FarmQA mobile scouting app: getting started and overview

The FarmQA mobile scouting app is a flexible and powerful tool that you can use to scout and manage your fields. With so much functionality available in the FarmQA mobile app, it can be a bit difficult to get oriented. Check out the article below to learn about getting the FarmQA mobile app setup on your mobile device, as well as how to navigate the app and use some of its basic functionality. 

Downloading/accessing the FarmQA mobile app

Navigating the FarmQA mobile app

Add an Observation 

Add a picture or draw on a map when making an observation

Downloading/accessing the FarmQA mobile app

The FarmQA mobile app is available on Apple mobile devices running iOS 12.0 and newer and Android devices running Android OS 8.1 or newer. However, scouting can still be done on an older device by using your mobile web browser. Below, you'll find information about the device requirements and were to download the FarmQA mobile app, as well as how to access it through your mobile web browser. 

iOS (Apple) device requirements

• iOS version 12.0 and newer
• Minimum of 2 GB of RAM (4 GB is recommended)
• Download link: FarmQA Scouting on the App Store (apple.com)

Android device requirements

• Android OS 8.1 (Oreo) or newer
• Minimum of 2 GB of RAM (4 GB is recommended)
• Download link: FarmQA Scouting - Apps on Google Play

Access the FarmQA mobile app from your mobile web browser

• Open your preferred mobile web browser, such as Safari.
• Go to the following web address: scouting.farmqa.com/
• From here, you will be able to log in to your FarmQA mobile app. You'll be able to access all the functionality of the app version of the FarmQA mobile app, with the following exceptions:

• • Your GPS location will not be available.
  • Photo capture will not be available.
  • You will NOT be able to scout offline. 

NOTE: Performance may vary based on the amount of data in the customer's account

Navigating the FarmQA mobile app

• Log in to your FarmQA account from the mobile app.
  • If you haven't created a FarmQA account yet, you can learn how to do so in the mobile app by reading this article.
• There are five main pages within the FarmQA mobile application: Fields, Scouting, Advice, Learn, and Settings. Below, you'll find an overview of the functionality you can find within each page: 

Fields 

• Press the Slide-out map pane to access the different options for base layer imagery. 
  • NOTE: if you want to access the township section line Overlay, you'll need to have the enterprise administrator of your account turn on the Enable township and section overlays option.

• To center the map view on your location, click on the Zoom to location button.
• Pressing the Zoom to extent button will extend the map view to the extent of the fields within the organization you're currently viewing. 
• The Zoom in and Zoom out  buttons to adjust the extent that you are viewing. 
• Use the Search bar at the top of the MAP or LIST tabs to search for a field in your organization. You can search for fields by field name, crop assigned to field, or by organization branch.

Scouting

• You can find any In progress and Past reports by using the Search bar at the top of the screen. Reports can be searched for by the field name, the farm the field is in, and crop assigned to the field.
• The Scouting tab is split into two main sections: the In progress reports and the past reports. Pressing the Select button above the upper right-hand corner of each respective section allows you to select and perform actions on those reports:
  
  • In-progress reports:
    • Delete an in progress scouting report(s).
    • Submit  an in progress scouting report(s). These submitted reports will then be added to your past reports.
  • Past reports: 
    • Select the submitted scouting report(s) you'd like to export to a PDF .
•  Clicking on the Filter  
• By clicking on the blue Add button at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, you can start a New batch scouting report or a New ad hoc scouting report. 

Advice

• You can find any In progress and Past recommendations by using the Search bar at the top of the screen. Recommendations can be searched for by the field name, the farm the field is in, and crop assigned to the field.
• The Advice tab is split into two main sections: In progress recommendations and Past recommendations. Pressing the Select button above the upper right-hand corner of each respective section allows you to select and perform actions on those reports:
  • In progress recommendations:
    • Delete an in progress recommendation(s).
    • Submit an in progress recommendation(s). This will add the recommendation(s) to the Past recommendations section. 
  • Past recommendations:
    • Select the pas recommendation(s) you'd like to export to a PDF .
    • Mark your desired recommendation(s) as Complete or In progress. A recommendation marked as In progress will be moved to the In progress recommendations section.

Learn

Use the Learn tab to access resources that you can use to learn more about using FarmQA. At the top of the screen, you'll be able to access sections relating to different FarmQA topics. You'll likely want to stay in the Scouting section to learn more about the FarmQA mobile app. In each section, you can click on the Video  icon to watch a video relating to the topic or click on the Read icon to read a support article relating to the topic. Un-checking the Show in main navigation? box will remove the page from the bottom tab.

 Settings

1. Click on Sync Now  to sync your app up with your main FarmQA account. This will allow for all of the field, scouting report, and map layer information to be synced from your main account to your mobile device.
2. Use Layer Sync Preferences to choose the map layers you want to sync up with your FarmQA mobile app. You can also choose the farms and organizations to sync your map layers for. Check out this article to learn more about syncing map layers to your FarmQA mobile app. 
3. Setting up your Geo marker preferences will allow you to setup scouting locations based on the locations of your scouting reports. Whatever number you set will be the number of days your scouting reports will generate a location you can return to in the field. 
4. If you disabled the Learn more about FarmQA  page, you can still access those resources from the Settings tab. 
5. Conserve your mobile data by toggling on the Upload pictures on Wifi option. 
6. We recommend toggling your Save pictures to photo library setting on so that you can have a backup for your observations made during scouting.
7. If you're scouting in an area that has poor cell reception, toggle on Offline mode so that you can continue your scouting observations. Check out this article to learn more about scouting in offline mode. 

Add an Observation 

An observation is any scouting measurement that you take within your fields in the FarmQA mobile app. Making an observation is arguably the most fundamental functionality within the FarmQA mobile app. Follow these simple instructions to add an observation in the FarmQA  mobile application:

• In the Fields  page, locate a field you'd like to scout.
• Click on the field, then click on the field a second time and select Add observation in the menu that appears at the bottom of the screen.
• Record the information you want in your scouting template, then click the Submit icon at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen when you're done.

Add a picture or draw on a map when making an observation

• Once you've made an observation, click on the Edit  button.
• Choose one of the following options:
  • Draw on map to add a point or draw on the map in an area that corresponds to the observation you made.
  • Press Take Picture  to take a picture corresponding to the observation you just made. 
  • Reset Question lets you delete the observation you've already made so you can reset your answers. 

Location Specific Information

1. A user can also provide detailed location information by answering a question, then tapping on the "DRAW ON MAP" button.
2. The map is now expanded and the user can choose from 4 different tools: line, shape, point, edit and delete respectively. 
3. Select a tool, the icon will highlight yellow, then tap on the map to indicate map location information.
4. When done drawing shapes, tap the "X" icon in the upper-left hand corner to close and save the draw on map feature. 

Resume an In-Progress Report

1. If a scouting report has been started but not completed, it can be accessed by clicking "reports"->"in-progress reports" (see below).
2. To complete an in-progress report, simply select it from the in progress list and click the submit arrow.
3. Note: “in progress reports” can also be viewed and completed without connectivity.

Start an Adhoc report

1. There are times when a user may need to scout a field that is not defined in FarmQA. For this case, a user needs to start an adhoc report. Starting an adhoc report can be done by tapping the action button with the “+” icon on the lower right of the home page. 
2. The user will need to supply a field name or description and choose a template to use.
3. Everything is identical to starting a new report, except there will be no field boundary shown. 

Troubleshooting

• No fields show up in the app, but I see them in FarmQA Controller
  
  • This indicates that fields in FarmQA Controller either 1) do not have a crop assigned or 2) the assigned crop does not have an associated scouting template. See this article for further instructions.

Please contact FarmQA Support with any further questions