FieldAlytics v3.81 Release Notes

The FieldAlytics team is excited to introduce the following new features into version 3.81 of the FieldAlytics software program as part of our upcoming scheduled feature release.

Main 

SSURGO Management Zone Data Attribute Updates

Users will now find several additional data attributes associated to the automatic SSURGO Management Zone layers that are processed and associated to their field boundaries within the system.

Depending upon the region or state the field lies within, some different data attributes may be available. Whenever possible, the FieldAlytics system will attempt to pull in the field performance index, dominant crop yield values and some key soil attribute values.

Within the profile management tree, these layers will show within the existing “Management Zones” folder with the system generated name of “SSURGO (Auto)”. 

The SSURGO (Auto) management zone layers can have any unwanted columns fully removed/deleted, or users can elect to also edit or add additional columns to assist or accompany these values with their process.

For fields specifically within Iowa, the CSR2 value will be presented. All others will use the NCCPI value when available.

Available Data Attribute Columns:

•        CSR2 (Iowa Specific for the Corn Suitability Rating)
  •    Index Rating 
•        NCCPI
  •    Index Rating
•        Dominant Crop Yield
  •    Corn, Soybean, Wheat, Cotton, Peanut, Rice, Sorghum, Sugarcane, Tobacco
  •    Dominant determination based on state/region
  •    Provides algorithmic yield potential by soil type
•        OM (Organic Matter Estimation)

As stated prior, values presented within these columns can be edited to meet local knowledge or requirements of the user. These layers can be used directly then within the Fertility Module for assistance with the Rx process to feed down local info to the soil regions and equation inputs via the “Use Zone Input” feature.

MSB Cover Sheet File 

To better provide additional flexibility, the Master Soil Book feature that previously only allowed users to define a static cover page for their location will now offer an option for users to upload and choose between multiple cover page options.

Within the Location Preferences tool page, users will be able to upload and save their various cover page documents. Each uploaded document will show within the preview and will have options to allow unwanted pages to be removed.

When working then within the MSB report setup in MAIN, the user will then be able to view and select or upload a new cover page the appropriate cover page instance that best fits the setup scenario.

Batch Farm Planning

To better provide flexibility to the user within the Farm Plan creation and edit processes, the system will now allow for “Batch Edit” features on the clean-up and organizational steps.

Users will find the updated “Batch Farm Planning” utility from the Action dropdown menu available at the Grower, Farm or Field level within the MAIN tab of the program. To initiate the feature at the Grower or Farm level, users will load profile map display via the map icon found directly under both of those profile levels. If initiating from the field level, the action menu should appear as soon as a field has been selected from the left pane profile tree.

Batch Editing

•        Within this tab users will be able to view and filter existing Farm Plans by Year, Crop as well as Actual vs Planned Farm Plans.

•        Users can modify the current associated Yield Source for a Farm Plan, select an existing Farm Plan, and delete events, or select the option for “Add Event” to apply additional saved templates to all selected plans.

Batch Edit Primary View

“Add Event” Modal View

•        Choose from the supplied filter list to view and apply a saved template.

Work Orders Tab

Delivery Tickets

Within the Work Order module, a new work order type (Delivery Ticket) has been added. This Work Order type specifically enables users to define a quantity of product(s) that are to be picked up or delivered to the grower client. 

Given its unique structure and differences from some of the other traditional Work Order types, the setup and requirements are a bit different. 

The most notable will be that Delivery Ticket jobs do not require nor allow for the selection of a Farm/Field profile. Given that the Delivery Ticket is not field specific, yet more a collection of products needed for a client’s overall farm operation, the work order type has been modified to instead require a specific POI (Point of Interest) asset to be assigned to the job.

The POI asset is available to be created and assigned to a grower within the systems Asset Module. The POI asset type will allow the user to configure a fixed lat/lon positional  point to the asset that is then able to be mapped and used later within the various filter types found in the Operations Dispatch module for scheduling purposes. Once set, this POI asset is then available as a grower specific delivery option within the job.

Within the Delivery Ticket work order, users will be able to define the following attributes specific to the job:

Delivery Method:

•        This option will allow the user to set where the job is to be delivered by the service provider to the client, or if it will be picked up.
•        Options to Select
  •    Delivery
  •    Pick-up

If “Pick-up” option is selected, user will be presented with Location Level POI assets to select from, assuming that the physical pick-up location has been defined as an asset within the organization.

Point of Interest Asset:

•        This option will allow the user to define the Geo-referenced POI Asset type that has been setup in the system.
  •    These POI Assets are initially setup and defined within the Asset Module
•        This often will be specific to a known lat/lon Drop-Off location or a physical building on the farm property used for the storage and loading of product(s).

Product Type and Units:

•        This step will allow the user to define any/all products that will be part of the Delivery ticket request
•        Product options include:
  •    Chemical
  •    Fertilizer
  •    Seed
•        Unit options will allow the bulk total quantity to be defined

Job Start/End Date Requirements:

•        This step will allow the user to define the needed dates for the anticipated pickup date or delivery date for the products

Job Options and Notes:

•        This final step will allow the user to leave any specific notes for the ticket job that will impact or concern anyone handling its competition.
•        Users will also be able to set specific notification setting within this step
•        Users can also elect to attach any needed document of file to the job within this step

Page Display Update for Paginated View

To optimize performance and utilization, the Work Orders module will now organize the display results for all open orders within a paginated view. Similar to many email services or other programs working with hundreds or even thousands of unique instances at any given time, the system will limit the display of unique Work Orders at a time. In the user preferences tool users can define if they would like to default to 20, 50, 100, or 200 work orders within a single page.

Easy to use navigation features will now provide the user all the desired tools and functions for quick and easy parsing through the full work order job list. The system will now also display the total Work Order “count” and show the current “range” of Work Order numbers the user with working within based on page load and selection/filters.

Please note that the “count” value being shown on the bottom of the page is based upon both the users access and impacted by any filters currently be set by the user, thus likely resulting in a decrease to the full actual number of open Work Orders. 

Quick functions to skip by 100 ( < or >), skip to the beginning or end of the list (<< or >>), as well as specific 100 count intervals (page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, . …) will be found at the bottom of the Work Order screen.

Grower Level Job Notification Preferences

Clients will now have the unique ability to set and define the alert preferences and emails on a “per grower” basis. The values defined for a grower client will then later be referenced for any Work Order job setup for that grower client.

To initially set these values, users can click on the Grower Information “icon” found directly beneath the grower name within the MAIN tab profile tree. Once that modal has loaded, scroll towards the bottom of the page to find the “Work Order Alerts” section. Here the user can set the desired job status levels that a client would wish to be notified on. 

This information, couple with the available entry of the grower clients email address, then both serve to ensure the alerts are going out to the correct needed people at the desired status levels.

Support for MerchantAg Application Kits

Direct within the Work Order system, users connected to MerchantAg for their ERP integration, will now be able to utilize their pre-determined Chemical Kit templates. The MerchantAg Kits are now part of the integrated product selection setup process.

When on the Chemical Products tab, users will need to ensure that they have selected the appropriate “Inventory Site”. This will ensure that the Kits and needed products associated to them are being checked against that listed sites availability.

Users will then select the “Add MerchantAg Kit” button displayed above the “Add Chemical” button. This selection will launch the user into a new display modal that will then showcase any/all available Chemical Kits for the location. If “Use as Kit Application” is selected, then individual product costs will not be listed on the merchant invoice.

From the Chemical Kit display list, the user will then see all available Chemical Kits and the associated products contained within each kit. The user will make the appropriate selection and then select the “Submit” action button to begin the process of pulling across the listed products and the stored application rates associated to each.

With the submission enabled, the system will update to display all products in the traditional job interface. At this step, users can have the products checked against CDMS (requires activation agreement) as well as verify all rates associated with each listed product.

Once all items have been verified for accuracy, the user can progress through the remaining steps for the chemical job order.

Work Order Job Display with Products from a MerchantAg Kit 

Support for VRT and Flat Rate Instances within Single Job

The Fertilizer Work Order process will now support the addition of flat rate products to a job that is being created from a Variable Rate product instance (Rx from Fertility Module direct, or VRT Saved Rx from MAIN/FERTILITY). In this listed workflow, the system is importing the known/stored products, rates and VRT application files associated to the event from the setup requirements earlier defined within the FERTILITY module.

But new to the process is the ability to now add on any additional “flat rate” products that were not earlier setup and included to the VRT Saved Rx event. While working within the Job setup process, user can easily “Add” any additional product they wish to include with the event. This functionality is not new, however, what has changed is the way the system will handle and modify the attached application files associated to the VRT event.

On the backside, the system will pull the original VRT application file and now append the additional flat rate products added into the database file. Previously, a separate file for the VRT products and a separate file for the FLAT rate products would have been created. User now will simply be delivered a single file with a combination of product columns for both the VRT (Variable Rate) instances as well as the Flat Rate instances. Users will also be able to filter for work order jobs that are VRA applied.

Initial VRT setup from Fertility

•        After creation, select option for “Create Work Order”

Work Order Import of Saved Rx View

•        Fertilizer Products tab will auto-import the products attached to the Saved Rx and the overall average rate from the VRT instance.

Work Order – Adding Additional Flat Rate Products

•        Select additional products (Flat Rate) to include on the job via the “Select Product(s)” dropdown menu
•        Proceed to Application Files for next verification step

Work Order – Application File Verification during job setup

•        System will now show the “tempFile” indication next to the extra products added via the manual addition of the Flat Rate instances.
•        Ensure text flag show “Yes” for “Files to be generated

Export File Preview and Verification

•        Export file (.dbf) contains original VRT products and newly added flat rate products
•        Attached Saved Rx PDF will only contain original VRT products attached to event

Murray Blender Integration

This new Integration partner will now allow clients working with a Murray Blender system to have their Work Order jobs setup and configured to later send over to this blender type and pass all associated job details and product values. To enable this integration, user will need to establish a new Blender asset type under the appropriate location. 

From the asset configuration feature in the Assets module the user can elect to create a new POI type asset. Within the POI asset list, options will exist for both “Blender - Dry” and “Blender - Liquid” for the user to choose. At this time, the user will also provide a Display Name for the asset which will later show in the available select/pick list in the local job order.

With the asset created the user will next select the Manufacturer. Within this list are options for all connected Blender types (Murray, Kahler, Ranco, Other). Lastly, the user will define the specific lat/lon location for the Blender asset that later can assist in mapping and scheduling purposes.

With the known Murray Blender asset(s) setup in the system, users can then proceed to create and define any needed Fertilizer job types into their work order system.

Once needed jobs have been established, users will proceed to the Operations Module to handle the organization, dispatch, and execution of the jobs. It’s at this step that the blender configuration and association to the job(s) can be set.

From the Operations Page:

•        Use the existing tools and filters to identify all common fertilizer jobs and set your Dispatch list. 
•        Once the job list has been set, select the “Assign/Edit” button next to the “Asset” header.
•        Next, select the desired Murray Blender asset from your available asset list and then select the “Save” option to finalize the assignment and creation of the Dispatch.

Configuring the Dispatch:

•        Once the “Save” button has been selected, the system will pop open the “Dispatch Options” modal.
•        Select the “Blender Configuration” option found under “Job Options”
  •    Confirm the “Blender ID” on this step and also set the “Needs Blended” flag for instances requiring such

Blender Configuration Window:

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Upon selecting the “Submit” button, the system will then provide an alert notice to the users showing that the submitted job details have been sent off to Murray.

Alert Notice Image

Dispensed Totals and updates will then be received back from Murray as the job is executed on their side. These values are then stored locally to the job history on the FieldAlytics side.

Fertility Tab

Event Credit Product Display on Rx PDF

This new feature will help ensure visual accuracy and reference for any instance where an applied “Event Credit” product(s) has been added to an Rx event that has impacting nutrient credits to a particular layer.

Previously, the Event Credit feature only showed the supplied products on the final summary page of the Rx PDF. While useful and good for record purposes, this often provided some questions around which products listed in the Event Credit section had an impact (overlapping element - product rate credit) on the various map layers. 

With this new visual feature, directly on the PDF report the system will clearly show any layer that had a supplied product via the Event Credit tool that resulted in an adjusted rate to the regular prescription.

VRT Fertility Rx with Event Credits Enabled

Rx PDF Report with Listed Event Credits

Tools Page

Notification Center Updates

The Notification Center alert tool has been modified to provide a better visual and organizational experience for the user.

Two major updates have been put in place. The first is a numeric value ID display on the main user interface that will show the total number of new/unread notices for the user. This display feature will quickly allow the user to see that they have new notices and then click on an proceed into the Notification Center tool to view and work with these notifications.

Image of “New Notification Count” Icon:

The second major update will now better organize and classify the notifications found within the utility. Users will see category-based titles on the Left Pane of the Notification Center tool with descriptive headers indicating the type of alert/notification.

The utility will then also provide a count of both the total number of notifications for each category and the number of unread notifications. User can click within any header to expand the individual notifications and then get full details, summary information and quick links to various reports associated to the notifications.

Performance Improvements

•       Work Order Filters can now be defaulted on page load.
•       Climate file syncing runs two times per day 12pm central and 11pm central.
•       Resolved an issue with Live Rx Generation in the Master Soil Book
•       Showing the most recently selected crops in the Work Order job wizard
•       Styling updates for adding chemical products in the job wizard
•       Added total dispatch list and job areas in dispatch list
•       Updated Master Soil Book Location Prefs to support new attributes
•       Resolved timestamp in/out issue in records
•       Crops defined in farm plans are now imported into the Work Order
•       Event templates can now be saved from within the farm plan
•       Added Layer ID to Field Sample Summary Report
•       Created additional John Deere Gen 2/3/4 rx export file formats
•       FieldAlytics defined splits are now available in Work Order and Detailed Application Summaries
•       Blenders are now filterable assets in Workorders and Operations