Plant population calculated question

Plant population counts can be easily done when scouting with FarmQA by loading your scouting templates with a calculated plant population question. All you need to input is the row spacing for the field you are scouting in, the length of row you're counting plants in, and the number of plants you counted in that length of row. FarmQA will then take these metrics and automatically calculate your plant population in a count per acre (Imperial) or a count per hectare (Metric) rate. Check out the article below to learn how to setup plant population questions in your FarmQA account. 

Instructions

• Log in to your FarmQA account from the web app.
• Click on the Scouting icon then go to the Templates tab. 
• Locate the template you want to edit, the either go to the section you want to add this question to or Add a section to create a section just for calculating plant populations for your field.
• Click on the + Add a question button, then select Plant population (pictured below).
  • NOTE: you will be able to add a plant population question that makes calculations in both Imperial and Metric units regardless of the units you have setup in your account.

• Once your plant population question has been added, you can edit it to best fit your needs. Here are a few things you can do:
  1. Set the Number of decimal places that can be input in your answer, likely just one. This is most useful for the Row Spacing question where you have fields where rows are spaced 7.5 inches apart.
  2. Adjusting the Range is very important as this is how setup a textbox for scouts to enter their data in. By default, numeric values in FarmQA scouting are set with a slider. By adjusting the maximum value in your range to at least 101, users will answer questions by entering numbers into a textbox. We recommend applying this setting to all your questions in a plant population question.
  3. Setting a default value can save your scouts time in the field by giving them one less value to enter. For example, if you know that all the corn fields you'll be scouting this year were planted in 36 inch rows, you can set that as a default and it will automatically populate in your plant population questions. 

• When you're done, click the Save icon to save your changes. 

Reporting plant population as a total field count

By default, the plant population calculated question will report plant population in terms of plants per unit area. You can also set your plant population question to report its output as a total plant population for the field. This is calculated by taking the population per unit area that the question calculates by default and multiplying it by the area of the field you made your observation(s) in. 

To have the plant population question report in total plant count for the field, check the Multiply results by field area box in the plant population QUESTION DETAILS pane (pictured below).

Please contact FarmQA Support with any further questions