Farm Nutrient - update for new german regulation (Düngeverordnung)

Development
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Hello together :slight_smile:
hope you all are fine!

In Germany we must document each fertilizing for each field, the sum for the field since start of this year.
Sadly the Farm Nutrient Module doesnt have all the needed functions for that regulation, i guess(?)

For the records the following information is needed:

  • not only the name of the field, but also the FID-Nr (it’s an identifier for that field) must be exported
  • all fertilizing actions on that field with amount and N, NH4-N, P2O5 and K2O amount (in kg --> iam not sure)
  • the crop type :ok:
  • the field size :ok:
  • the sum of fertilizer on that field in that year

Also all that information must be exportable troth the csv export.

Iam not a programmer, but i really want to help to make FarmOS great to use for other german farmers.
i dont know of these points are easy to integrate or if it isnt even possible.

So whats the best way to start here? :slight_smile:

Greetings,
Andreas

The bavarian farmers assocation provided the following “diary” for documentation of the fertilizing (yeah only in german…)

grafik
grafik1201×834 85.2 KB

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Very interesting @andifi !

Some of what you mentioned is possible in farmOS right now with Log Quantities. What you can do is create a record with quantities of the different fertilizers amended (N, NH4-N, etc etc) in whichever units you want (KG, L, etc)

There is also a Soil Amendment Quick Form that makes this process a bit easier (it assumes one “Material” that you are amending, and allows you to specify NPK levels for the application). The result is something like this:

Screenshot_2020-05-03 Soil amendment 100 kilograms Chemical Name into C farmos-test(1)
Screenshot_2020-05-03 Soil amendment 100 kilograms Chemical Name into C farmos-test(1)1892×1588 208 KB

Once you have some of these records created, you can use the Quantity Report module to generate a report of all amendments in an area per year

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Hi :wave:
Thank you for your fast Response!

Sounds good and easy.

I will try that :slight_smile:

Greetings

Andreas

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Ok. i looked into both ways.
the best would be to use the Nutrient Management and ask for an update(i will try to make it work) to add the NH4-N input,
but how can i export all the data as csv? I cant find it on the reports page…

Greetings
Andreas

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Is the CSV button visible for you under the Quantity Report tab? (It might be at the bottom of a long list of records if you have many)

Screenshot-2020-5-4 Quantity Report crop-plan-dev
Screenshot-2020-5-4 Quantity Report crop-plan-dev1030×364 18 KB

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@andifi I would not recommend the Farm Nutrient module for what you are doing. You can simply use Input logs in farmOS itself without the Nutrient module, I think. See @paul121’s suggestions - that is what I would recommend too.

The Nutrient module is specifically for storing PDFs and other files for “Nutrient Management Plans”, which is a specific type of document needed in Vermont and other states in the USA. It is a very simple module right now, and does not provide a lot of functionality… just a place to upload files. See this for more context: https://farmos.org/guide/contrib/nutrient/

Most of the things you described can be stored in farmOS itself, without any additional modules, I believe.

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thx for your replies :slight_smile:
After watching the april call i understand what you mean and i feel a bit stupid :smiley: :man_facepalming:

My main problem was, that i didnt understand how do add fields to logs (because the field ui was disabled)
Maybe the field ui should be active as default?

btw. i write down all the problems i have and hope to make the documentation a bit better for new users :slight_smile:

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Don’t feel stupid @andifi! A lot of this stuff is not well documented. That’s what this forum is for in the meantime. :slight_smile:

Maybe the field ui should be active as default?

Ah so… be careful. The reason this is not enabled by default it is considered an advanced feature, intended to be used during development only.

Please watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1oTO3QSSWY

And read this: Update Safety - farmOS.org

I generally wouldn’t recommend adding (and DEFINITELY not changing) fields on assets/logs/plans/terms unless you have a plan to maintain that in custom module code moving forward. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing these changes, or other things breaking, when a new version of farmOS is released. It’s not easy to explain everything to be aware of, but hopefully that video above gives some good background.

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Ok i think its better to question some more stuff before i start using farmOS for real data…

And the best thing to start would probably to go deeper into my problem.
At the moment all documentation on our farm is done by hand on Din A0 papers.
On that papers we have listed each field and what we did when (seeding, spraying, fertilize, etc.)
Also that documentation is not only done by me its done by my hole family (the one how does the work normally also documents it).

Problem 1: simple log blueprints
farmOS iy way to complex for my parents, so i need to simplify the log creation process.
In farmOS i want to create log blueprints, so that my family only clicks on “harvesting - hay bale” and only needs to insert the numbers of the bales.
Because of the comparison problem between measurement (mention in Spray recording) i want to make the documentation as simple es possible and prevent different measurement.

My solution 1:
Create a log type for each task and disable all default log types.
If i simple use the quantity module i cant prevent this (or can i?)

Problem 2: Exporting / viewing more then one value per entry in the logs data
When using the quantity module i only managed it to show one value in the logs view. Then creating a new log type i don’t see any values in the logs.

My solution 2:
i didnt have time to check that, but i would create new log view for each new log type, so that i can see every value in the list and have them in the csv.

Problem 3: Sync log types with the app
Iam not sure if this is possible or not, because i found some issues on github to this topic and i think some work went into it, but i didnt get if i have a problem with my setup or syncing isnt yet included in farmos.app.

Maybe these question look really stupid, please apologize that, but i really don’t know what is the best way.

Also i really understand all the decisions you all have made in the last years and I think FarmOS can be used for nearly everything, because of the simple but effective architecture you have created.
(Iam also working in the software development world but as PO/PM and more then one time would be happy to see a such thought out architecture).

I think my problems can be also written down like a small user question / user story:
How can I, as a farmer, adopt the logs to my needs for repetitive and fast log creation on the go and how can I export this data easily to show it other people?
This also relates to Design Improvements: the Hierarchical Data Model vs the Graph-like UX)

I hope you understand all of my points, my english isnt the best…

Greetings,

Andreas

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i need to simplify the log creation process.
In farmOS i want to create log blueprints, so that my family only clicks on “harvesting - hay bale” and only needs to insert the numbers of the bales.

This is ideally what “Quick Forms” (now) and “Field Modules” (soon) can provide. Quick forms are simplified data entry forms that ask for specific data and then put it into standard places in logs/assets in the background. We have some already: Planting, Eggs, Milk, Birth, Soil amendment, Soil disturbance, Weather. “Field Modules” are going to take over that role, eventually, in the farmOS Field Kit app (Field Kit - farmOS.org).

Create a log type for each task and disable all default log types.
If i simple use the quantity module i cant prevent this (or can i?)

I don’t think I would recommend this approach. In doing this, you are essentially creating a non-standard farmOS, which means you will need to maintain that “forked configuration” yourself and won’t get the other benefits that farmOS provides. We try to design the standard log types to be as generally useful as possible. This does mean that they have fields that you may not need to use, and entering data into logs directly requires you to be disciplined and consistent in the way that you enter data.

Again, this is what Quick Forms / Field Modules are meant to ease. They can store the data in standard logs, but make the data entry process a lot easier.

The downside is that it requires programming (either in PHP for Quick Forms, or JavaScript for Field Modules). But the hope is that over time more of these standard forms will cover common needs, so we can build a library of Field Modules to choose from. The goal of Field Kit is to be the “simple” day-to-day data entry tool, and farmOS will be the full backend data explorer. It’s a work in progress, as always!

Oh… one other option: some people are developing their own mini-apps/forms outside of farmOS and Field Kit entirely, and then using something like farmOS.js or farmOS.py (or just sending API requests directly) to push data into farmOS records.

Problem 3: Sync log types with the app
Iam not sure if this is possible or not, because i found some issues on github to this topic and i think some work went into it, but i didnt get if i have a problem with my setup or syncing isnt yet included in farmos.app.

Are you having trouble pulling logs into Field Kit (farmOS.app)? Or having trouble pushing logs from Field Kit to farmOS?

Also i really understand all the decisions you all have made in the last years and I think FarmOS can be used for nearly everything, because of the simple but effective architecture you have created.
(Iam also working in the software development world but as PO/PM and more then one time would be happy to see a such thought out architecture).

Thanks! Always nice to know the decisions we’re making are helpful. :smiley:

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thank you!

This is ideally what “Quick Forms” (now) and “Field Modules” (soon) can provide. Quick forms are simplified data entry forms that ask for specific data and then put it into standard places in logs/assets in the background. We have some already: Planting, Eggs, Milk, Birth, Soil amendment, Soil disturbance, Weather. “Field Modules” are going to take over that role, eventually, in the farmOS Field Kit app

Thats what iam searching for :partying_face:
I think we just meant the same things, but wrote it differently.

The downside is that it requires programming (either in PHP for Quick Forms, or JavaScript for Field Modules)

Shouldnt it be possible to create a “quick forms maker”?
the code doesn’t look to complex at first glance.

Are you having trouble pulling logs into Field Kit (farmOS.app)? Or having trouble pushing logs from Field Kit to farmOS?

Not syncing the logs, but syncing the log input form. But as i learned today field modules are the way to go and there is already an issue for making them sync with farmOS. :+1:

Only the viewing / export all data for an entry looks like a problem? :confused:
I also checked the issues on github and didnt really find something like i am searching for.
Do you get what i meant with my point?

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Anything is possible! It’s a question of who’s going to build and maintain it. :grin:

Our Sci has been working on a general purpose survey builder with farmOS integration, so that may end up being exactly what you have in mind. But: it’s not in farmOS - it would be surveys in their app that push data to farmOS. I have had some discussions with them about embedding their surveys in farmOS… so there is still potential there, but no immediate decisions.

Not syncing the logs, but syncing the log input form. But as i learned today field modules are the way to go and there is already an issue for making them sync with farmOS.

Oh do you mean pulling in the list of areas, assets, units, etc so they can be referenced in the Edit Log screen? That should be working - and isn’t related to the Field Module work.

Only the viewing / export all data for an entry looks like a problem?

The CSV export button provides basic output, but won’t include everything (eg: multiple quantity measurements). The API gives access to EVERYTHING - so you could potentially build a custom export script that pulls just what you need and formats it how you want.

Alternatively, there is a “Farm Viewer” user role that can grant “read only” access to the farmOS system - which means the user can log in and look at things, but can’t change them. In the future we’d like to add more roles/options around that idea.

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thx for you help. :+1:
Iam working on a python module for that at the moment.
lets see if this will work :wink:

Till now we are not using farmOS for the fertilizing stuff, because of that complex topic…

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