One thing that would be nice to have in FarmOS, that could already be done externally with the API libraries is making FarmOS more Proactive about certain types of logs.
When I create a planting and it is just a seeding it would be nice if then a task for the transplant and the harvest were created based on the information that is provided in the Crop Taxonomy type but not marked done for the ideal date for those items to occur. Then I at least can ensure that I am planning appropriately.
I know the Quick Forms are good for setting up all those log types in one view but the active work FarmOS could do with what I have already provided it would be great.
How do others plan and track their crops for those logs?
This is a great idea and something I would love to have as well!! I’ve thought about it some; the transplant and harvest tasks could even be populated based on the Planting crop’s “days to transplant” and “days to maturity” fields…
I think @mstenta had mentioned some of these ideas revolving around a “Succession Planner” module. This way you could manage multiple successions of a crop, all with tasks for planting, transplant, weeding, harvest, etc.
I should have been clearer in my original post but yes this is what I meant by doing work with what I have already given it.
Glad to hear others would like this. Like I said, it could already be done I think using the API libraries but having it built in would be nice. Taking the whole succession planning further would be a good also.
Yes! I think this would be best implemented in some kind of veggie crop planning feature, using the new “plan” record type. I see this as the next logical step beyond the planting quick form we have now. It would be responsible for maintaining a higher level pattern/process to the logs around a planting, specific to vegetable production. This way, the planting assets can still be generally useful to non veggie use cases, like cover cropping, fruit trees, etc etc.
That sounds like a good idea if you already have something in mind that fits the architecture. I don’t necessarily need new record types unless you have something much larger in mind.
It might be nice having even a higher level type that lets you propose different types without having to commit to anything of you don’t want to.
This idea is similar to Task Templates in Tend. They work the same way as suggested above. Named groups of tasks that are related to planting, harvest, etc. date that can be applied to a planting.
Am very interested in this thread, but as a farmOS n00b, i’ve got to ask about a few features mentioned here that i don’t know anything about -to wit:
@mstenta spoke of “using the new “plan” record type” ; where exactly is this to be found? Only way i know how to plan in farmOS is to create a log entry with a forward-looking date, so it shows up in my dashboard (and on mobile FieldKit) as an “Upcoming Task”… But if there is some more elegant way to plan (indeed, a planned operation should be its own datatype, IMHO, because reliability of plan vs actual data is clearly different), then i’m not finding it in my UI.
@jbaranick related this concept of crop planning to “Task Templates in Tend” ; again, sounds interesting, but i’ve been unable to find this in the UI as of yet.
What i want (and it sounds like i’m not alone in this) is: w/r/t any specific plant species/variety in my context, to enter those key dates about its known lifecycle (i.e. days from seeding to transplanting, days from transplanting to harvesting), and then have them entered automatically henceforth… And even adjusted automatically, based on historical data that is accumulated and calculated by some algorithm (averages that disregard outlier data points and give more weight to timing, weather, etc.). Such nuances might take some time to develop, but even if it’s just applying the same lifecycle parameters to all instances of a given plant, that would be a big win for me.
So what’s the best practice for such production planning in farmOS right now?
@mstenta spoke of “using the new “plan” record type” ; where exactly is this to be found?
farmOS includes a module that provides a new type of record called a “Plan” (which adds a new “Plans” dropdown to the main menu after “Areas”, “Assets”, “Logs”, and “People”. This module is not enabled by default, because farmOS itself does not provide any plan types yet.
Right now, plan types are being built and experimented with in other add-on farmOS modules, like the Grazing module, the Nutrient Management module, and the Forest module. And as common functionality develops, I am pulling it into the core farmOS Plan modules to provide a framework for new plan types to be added in the future.
I hope to see a Crop Plan develop, which would provide the features that you describe for managing plantings and automatically populating seeding and transplanting dates based on past knowledge and the crops/varieties taxonomy. That doesn’t exist yet.
I’ve been working on the Forest module lately (with the US Forest Service), and it has been a great case-study to develop a lot of the underlying pieces that will be useful to a crop plan as well. So it’s all steps in the right direction.
Sounds interesting, @mstenta -essential even, speaking for myself, if this product is really to gain traction on my farm. So far the only field worker i’ve managed to engage in using the product is our Market Gardner -thus far strictly on a test basis, as he is still using spreadsheets to manage production data, including crop planning.
Yet, if you’ve got something developed for planning a grazing operation, i’d like to hear more about it, as we are doing Holistic Planned Grazing with sheep, and also have a chicken tractor running thru alleys between fruit trees, where a tool for managing moves according to plan could be useful. If these sounds like Use Cases that could be supported by some module that you have working now, i might give it a try, if you like. ?
Yes Mike: My instance -valedalama.farmos.net- is indeed hosted at Farmier… So if you could activate that module for me, i’ll be happy to give it a try. Will email you directly to remind. /w
