Record-Keeping Templates and Farm Logs

Economics and records explains which numbers decide profitability. This page is the paperwork: copy these tables into a notebook, a spreadsheet or a clipboard and fill them as you go. A record written the evening of the same day is data; one written a month later is fiction.

1. Field operations log#

The spine of the system — one line per operation, per block.

Date	Block	Operation	Detail	Labour (h)	Operator	Notes
2026-04-12	North 3	Desuckering	Keep 1 follower/mat	6	Team A	3 mats missed, row 8

2. Spray record#

Keeps the spray diary legal and the audit trail intact — many jurisdictions require application records for pesticide handlers, including the product label, batch, rate and operator.

Date	Block	Target	Product (active)	Rate/100 L	Water L/ha	Batch	Operator	Re-entry	PHI
2026-05-02	North 3	Sigatoka	[product] (azoxystrobin)	40 g	400	B-774	J. M.	12 h	14 d

Keep the empty product packaging (label and batch) with the record until the season is closed. The sprayer calibration calculator supplies the Water L/ha column.

3. Fertiliser application log#

Date	Block	Nutrient / product	Rate per stem or per ha	Delivery (split)	Method	Weather	Notes
2026-05-10	North 3	NPK 17-0-0 + boron	50 g N/stem	Split 2 of 5	Band + mulch	Soil moist	—

4. Irrigation log#

Date	Block	Hours	Volume (m³)	Source	Energy (kWh)	Soil check	Notes
2026-05-14	North 3	12	160	Borehole 1	25	Rod entry easy	—

Volume ÷ saleable kilograms gives water use per tonne — the number that exposes both waste and thirst.

5. Harvest record#

Date	Block	Cycle	Bunches	Gross kg	Grade A	Grade B	Rejects (reason)	Destination	Price
2026-06-03	North 3	Plant	210	3,940	3,410	380	150 (crowned early)	Packhouse	$0.32/kg

Average bunch weight = gross kg ÷ bunches. Trend it by cycle — the yield forecast calculator is only as good as this column.

6. Labour log#

Date	Worker(s)	Task	Unit	Hours / pieces	Rate	Total
2026-05-10	Team A (4)	De-handing	rows 1–14	28 h	$1.40/h	$39.20

7. Stock and store log#

Date	Item	In	Out	Balance	Supplier / batch	Where used
2026-05-01	Fungicide	5 kg	—	5 kg	[supplier] / B-774	—
2026-05-02	Fungicide	—	1.6 kg	3.4 kg	B-774	North 3, spray #7

A stock log that never balances is how the season's pesticide application rate goes unprovable.

8. Sales and cash book#

Date	Buyer	Product	kg	Grade	Price	Amount	Received
2026-06-03	[packer]	Dessert bunches	3,410	A	$0.32/kg	$1,091	2026-06-17

From records to KPIs#

KPI	Formula	Source tables
Yield (t/ha)	saleable kg ÷ 1,000 ÷ harvested area	Harvest
Average bunch weight	gross kg ÷ bunches	Harvest
Cost per kg	total season cost ÷ saleable kg	Ops, spray, fertiliser, labour + budget
Water per tonne	irrigation m³ ÷ saleable t	Irrigation, harvest
Stand %	fruiting mats ÷ planted	Field ops (replanting)
Grade-out %	(rejects ÷ gross) × 100	Harvest
Input share of revenue	(fert + crop protection) ÷ revenue	Fertiliser, spray, sales

Paper or digital#

Paper works if it lives in a waterproof sleeve in the shed and gets written the same day. Photograph pages weekly as a backup.
Spreadsheet suits financial consolidation — one sheet per log above, dates as real dates, blocks as fixed dropdown values so summaries group correctly.
Either way: one vocabulary. Never write N3, north block and Block A for the same place; pick one naming scheme and never vary it.
Keep records for at least as long as your jurisdiction requires for pesticide and organic certification — commonly 2–5 years — and keep them on the farm, not on one phone.

Next steps#

Know which numbers matter: Economics and records.
Plan the money: Farm budget calculator.
Forecast what the records will eventually show: Yield forecast calculator.
Meet buyer requirements: Quality standards and food safety.