Field Reporting with ArcGIS

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words, but an intelligent map is worth much more. Modern farming is becoming more governed by business rules and governmental regulations than ever before. A farmer now has to have knowledge of accounting, agricultural legislation, subsidy guidelines, taxation regulations, and, perhaps most important, crop insurance. For all of these chores, relaying the business of the farm to different audiences can be both time consuming and tiresome. Imagine then the benefits that arise from having all of the farm data readily available as a series of maps, each one telling a specific story to a specialized audience. One of the most obvious and immediate outputs from a farm GIS is maps that provide you with new insight. Planning applications, filing tax returns, and claiming crop subsidies either require mapped information or are greatly assisted by it. ArcView delivers a professional standard map production capability and is certainly a cost-effective solution.

Detailing schedules for field-workers can be assisted by instructing them using both maps and written instructions. This also gives the benefit to the manager of cost accountability, and if necessary, the means to measure staff efficiency based on planned performance evaluations. On-farm infrastructure needs maintenance, which in turn, often means the acquisition of additional capital from a lending agency. Visual output can assist these types of requests.

Precision farming uses precise data to map the yield of various crops at the subfield scale; the aim being to increase yields by applying crop inputs, pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation water at an optimum level. Once calculated and reported in the form of an interpolated map layer, the data needs to be translated into a format that the variable rate technology (VRT) electronic controller can use. The application field implements can use this field prescription to add field inputs only where they are required. ArcView can export such outputs in industry-standard formats and also supports the programming of additional modules should the case arise.