How to Keep Good Field Activity Records
How to Keep Good Field Activity Records
By Mark Geistlinger, Client Services Coordinator
MOSA's staff have not yet met a farmer that farms so they have an excuse to do paperwork. Our farmers keep records so they can keep farming profitably and organically! If you wonder why organic farmers must maintain activity records, what information should be included in those records, and which format might be best for your farm, you've come to the right MOSA newsletter article.
Why must organic farmers keep a record of their field and crop activities? Because organic certification is a plan-based, trust-centered program, rather than one that relies solely on testing and constant surveillance. Farmers make a plan for how they will farm organically, MOSA reviews and approves the plan, and then farmers follow that plan or change it with MOSA as needed. Farmers' activity records afford MOSA's organic inspectors a glimpse into the farm's recent challenges and decisions.
The sample audits during the organic inspection provide the best opportunity for the farmer and inspector to take the farm's activity log system out for a test run. In the traceback audit, the inspector picks a crop and then the farmer provides all receipts and activity records for that crop. Can the crop be traced from its seed through all farming events to its sale? Like a path of well-placed stepping stones, the records should form a connected set of documents, an audit trail, that link together without gaps. In the other sample audit, the mass balance, the inspector determines if the records show that the inbound amounts, of seed, land, and inputs, were sufficient to produce the outbound total, of crop harvested.
What activities should be recorded to form the stepping stones of a clear audit trail? For all farmers, there are eight main activities that should be documented every year for every crop. "Documented" means making a written note about the activity in the farm's records system and providing answers to the questions "when?", "where?", "who?", and "how much?". Those eight activities are:
Tilling: preparing the soil for planting; may include incorporating a cover crop
Fertilizing: adding fertility amendments to the soil or the crop at any point during the season
Planting: placing seeds or planting stock into the soil or growing container
Controlling weeds: all activities to prevent or remove weeds—cultivating, hand-pulling, flaming, mulching, electrocuting
Controlling pests: all activities to prevent or remove insects, critters, and pathogens—mulching, fencing, laying fabric, hand-picking, spraying
Harvesting: the who, when, how, and how much of gathering in the crop
Handling the crop post-harvest: all activities to prepare the crop for storage, sale, or livestock consumption—washing, drying, cleaning, sorting, packing, grinding, roasting
Storing the crop: placing the usable amount of the crop into a particular storage area
In addition to these main eight activities, many MOSA farmers also use their activity log to record their responses to certain organic compliance concerns applicable to their operation, such as cleaning equipment shared with nonorganic production, searching for organic seeds, or managing buffer strips near nonorganic fields. Other farmers use the pre-formatted supplemental forms MOSA provides for recording these activities: Cleaning Log, Nonorganic Crop Usage, and Organic Search. Either method can work well as long as the record is well-kept and available at the organic inspection.
What are the main recordkeeping formats MOSA's farmers use, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each? Most activity log systems fall into one of these five categories:
Diary. Open the book and jot down activities. One format so you do not need multiple forms or clipboards, but don't lose that book! Best for a single user. Easy and inexpensive on the front end but can be difficult and time-consuming to retrieve information about a single crop during the inspection.
Calendar. Format obviously includes the date of activities. Small spaces can force concise entries. Can be used by multiple users. Best for fewer crops and activities. Usually easier to audit during inspection than a diary.
Field page template. Organizes information by a field using a pre-formatted template that is individualized to each farm or field. Can be a paper or computer document. Requires work pre-season but can save time during season. The formatting nudges the farmer to record activities and amounts in just the right spot, which requires some carefulness during the season, but can make for very retrievable information during the inspection audits.
Spreadsheet. This pre-formatted chart typically lists the fields in the first column on the left side, and the activities in the next columns to the right. The farmer enters the dates and amounts for the activities in the cells for each field and activity. Very customizable, so works well for farms with a lot of fields, crops, and/or activities. Usually a computer document but can be a paper one.
Computer program. These programs typically present enough flexibility to record all of the information necessary for organic certification compliance. They require upfront and ongoing training and fees, a well-organized administrator, and participation from all staff. Accessible from multiple locations, they work well for complex operations with multiple employees. They can produce easily-retrievable information during the inspection audits.
Which recordkeeping system works best for organic certification? I talked with three current or former MOSA inspectors about their findings after collectively doing hundreds of organic farm inspections. Reagan Hulbert said that the easiest records to audit are those that use a format to link the activity with the field, resulting in an entire year of activities under each field name. This typically makes for a shorter inspection and fewer audit trail gaps. Margarito Cal replied that consistency and thoroughness are critical to excellent records: develop a plan, stick to it, and make sure the terms and information on the records match those used on the MOSA application forms. Ben Bisbach emphasized the farmer's commitment to their chosen activity log format: the best recordkeeping system is the one that the farmer will maintain consistently and with enough detail.
What questions do you have about recording activities on your farm? Would you like to learn more about different activity records formats? Please call or email MOSA's Client Service Team and let's talk about your recordkeeping system—what's working and what you'd like to change.