Soil health is likely one of the most critical aspects of your crop operation. You might take samples to record various levels of elements, and might add specific amendments to enhance it's production. You can create both of those types of records in Farmbrite, and you can do that on a grow location or a specific planting!
First, know that the actions and features are the same whether you record these on the planting or grow location. The difference is simply where you want the record stored, and what it should be associated with. If you took a soil sample that you think is applicable to the field overall, you can add it at that level. If you added a specific nutrient to a specific planting and not the entire field - maybe the broccoli in bed 2 got some additional nitrogen, but not the onions in bed 3 - you can add the nutrients to the specific planting instead.
So with that said, to get started with this you can navigate to either a grow location or a planting, and then choose the nutrients tab. You'll see two options there - Add Nutrients and Record Sample.
Adding Nutrients
As it sounds, this feature is used to record the addition of nutrients to the field or planting. You'll record what product you added first, and then add a date and amount as well. You can also record the application method, like broadcast, pellets, or spray. Below that, you can indicate the amount of each element that was added. None of these fields are absolutely required; supply what you'd like and what is important for you.
- Nitrogen (N)
- Potassium (K)
- Sulfur (S)
- Boron (B)
- Phosphorus (P)
- Magnesium (Mg)
- Calcium (Ca)
- Copper (Cu)
- Iron (Fe)
- Zinc (Zn)
- Manganese (Mn)
Recording a Soil or Water Sample
You can also add a soil or water sample record if you'd like. It is nearly identical to the process above, but you're not adding anything! Instead, you'll simply record the amounts returned in the test. All of the same elements are available, plus additional fields for sulfate, nitrate, and a Ph level. Once you’ve recorded a series measurements you’ll see them charted and listed so you can see the changes over time.
Importing Nutrient Records
If you have current soil sample or amendment data in spreadsheets, you can import them directly into Farmbrite. This works like any other import you may have used previously. Just click the actions button and choose import records. You can download a template preformatted with the correct columns, or use your own spreadsheet and map them in step 2.
Once unique field on the import to be aware of is "Is_Additive". As you might expect, this indicates whether this was an addition or not, with "false" being a soil sample, and "true" being an addition.
Reporting on Samples and Amendments
You can also report on your soil and nutrient samples. Navigate to the Reports tab on the left, and you'll see the Soil and Nutrient Samples report in the Crops reporting section. The report will display a graph of your nutrient measurements at the top , with each sample shown in the grid below. This makes it easier to track the levels of each nutrient over time.
