Farm software comes in several kinds, and inventory software is only one of them. Crop planning tools plan plantings and keep field records; livestock software keeps animal records; farm accounting keeps the books; sales platforms run a CSA or an online farm store. Farm inventory software starts at the harvest: what came in from which block, what's in storage, what went to which customer, what inputs are running low, and, for a farm that makes jam, chips or dried fruit, which harvest went into which product. That last part is where a small farm often outgrows a notebook, because a value-added product turns one harvest lot into many products and customers. In the example below, a taro farm's four harvest lots become eight batches of chips, kūlolo, poi and lilikoi butter, each traceable to its block and date. Below are the kinds of farm software, what inventory software has to do, a test week, and what TaroStack does, and doesn't.
The short version
- Crop planning, livestock, accounting, sales and inventory are different kinds of farm software.
- Inventory software starts at the harvest: lots by block and date, storage, sales, inputs.
- Give every harvest a lot code, and record where each lot goes.
- A value-added product needs recipes and batches that take from harvest lots.
- Inputs like seed, packaging and fertilizer belong on a reorder list.
- Counting should work in the field and the packing shed, with no signal.
- TaroStack covers harvest to customer, products included; it doesn't plan plantings or keep field maps. More below.
The kinds of farm software
| Kind | What it does | Where inventory comes in |
|---|---|---|
| Crop planning and field records | Plantings, fields, harvest forecasts, spray records | Ends at the harvest |
| Livestock records | Animals, health, breeding | Separate from crop and product stock |
| Farm accounting | The books, taxes | Values stock, doesn't track it |
| Sales platforms | CSA shares, online farm store, market orders | Sells what you have; may not know what you have |
| Inventory and production | Harvest lots, storage, inputs, value-added batches, customers | The middle |
A small farm may use two or three of these. The question is which one knows what's in the walk-in today.
What farm inventory software has to do
| Job | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Harvest lots | Block and date on every harvest, so anything made or sold traces back |
| Grades and culls | What's sold fresh, processed or composted |
| Storage | What's in the cooler and the shed, by lot, oldest first |
| Value-added batches | Products made from harvest lots, with their own lot codes |
| Inputs | Seed, planting material, packaging and fertilizer on a reorder list |
| Sites | The farm, the kitchen, the market stall: stock in each |
| Customers | Restaurants, shops, markets, CSA: who got which lot |
What a farm inventory looks like on paper, with three linked lists, is in farm inventory template, and what changes once a farm starts processing its harvest is in value-added products for farms. What any small maker should ask of inventory software, with a test week, is in inventory software for small manufacturers.
A worked example
Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, grows taro on its own loʻi and makes products from it.
| Harvest lot | Harvested | Sold fresh | Made into |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2-1002, block 2 | 240 kg, Oct 2 | 90 kg | Chips CH-1004, kūlolo KU-1006, poi PO-1007 |
| B3-1009, block 3 | 250 kg, Oct 9 | 85 kg | Chips CH-1011, kūlolo KU-1013, poi PO-1014 |
| LK-1012, lilikoi | 30 kg, Oct 12 | 10 kg | Lilikoi butter LB-1013 |
| B1-1016, block 1 | 260 kg, Oct 16 | 40 kg | Chips CH-1017 |
If a restaurant calls about a bag of chips from batch CH-1011, the records answer: block 3, harvested October 9, with the oil and salt lots used in the batch, and every other customer who got that batch. Without harvest lot codes on the batch records, the answer is "taro from sometime that week".
A test week for any trial
- Set up the farm, the kitchen and the market stall as places stock lives.
- Record a harvest as a lot with its block and date, and grade it.
- Move part of it to the kitchen and check the farm's stock goes down and the kitchen's up.
- Make a batch from the harvest lot and check the product gets its own lot and best-by date.
- Sell some fresh and some product, and check the oldest went first.
- Count the cooler on a phone in the packing shed.
- Trace a product lot back to its harvest, and a harvest forward to every customer.
Where this stops working
The notebook records the harvest in the field and the batch in the kitchen, in two different hands. The batch sheet says "taro, Tuesday", the market sales are on the card reader, and the restaurant orders are in texts. When a buyer asks which harvest went into a bag, or how much taro is left in the cooler, someone has to go and look.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack runs the middle of a farm that sells and makes: from the harvest lot to the customer. It doesn't plan plantings, keep field maps or track livestock; it starts when the harvest comes in.
Harvests as lots, at every site. A farm, a kitchen, a shop and a market stall are each sites, with stock kept per site, and moving the harvest to the kitchen is a transfer, with stock in transit until it lands. Each harvest goes into stock as a lot with its own code and dates. Counting works on a phone with no signal, in the field or the shed.
Products made from harvest lots. A recipe holds the taro, oil, salt and bags. Recording a batch takes the taro from the harvest lot used, and the other ingredients from theirs, notes them automatically, and gives the product its own lot and best-by date. Stock goes out first-expired-first-out.
And the rest of the farm's stock. Inputs sit on the reorder list in days of cover against each supplier's lead time, every adjustment carries a reason, so culls and spoilage are reported by reason, item and site, and one report walks any harvest lot to every batch and customer.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Harvest to kitchen | Remembered | A transfer between sites, by lot |
| Which harvest is in this bag? | "Tuesday's" | The lot, on the batch |
| Counting the cooler | A clipboard | A phone, with no signal |
| Packaging before the season | Noticed when it's gone | Days of cover |
Lots, recipes, batches and counting are on every plan, from $49 a month; more than one site, like a farm and a kitchen, and planning are on Standard at $99. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.