Quick Form: Fertiliser, Compost and Manure

[aislinnpearson]

A quick form designed to capture information relating to nutrient inputs which are not applied with a sprayer. These tasks are assigned by a Farm Manager but completed by the Farm Operator. For this reason the quick form has two parts: questions relating to job scheduling (done by the Farm Manager) and questions relating to the actual operation and completion of the task (done by the farm operator).

The initial question set for all the 2.x Quick Forms, which came from consultation with the farm team, is here: https://rothamsted.sharepoint.com/:x:/r/sites/FarmOSformsworkinggroup/Shared%20Documents/FarmOS/Requirements/FarmOS_QuickFormRequirments_2.0.xlsx?d=w3cb36857662c4abea329a9a2b8dbb154&csf=1&web=1&e=KasEYv

Although these requirements might change as the Quick Forms and 2.x development progresses, especially as they are optimised for commercial operations, and further consideration may need to be given to experiments.

See Issue #5 for previous discussions

[aislinnpearson]

@paul121, @barnabynorman, @richardostler The first full draft of the questions for the fertiliser, compost and manure quick form. The list of columns is the same as described in #40. There is also an error in the excel form: the question "seed label" should be "product label" and this question should be optional not required.

I am sure there will be questions so let me know if anything needs clarifying or talking through.

OUT DATED fertiliser-compost-manure-quick-form-question-set.xlsx

[aislinnpearson]

I've just noticed that the new quick forms have a "Status". This is a great additional feature for us, especially if we can expand the list of different status options so the full list includes: Pending, Scheduled, Field Operation Complete (Awaiting Data Entry), Complete.

In the attached excel spreadsheet, Job Status was defined as a flag but seeing this update that row can probably be split into two questions:

1. Job Status: A 'select one' list with the above five options (Pending, Scheduled, Field Operation Complete (Awaiting Data Entry), Complete.)
2. Flag; The current list of flags (Monitor, Priority, Needs Review)

If that seems confusing, I have specified it properly in the spraying quick form excel spreadsheet: #42

[barnabynorman]

@aislinnpearson I have questions on some of the fields:

Log name What is expected from "auto fill" - are the options provided "Nutrient Input: Product1, Product 2, Product 3" what is expected or are these coming from somewhere else?

Nutrient Input What is "A group of questions with the option to add multiple products"?? Does it mean that several of the following fields can be added x number of times and if so what are the expected fields to be included in this group?

Product Type Can be a picker (select) to allow multiple taxonomies to be selected or I can make a typed (allowing additional entries adding) but with only one entry - we might need a discussion on this field?

Nutrient grandchild terms under "Nutrients" on the materials taxonomy - it would be good to have a sample to understand this taxonomy if that's possible please?

Speaking of taxonomy populating fields, there are several form elements here (and probably on other forms too) where I am guessing what the names are for the taxonomy - for example "Units"

Is there a list of the taxonomies that you will use and where each is expected? For example both "Nutrient application rate" and "Product application rate" use the same units: " l/ha, kg/ha, ml/ha, g/ha, t/ha" - if you have a common name for these units ie "spray_units" then I can just populate the elements with these regardless of what they contain - at the moment I am adding those units to my empty taxonomy, giving it a name and hoping it matches when we deliver.

Hope that makes sense? Happy to do a call prior to meeting tomorrow if that helps?

[aislinnpearson]

Hi @barnabynorman,

Hopefully this helps clarify things a bit.

log name: For each of the quick forms I have written the name as I would expect it to appear in the log so yes, it should appear more or less as the options provided (although please let me know if this doesn't make sense).

The other questions you have asked are related

Product Type and Nutrient: My description isn't clear and may even be incorrect on the excel spreadsheet. Below is how it I envisaged the Inputs Taxonomy. The way I envisaged this working is that you first select the type of nutrient (e.g. fertilisers) and then could select from the products under that list. This is easy for the farm team to extend and add to, whether they want to add a new product type or a new product.

pesticides

...

adjuvants

...

fertilisers, composts and manures

fertilisers

DAP Nitram

composts

compost (sourced from Biogen, 2021)

manures

farm yard manure (sourced from Stokes Farm, 2021) farm yard manure (sourced from Hill Farm, 2021) green manure

Each product then has its own nutrient rates. For example, DAP has a nitrogen: phosphate ratio of 18:46 while for composts we would either estimate this based on the industry standards or run a full laboratory test to get the different nutrient ratios. As such the nutrient is really a property of the product and doesn't need to be listed in the taxonomy. I think the nutrients can probably be left off completely given my point about calculators in the answer below.

Nutrient Input: Yes, the idea is that several fields can be added x times, in the same way that the pesticide products are added in the existing spraying quick forms. For the product itself we need to specify the product type, the product name, the product application rate and the product volume. I discovered yesterday that area the product is applied to is not always the same as the field area, so we need an extra field for area covered (similar to the area sprayed in the existing spraying quick forms). However, when you are applying a nutrient what you really want to know is how much nutrient you are applying to a given area because this is what matters to the plants. The the reason I included the nutrient and nutrient application rate is to help the farm team calculate the product rate and product volume based on the nutrient content of a product and the desired rate of nutrient application. To make things more complicated still, sometimes products have more than one nutrient. We don't have to include this calculator as you can of course be back calculated as long a you know the nutrient quantity of the product (which is a property of the product and would ideally be documented against the product, not the log). If you want to leave it out in the first version of the form, we could do that and then perhaps discuss the best way to incorporate these kinds of calculators into FarmOS as a second step? One for our call this evening perhaps.

Does that help? Also happy to schedule a call this afternoon if we need to talk through it a bit more. I can do any time except 4 - 5pm. :)

[aislinnpearson]

Hi @barnabynorman

Here is the updated excel spreadsheet, with all the changes made as per our phone call. The specific things I have changed are:

1. The order of the questions so the form flows a bit more easily
2. Deleted the fields assigned to, seed labels and also crop(s) after I realised the crop will be attached to the plan asset or experiment plan/ plot. Seed labels shouldn't have been in there - that is for the drilling quick form only
3. Changed farm worker to farm operator in the Operator field
4. In the Job Status field I updated the list of options so they are the same as those on the spraying quick form.
5. Added the rows product area and flag so they are the same as the spraying quick form
6. Changed the description of several fields, including the log name description so it is a bit more intuitive
7. Added a question set for In-Field Application Record which captures information such as the start time/ date, operator, time taken, etc if applied over multiple days.
8. Changed the notes for all the product and nutrient fields so the calculation issue can be addressed in Phase II

I have also attached a screen shot which lists of the different equipment Groups and the form that they apply to in the current version of farmOS.

I think that covers everything but please let me know if I have missed anything.

fertiliser-compost-manure-quick-form-question-set.xlsx

[paul121]

For the product itself we need to specify the product type, the product name, the product application rate and the product volume. I discovered yesterday that area the product is applied to is not always the same as the field area, so we need an extra field for area covered (similar to the area sprayed in the existing spraying quick forms). However, when you are applying a nutrient what you really want to know is how much nutrient you are applying to a given area because this is what matters to the plants.

So, we are interested in application rate, area and volume for each product. But we only need to save 2/3 of the values, and it sounds like application rate and volume are the two we want to save.

Converting to a more technical illustration.. I think we will need multiple material quantities for each product that is being input. I think this is how we will save this data on the log:

# Input log
name: ...
timestamp: ...
status: done
quantity: (list)
  # Two quantities for the first product
  - 
    type: material
    material: Product 2
    label: application rate
    units: l/ha
    value: 10
  -
    type: material
    material: Product 2
    label: total volume
    units: l
    value: 20
  # Two quantities for the second product
  - 
    type: material
    material: Product 2
    label: application rate
    units: ml/ha
    value: 200
  -
    type: material
    material: Product 2
    label: total volume
    units: ml
    value: 300

This is interesting. We want to save multiple material inputs in a single log, but have multiple quantities (application rate and total volume) for each material. I think the current data structure will require this to be two material quantities/product applied. It seems a little odd but I think this will be the easiest. As Aislinn described above, both the total volume and application rate are important. Do you follow me @mstenta?

[mstenta]

@paul121 That's correct - and we've used this pattern for other quick forms in the past. For example, the Soil Amendment quick form in 1.x saves "total amendment applied", "total area size", "percentage of area amended", and "total area amended" all for the same input.

https://github.com/farmOS/farmOS/blob/722339943b4ab30587eb0795249f0e1d2867f838/modules/farm/farm_soil/farm_soil.farm_quick.amendment.inc#L543

Also, don't forget to use the measure field to further differentiate them (the label is also doing this, but measure is a more explicit list, so both are valuable):

  # Two quantities for the first product
  - 
    type: material
    material: Product 2
    measure: rate
    label: application rate
    units: l/ha
    value: 10
  -
    type: material
    material: Product 2
    measure: volume
    label: total volume
    units: l
    value: 20

[aislinnpearson]

Hi @mstenta and @paul121

I think all of this sounds correct to me, I just wanted to clarify:

For each product we want to save a rate and a total volume (with the ability to add multiple products)

We then also want to save the area which all the combined products are applied to.

I think this is covered in the above, I just wanted to be certain.

[paul121]

We then also want to save the area which all the combined products are applied to.

Oh this is an important distinction. Are all products applied to the same area? If not, do you want to save the total area (a number)? How would we calculate this?

[aislinnpearson]

Just for documentation purposes, the ability to select grandchild terms under the fertiliser list comes from a user feedback meeting at North Wkye (see the section on North Wyke in the document attached to https://github.com/Rothamsted-Ecoinformatics/farm_rothamsted/issues/70#issue-1093250757):

"The hierarchy of fertilisers doesn’t select grandchildren terms which it does need to do. This drives a large part of the implementation of FarmOS across Rothamsted, given that three instances are the same across sites."

This is resolved in the new quick forms

[aislinnpearson]

Attached two images of the paper forms used for fertilisers and manure. The green form is filled in as standard to record the operation, and is the basis of the current quick form. The red form is specific to fertiliser spreading using a specific piece of equipment (not as easily generalised)

.

[aislinnpearson]

Aislinn to specify which information is needed in each of the vertical tabs as per #62

[aislinnpearson]

As agreed on 19/01/ 2022 @barnabynorman Barnaby to build out vertical tabs based on existing specifications and Aislinn to review once completed.

[aislinnpearson]

Hi @barnabynorman and @paul121

Following the user feedback session, here are the required changes to the spraying quick form. I have first put all the questions in a list showing the order in which they should be laid out on the quick forms. All those with an asterisk next to them need to be made into required questions.

Secondly I have given a list of the amendments to the various questions. Those marked 'REQUIRED' are essential changes. Those marked as "IF FEASIBLE" are nice to have's but not essential.

Order of questions:

Setup tab:

1. Plant Asset(s)*
2. Tractor*
3. Fertiliser Equipment*
4. Equipment Settings

Fertiliser tab

5. Add a product:

   i. Product Type ii. Product iii. Product rate iv. Units v. Product Batch Number

6. Product label(s)*
7. Target Application rate*
8. Recommendation Number
9. Recommendation file(s)

Health and Safety Tab:

11. COSHH Hazard Assessment

Operation tab:

12. Operation start date and time*
13. Tractor hours (start)*/ Tractor hours (end)**
14. Time Taken (hours)/ Time taken (minutes)
15. Treated area (previously “Product area”) and units
16. Total volume applied (previously “Product volume”) and units
17. Fuel use
18. Crop Photographs
19. Photographs of paper record(s)
20. Notes

Job Status tab

21. Operator*
22. Job Status*
23. Flag

Amendments:

Setup tab:

1. Asset(s): a. REQUIRED Please rename as “Plant asset(s)” b. REQUIRED Please add the following to the description: “If the record applies to more than one plant asset, you can select multiple by separating them with a comma.” 2. Machinery: a. REQUIRED Please rename this field “Fertiliser Equipment” b. REQUIRED Please make this a required field c. REQUIRED Please add the following to the description: “You can select multiple pieces of equipment if needed.” d. IF FEASIBLE Convert this to a drop-down box where, in addition to being a dropdown box, the user would be able to start typing and the machinery auto-fills. This is so that the full list of equipment is visible in case a user is unfamiliar with the name of the equipment but equally users who are familiar can start typing and select from the auto-fill field. 3. Equipment settings: REQUIRED Please move this field to the setup tab

Fertiliser tab:

1. Add product a. REQUIRED Please move the ‘add product’ section to this tab b. REQUIRED Please make this a required question set (required by Red Tractor) c. REQUIRED For each product, please request the following information:

i. Product Type (a list of parent terms on the materials taxonomy) ii. Product (child terms under the parent term selected) iii. Product rate (numeric) iv. Units (ml, l, g, kg) v. Product batch number (text field) (replaces “RES product number” field)

2. Product batch number: REQUIRED Please change the description so it reads “The unique product batch number, as provided by the product manufacturer”. 3. Please remove the following fields: REQUIRED “Nutrient”, “Nutrient content (%)”, “Nutrient application rate” and units, “Product volume” and all associated units. These are either properties of the product and/or will be used in the future calculators. 4. Product Labels: a. REQUIRED Please create a new photograph upload field for photographs of Product Labels b. REQUIRED Please make this a required field c. REQUIRED Please add the description “Photographs of the product label(s).” 5. Product area: a. REQUIRED Please rename this field “Treated area” b. REQUIRED Please change the description of this field so it reads “The total area to which the combined product(s) were applied, as recorded by the tractor or other equipment” c. REQUIRED Please make this a required question d. REQUIRED Please move this field and the associated units from the “add nutrient” box so it is a standalone quantity

Health and safety tab:

1. COSSH Assessment: IF FEASIBLE Is it possible to make the COSHH options fit into columns?

Operation tab:

1. Time taken: REQUIRED Please make this field two in-line drop down boxes, one for hours (0 – 12) and one for minutes (0, 15, 30, 45), and make both fields required. 2. Tractor hours start/ end: IF FEASIBLE Please make these inline fields 3. Recommendation Number and Recommendation file(s): REQUIRED Please move these questions to the fertiliser tab

Job Status tab:

1. New Tab: REQUIRED. Please create a new vertical tab and move the following fields to this new tab: a. Operator b. Job Status c. Flag  

[paul121]

This is done!

In the process I found one bug... but it will effect more than just this one issue: https://github.com/Rothamsted-Ecoinformatics/farm_rothamsted/issues/126