Across the Midwest, acres and acres of fields are planted in hopes of producing the best crop possible. Several factors influence these growing conditions, including product performance, input prices, management practices, soil types, and of course, weather. While we as farmers certainly cannot control all of those things, we can monitor our crops and do our best to make the best decisions with the resources we have.
FARMserver’s scouting app is here to help with that.
If you haven’t tried the scouting feature yet, let me share some of the functionality with you. For starters, you can access it from our website (farmserver.com) and on our mobile app for iOS devices. Both the iOS app and the website work together and sync information back and forth. If you upload data to the website, it is available for viewing in the app. If you create scouting notes in the app, those notes show up on the website. They do different things but still work together.
Scouting notes live in the Timeline of Field Focus on the website. From your mobile device, it only takes a few taps to open up a new scouting note. Note options relevant to stand counts, growth stage, weed pressure, insects, diseases, and general notes are available to help record what you see in the field. You also have the option to save up to five photos per scouting note. In corn fields, our Replant Calculator and a Yield Estimator tool are added benefits to using the scouting tool.
The iOS app provides users with the same functionality as the website but incorporates the benefit of GPS location while walking through the field. Any data uploaded through the website is available to use as a reference layer in the iOS app. Any scouting notes taken in the app will show up in the Field Focus Timeline on the website.
After your scouting notes are saved, FARMserver offers a few different options for printed reports. In the Reports section of the website, you have the opportunity to run Scouting Note reports by field, farm, or for the entire operation. In the iOS app, you can email Scouting Note Reports by individual note or by date. Both reports are delivered in PDF format via email.
No matter which method you choose to record your scouting notes, the benefits of walking your fields are the same. Keeping an eye on your crop during the growing season will help you stay on top of changing conditions. Weeds are more manageable when they are small. Insect infestations can destroy a crop pretty quickly when not confronted. Early disease detection and timely fungicide applications can have significant impacts on yield.
Taking the time to ground truth what is really going on in your field takes the guesswork out of in-season decisions. Recording what you see and the actions taken are invaluable resources for end-of-season analysis. FARMserver provides an organized scouting note approach and year-after-year storage options so you can look back in previous years to see historical observations.
For more information on scouting in FARMserver, or any FARMserver questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!
By Sheila Downey | Regional Precision Technology Specialist