How to keep spray and fertiliser records on your farm

A spray or fertiliser record is most useful when it is written on the day of the application, by or with the person who did the work. Later it answers the questions buyers, auditors and your own team ask: what went on which crop, when, at what rate and who was responsible.

Record against the planting, not in a loose notebook

Link each application to the planting it was applied to, so the field, crop and area are already known. In Farm Insight, applications are recorded in the application register on each planting. Opening a planting shows its sprays and fertiliser alongside scouting, irrigation and harvests.

What to write down for every application

Capture the product, the date, the rate per area, the total quantity used, the application method and who applied it. For pesticides, also note the active ingredient. For fertiliser, note the type or composition. Farm Insight asks for these details before saving and accepts rates typed with a comma or a point.

A simple spray record template

Whether you use paper or an app, one row per application with these columns covers the basics: date; field or planting; crop; product name; active ingredient (pesticides) or fertiliser type; rate per area; total quantity; application method; applied by; protective equipment; weather; withdrawal period and safe-to-harvest date; authorised by. Farm Insight's application register asks for these fields, so a completed record already follows this template.

Add the safety and responsibility details

Note the protective equipment used, the weather at the time, whether the safety data sheet and label were available, and the names of the adviser or person who authorised the application. These details show the work was done responsibly. They do not make a product suitable for a crop: the label and your adviser decide that.

Use the withdrawal period to protect harvests

Each pesticide has a withdrawal period, the time that must pass before harvest. When you enter it, Farm Insight works out a safe-to-harvest date and flags a harvest recorded too soon after the application. Always take the period from the product label; the app does not supply or prescribe it.

Keep your own products, including organic inputs

Not every input is a registered chemical. Admins can add their own products, such as effective micro-organisms or organic fertilisers, and then select them like any other product. Record the rate and quantity in the units you actually use so the records stay comparable.

Before you leave the field

Is the application linked to the right planting?
Are the date, rate and total quantity filled in?
Is the person who applied it named?
For pesticides, is the label's withdrawal period entered?
Were protective equipment and weather noted?

Start by recording the next application you do, on the day you do it. A complete record of one season is worth more than a perfect system you never fill in.

Start recording applications