Recording your work
Your records are only useful if they are written down as the work happens. Here is the quickest way to keep them.
Everything here takes under a minute. The point is to do it on the day, not to reconstruct it before an inspection — records assembled from memory are the ones inspectors find holes in.
Recording a crop
Everything else attaches to a crop, so start here whenever you plant.
- Tap Add.
- Choose what you planted from the crop list.
- Say where — which block or field.
- Give the planting date and the area.
- Save.
Each crop then carries its own history: everything sprayed on it, every test done on it, and whether it is currently clear for export.
Recording a spray or fertiliser
This is the register an inspector will ask for first. Record it the day you spray.
- Choose the crop you sprayed.
- Enter the product. If you checked it before buying, it is already known and its result comes with it.
- Enter the amount and the date.
- Say what you were treating — the pest or disease.
- Record who sprayed it.
- Save.
After you save, SoftFarm shows the date the crop is clear to harvest, based on the product's waiting period. Harvesting before that date is one of the most common reasons produce fails a residue test — even with a perfectly approved chemical.
Recording a harvest
Record what you picked and when, against the crop. This matters for two reasons: it proves you waited long enough after spraying, and it lets the quantities add up later when someone asks how much of this crop went where.
Recording a residue test
When a laboratory tests your produce, put the result in straight away — pass or fail.
- Choose the crop the sample came from.
- Enter the laboratory name and the date.
- Enter the result — pass or fail — and any chemicals they found.
- Save.
It is tempting to only record the passes. Do not. A recorded failure lets you and your exporter stop that produce before it is packed and shipped, which is the whole point. A hidden failure becomes a rejected consignment with your name on it.
The other registers
These are asked for at inspection and are quick to keep current.
| Register | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Your sprayers and machinery, and when each was last calibrated. |
| Water | Where your irrigation and spray water comes from, and its test results. |
| Workers | Who works on the farm and what training they have had. |
| Soil | Soil analyses for your blocks. |
| Documents | Your policies and procedures, with their review dates. |
Letting the app remind you
Some things have to be done again and again — calibrating a sprayer, testing your water, refreshing worker training. Put them on the schedule and SoftFarm emails you before they fall due, rather than after an inspector notices.
Fixing a mistake
You can correct a record. The change is kept alongside the original, showing what was changed and by whom — that history is what makes the records credible, so do not worry about it. Correcting an error is normal and expected.
What you should not do is delete a real event because the result was inconvenient. That is the one thing that turns a paperwork problem into a trust problem.