Using Android and Excel to track harvest amounts on the go
Out in the field farming last year, we kept track of each dump into the cart. But since it was all scribbled on paper, sometimes in the wee hours, it was unfinished and didn’t end up getting used. So this year, I wanted to make sure the records I kept were as close to correct as possible, and stored away every night so nothing was forgotten. It is nice to check your progress on the go, while sitting in the tractor or combine.
I just got a new smart phone so why not use it. It has Excel spreadsheets. It has Email. I think we are good to go.
I am using Android 2.3.3 with Polaris office on a Samsung Galaxy S2, but it shouldn’t be too much different as long as you have an Excel program. Also I have to warn you, I don’t really use Excel that much, so most of this stuff is dead simple. Like the layout of the spreadsheet.
Take six columns labeled Date, Bin number, Pounds, Bushels, Crop, and Field. Next, since our scale is in pounds I used a formula to convert to bushels.
=INT(C3/50)
I put this in each column D (bushels). This is saying take the value from it’s column C row 3 and divide it by 50. Canola is 50 pounds per bushel. INT is short for integer which rounds it off. Any calculations you want to do in a cell put a = first. =2+2 displays 4.
So if you want to convert to kilograms just divide by 2.2. I started on Sheet2 for the totals. In this program it is Sheet1, Sheet2, etc. Yours may be different. Layed out the columns with Crop, Pounds, Bushels, and Kilograms. Now I needed to find a way to add all the rows in the crop column for each type. Assuming the setup is the same like mine, Sheet1 Column E is where the data is. In B5 put
=SUMIF(Sheet1!E3:E100,"=canola",Sheet1!C3:C100)
Or in english, if the text on Sheet1 column E 3 to 100 is canola, then take that rows column C 3 to 100, add em all up and display it. Then you can do your conversions like above. Change the crop name in that bit of code for your other crops and you are counting.
