I have been playing with FarmOS on my own farm for a few years and I have seen that is has great potential for managing data that relates to farming activities. I have recently been employed as the manager/grower of a licensed hydroponic greenhouse cannabis farm and I would like to motivate for the integration of FarmOS as the primary data management tool.
My thinking is that I can record the origin and details of my seeds as a Plantings asset with a unique code. Each time I use from the seeds I would generate a seedlings log which comes of the Plantings asset. This would then generate a transplantings log with a location (tunnel number) which will be linked to all inputs/activities/observations and then finally a harvest log. As this goes on there will be plant selection for cloning and propagation which relates back to the parent seed and would be able to be traced through the lineage tab within the FarmOS hierarchy. Ultimately setting up sensors in the tunnels which provide data on the environmental fluctuations within the tunnel will be neccessary and these data can be used alongside the production logs to refine the production system and provide insight into pest pressure and growth variations.
Things I think would be useful are:
- If there were ways that barcodes could be scanned using the field kit as part of the tracking module like one can set up with the Open Data Kit (ODK select).
Is anyone doing this for plants in nurseries of any other specific reason?
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Hi @MorgsBrew - yes thatâs how I would recommend tracking things!
We have discussed the idea of barcodes or other ID tracking (RFID, QR code, etc), and how that would be great to have accessible in Field Kit (perhaps as a new âasset lookupâ field module in the future). There is an old related discussion here (actually the first issue in the farmOS issue queue!): https://www.drupal.org/project/farm/issues/2396617
Another piece that will be useful is creating a dedicated âSeedâ asset type: https://www.drupal.org/project/farm/issues/3022158
For now, though, just tracking the seed info in the Planting asset itself should work fine. The âSeedâ asset type will mainly be useful for tracking seed inventory, which maybe isnât necessary in your case.
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I have a prototype of a seed asset type which weâve been using to track inventory in a small local seed bank. Iâve been trying to iron out more of the details before sharing the module, but might be able to get the current (alpha) version published sooner if it would be timely with folks needâŚ
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I am using the method I detailed above but have some questions. When I interact with a specific âPlantingâ (a seed type), does it make a difference in the way it is handled if I donât always do so from the âAssetsâ page to create a seedling/input/activity/transplanting/harvest?
For example, if I create an input log and then link it to a seeding defining the asset and location of the seeding is it the same as going through the Assets page?
To create an output of a single asset (seed batch) that contains all the information related to the time it spent in the system I use the reports page and select the single asset?
So far itâs looking good i Just hope I dont lose âstuffâ along the way by not having them linked up properly.
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if I create an input log and then link it to a seeding defining the asset and location of the seeding is it the same as going through the Assets page?
Yes! Going through the assets page essentially just auto-fills the asset reference for you in the log creation form, so you donât have to go through that extra step. But it creates the same log in the end, either way.
To create an output of a single asset (seed batch) that contains all the information related to the time it spent in the system I use the reports page and select the single asset?
Do you mean with the âQuantity Reportâ? If so, yes! I think that would work! You would just filter by Asset Name, and also by Measure (time). So if you are recording time quantities on each log, then it will show all of those that are associated with the asset. Then you can export that as a CSV to tally it up.
So far itâs looking good i Just hope I dont lose âstuffâ along the way by not having them linked up properly.
Great! Yea the âlinking upâ is pretty simple at its core. One very basic way to think about it is: Logs are responsible for all* of the links. The log is what references the asset, and the area. By themselves, Assets and Areas donât have any links to logs, itâs always the other way around. Thatâs why I always say âlogs are the meat and potatoes of the record keepingâ. 
(* I say âallâ but there are exceptions to this⌠but for all intents and purposes I think it answers your question.)
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Hi Morgan
Fancy seeing you here!
Total necromancy of this thread but people still find it by searching for relevance (like I did now).
We are now using farmOS in this way by tracking everything from the vehicle trip to buy that seed, store it, sow it, track it and produce a resulting product (with product asset now).
Can I recommend you use labelling on your assets (in real life) that link to the farmOS page for that product. I print QR codes that open up the asset page for the traceable entity, from which anyone can then see the parameters and logs for that one thing.
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