The ultimate Crop Plan spreadsheet tool is Pivot Tables. I’ve mentioned them before and I’m sure I’ll mention them again. Pivot Tables let you turn a spreadsheet full of columns and data into a simple schedule or calendar that is easy to read and easy to share. Here are the basic steps 1️⃣ Highlight all … More fsa tip #73 – Crop Plan: Pivot Tables
Each row in your crop plan spreadsheet should be a distinct planting. A distinct planting means 1 variety planted on the same date. If you plant a lot of varieties and have a lot of succession plantings, you’ll wind up with a bunch of rows. This definitely has the chance to get messy. But if … More fsa tip #72 – Crop Plan: one row equals one planting
One of the simplest things you can do to improve your spreadsheets is to never mix Numbers and Text in the same spreadsheet cells. This is the #2 of 5 spreadsheet concepts that I think you should be using in your crop planning. In this tip I’ll walk you through why TEXT and NUMBERS are … More fsa tip #71 – Never Mix Numbers & Text In Your CROP PLAN
How do you label and schedule the plantings in your field? Do you work with dates or with week numbers? For my next spreadsheet tips, I’m going to be revisiting 5 spreadsheet concepts that I think you should be using in your crop planning. Concept 1 – use Week Numbers!!!! If you use the formula … More fsa tip #70 – Three ways to use Week Numbers in your crop plan
How long should you run your irrigation system for?? On average, you probably want to aim for 1 inch of water a week. If you know your sprinkler or drip tape flow rate and you know the area that you’re irrigating, you’ve got everything you need to figure out how long to run your system. … More fsa tip #69 How long should you irrigate for?
Here’s an irrigation log where you can keep track of rainfall and how much you’ve irrigated to make sure your crops get enough water. This is a pretty simple spreadsheet with a couple nifty formulas. Basically, you set the sheet up for the month and then you print it out and keep track with a … More fsa tip #68 a simple irrigation log
Let’s wrap up this harvest spreadsheet series by planning your harvest day. Now that you’ve calculated your harvest rates you can use that information to figure out how long your harvest will take. And with this spreadsheet you can allocate when in your day you have time to harvest each crop. Once you start this … More fsa tip #67 Plan your harvest day
Are you harvesting fast enough? To figure that out you need to compare your Harvest Targets and your Harvest Rates. So this spreadsheet does just that! Start off by entering your harvest targets and the spreadsheet will set your harvest thresholds. Next fill out the harvest log (just like in Spreadsheet Tip #65) and then … More fsa tip #66 Are you harvesting fast enough?
This is spreadsheet #2 in the Harvest Efficiency series. This sheet gives you a place to record how much you harvested and in how much time. The spreadsheet turns that into Units / Hour. Then using your sales prices – that becomes $ / hour! Now you don’t have to do this for all your … More fsa tip #65 Track your harvest rates
You’re probably just about to jump into a lot of harvesting on your farm. This might be a good time to stop a moment and think about your harvest efficiency. My next few spreadsheets will be about how to evaluate and improve harvest efficiency on your farm. The starting point is knowing what your harvest … More fsa tip #64 Set your $/Hour Harvest Targets
Going to Seed with Dan Brisebois 