Observations

Observations are things users witness on the farm that are worth noting. Observations may result from a coordinated activity, such as crop scouting (whereby a farmer or consultant will systematically look for pests on a farm), or happen in an ad hoc nature, such as noticing a fence that needs mending or the prints of a strange animal in the mud around the hen house.

In general, all types of observations will have a few attributes:

Attribute	Data type	Notes

Attribute	Data type	Notes
Observer	Reference to user	Automatically assigned based on logged-in user the creates the observation.
Type of observation	Picklist	The type of observation based on things that are commonly observed on a farm such as maintenance issues, pests, wildlife, etc. See
Photo	Image (Optional)	Pulled from camera or documents on the device.
Date of observation	Date (Required)	Defaults to the day of the observation but can be backdated. Future dates unselectable.
Time of observation	Timestamp (Optional)	Defaults to the time of the observation but can be changed.
Location	JSON gridpoints	Can be documented by current location, dropping a pin, or selecting a location.
(Maybe) Past task	Reference to a completed task (optional)	It may be important to document that an observation is relevant to a past task. For example, you might check a crop for a pest a week after treating for that pest.
(Maybe) Requires follow-up	Boolean	It may be important to document that an observation will require action. Indicating this could lead the user into a task creation process.
Notes	Text (optional)

Open questions

Q: Is it better to treat an observation as a one time thing where a user will snap a photo, enter information on the spot, and save it then or more as a leave a note and finish later type of activity or something in between? David thought a two phase first phase where the person just snaps the photo and a second phase where they come back, reviews the observation, add more details, and potentially assigns or notifies someone.

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Types of observations

Not a complete list…

Type	Description	Additional attributes	Notes

Type	Description	Additional attributes	Notes
Harvest	An observation on when a particular crop will be ready for harvest.	Days to harvest: Integer (slider)	Likely needs to be tied into the creation of a harvest task in X days.
Maintenance	An observation on maintenance that needs to take place. Could be just a photo (of a broken fence)		Likely needs to be tied into a maintenance task.
Weeds	An observation of a type and severity of weeds impacting a crop or crops.	Weed: Text Checkbox for “Not sure” Type: {“Broad leaves”, “Grassy”, “Sedges”, “Other”} Other … Severity: {“Limited”, “Moderate”, “Severe”, “Emergency”} Crops impacted: Multi-select crop management plan tiles	Would (likely) need to be able to handle multiple types of weeds. Likely needs to be tied into a field work task.
Disease	An observation of a type and severity of disease(s) impacting a crop or crops.	Disease: Text Checkbox for “Not sure” Type: {“Deficiency”, “Bacteria”, “Fungus”, “Insect”, “Other”} Other … Severity: {“Limited”, “Moderate”, “Severe”, “Emergency”} Crops impacted: Multi-select crop management plan tiles	Will need to finesse a way of asking whether the user knows what the disease is. If so, no need to ask other identifying info. May need to segue into a field work or soil amendment task.
Wildlife	An observation of a type of non-crop, non-livestock biodiversity observation on the farm.	Observation: Text Checkbox for “Not sure” Type: {“Animal”, “Plant”, “Fungus”, “Insect”, “Other”} Other … Relationship??? Number: {“Individual”, “Several”, “Many”}	I think it would be cool to suss out the perceived relationship between the user and the observation, e.g. whether it’s a positive or negative sighting.
Soil	An observation of some quality of soil for a given location on a farm.	Soil color Hue: number Value: number Chroma: number Texture of the soil: list Options: Percentage of sand: integer number Percentage of clay: integer number Percentage of silt: integer number Percentage of pebble load: Integer number Soil layers: list (multiple selection) Options: the six soils horizons, Horizon O, A, E, B, C, E, R pH: decimal number Soil nutrients Nitrogen: number and unit Phosphorus: number and unit Potassium: number and unit Zinc: number and unit	I think the secret here will be categorizing the information appropriately behind accordions, prompting with good estimates or calculations, and making most of the data optional.