Zone Sampling in FarmQA

Create a management zone

Create a Zone sampling task type

Creating a zone sampling task from the web app

Create a zone sampling task

Complete a zone sampling task

Associate soil test results with zone samples

Create a management zone

The first step to zone sampling is to create the management zones you want to sample. Check out this article for instructions on how to create management zones: Creating management zones and writing prescriptions – FarmQA

Create a Zone sampling task type

Creating a custom 'Zone sampling' task type can be helpful for better orienting your users on the work they will be doing, as well as better organizing the work that needs to be done in your organization. For a more thorough walkthrough, check out this article on creating custom task types: Overview of work and task functionality in FarmQA – FarmQA

Creating a zone sampling task from the web app

Available from the: WEB APP

Permissions: ENTERPRISE ADMINISTRATOR, AGRONOMIST, TECHNICIAN+, TECHNICIAN

• In the Home page, locate and click on the field you want to create a zone sampling task for.
• Click on the New Task button in the slide-out map pane and select the soil sampling task you want to create (pictured below). 

• In the Create tasks window, click on the field name under the Fields header. 
• In the Define sampling locations window, select the management zone you want to associate with these points under the Management zones header on the right-hand side of the screen. 
• Click on the Add Points button, then place the points you want to sample within your zones (pictured below). 

• When you're done placing points, click on the Save button in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. 
• Fill out the following information in the Create tasks page: 
  1. Set the Sample depth for the samples to be taken. 
  2. Use the Marker types dropdown to select the marker layer you want to load your markers into.
  3. Set the Start after and Finish by dates for this task.
  4. Use the Priority dropdown to set a priority for this task.
  5. Assign this task to one of your users.
  6. Set any specific instructions for this task.

• Once you've entered this information, click the Create button to create your task. 

Create a zone sampling task

Available from the: MOBILE APP

Permissions: ENTERPRISE ADMINISTARTOR, AGRONOMIST, TECHNICIAN+, TECHNICIAN

• Click on the Work icon at the bottom of the screen, then click on the Add button, then select Zone sampling task (pictured below). 

• Complete the following steps in the Create Zone Sampling tasks page (pictured below):
  1. Associate your task with a Field(s).
  2. Define the locations you want to take samples from.
  3. Choose the Depths you want samples collected from.
  4. Select the Marker layer you want to store these sample locations in.
  5. Set the Start after date for this task.
  6. Set the Finish by date for this task.
  7. Assign this task a Priority
  8. Assign this task to a user.
  9. Write out any Instructions if needed.

• When you've completed adding this information, click the Create button at the bottom of the screen. 

Complete a zone sampling task

Available from the: MOBILE APP

Permissions: ENTERPRISE ADMINISTRATOR, AGRONOMIST, TECHNICIAN+, TECHNICIAN

• Click on the Work icon, then click on the zone sampling task you want to complete.
• Click on the Navigate To Field button in the lower right-hand corner of the screen to access the field you'll be sampling (pictured below). 

• Click on the Layers button, then turn on the zone map that's associated with the points you'd like to sample (pictured below). 

• To collect sample points, click on the point you're standing at and enter a reference number/barcode to associate with that point. You can either enter it manually or you can scan it in by using the camera on your smartphone. Once you've entered your reference number/barcode, click on the OK button to complete collecting that sample (pictured below).

• After you've completed sampling a point, then marker will turn from blue to brown so you can see the samples that you've collected (pictured below). 

• When you're done sampling your field, click on the Complete button in the lower right-hand corner of the screen (pictured below). 

• To complete your task, click on the Complete button in the lower right-hand corner of the Task details page (pictured below). 

Associate soil test results with zone samples

Available from the: WEB APP

Permissions: ENTERPRISE ADMINISTRATOR, AGRONOMIST

When associating soil test results with zones, you'll want to make sure your data coming in is matching to your FarmQA account. You can find how to do that here: Uploading soil test results to your FarmQA account – FarmQA

After your data is formatted correctly to be able to be brought into FarmQA, follow these steps to upload it.

• Click on the Soil tab, then click on the field you want to upload soil test results to. 
• Click on the Upload soil data button, then select Use current field to turn the toggle on. Then click your soil import profile you want to use from the list to upload your soils data (pictured below). 

• Fill out the required information in the Upload soil samples page, including the Growing season, Marker type, and Date this data is going to be associated with, then drag your soil sample .CSV into the window to upload your data (pictured below). 

• The soil test results that you uploaded will now be associated with the respective zone that it was sampled in. This can be seen in the Zone column in your soil test results table (pictured below).