grow periods’ in 2015

Summary of Activities in W7 Since Inception

Detail and Summary Maintenance Logs

Back to the beginning• Store only the data you have to or data that will

answer your questions.• If you store it, make it complete and accurate.• Do your analysis for prior year(s)

– What was profitable?– More maintenance?– Sell / acquire equipment?– Crop / climate performance?– Grow less and do more value add?– Increase crop diversity?

If it’s not measured its not managed.