No matter what crop you grow — corn or apples, sugar beets or soybeans — your farm's data is one of its most valuable assets. Yet for many growers, record keeping is still a chore that happens (if at all) at the end of a long day, in a dusty notebook or half-finished spreadsheet.

The result? Missed learnings, wasted inputs, and missed opportunities. Let’s walk through the top 3 record-keeping mistakes row crop growers make—and how to avoid them.

1. Waiting Too Long to Record Key Activities

Fieldwork moves fast – and during planting, spraying, or harvest, most growers are too focused on getting the job done to stop and document the details. The problem comes later, when trying to remember what was applied, when, and under what conditions.

Why it matters:

• Innacurate or missing records lead to confusion, re-work, or compliance issues.

• You lose the ability to track what worked and what didn't from season to season.

• Insurance claims, audits, or buyer certifications require accurate logs.

How to avoid it:

With Soiltech Insights, we make it easy for growers to log in-field activities like sprays, irrigations, or even crop scouting. Users can create their own templated forms to keep excellent records of whatever's most important to them.

2. Not Capturing Irrigation and Environmental Data

Many row crop growers focus on fertilizer and chemical logs, but overlook water and weather, even though both play a massive role in crop performance.

Why it matters:

• Water stress or excess impacts yield, disease pressure, and nutrient uptake.

• In many regions, water usage must be documented for compliance or cost-share programs.

• Environmental context is key to learning from past seasons. 

How to avoid it:

The Soiltech Signal online platform automatically keeps historical weather data, whether it comes from public weather sources or your own in-field Beacon weather stations. Beacons can also be buried in the soil to track and record soil moisture levels throughout the season. That data added to the record-keeping component of Insights helps connect the dots between environmental conditions, in-field activities, and crop responses.

3. Incomplete Traceability for Postharvest Handling

For many crop types, things move fast once a crop is out of the ground. But tracking which lot came from which field, variety, and treatment history is often done manually (or not at all).

Why it matters:

• Buyers, processors, and food safety auditors increasingly demand farm-to-packhouse traceability.

• One small issue (residue, contamination, pest) can turn into a full lot rejection if you can't isolate the source.

• Traceability helps analyize which fields and practices lead to better storability or pack-out rates.

How to avoid it:

For the most part, Beacons can travel with a crop throughout the trucking, sorting, cleaning, and storage process. This automatically tracks of the movement of a crop from field to storage.

Final Thoughts

Good record keeping doesn’t have to be a chore. With the right tools, it can be a competitive advantage. Whether you manage 500 acres or 5,000, a better system means better decisions, more efficient operations, and less guesswork. With Insights you can plan, record, and report – all in one convenient spot.

Ready to simplify your record keeping and get more value from your farm data?
👉 Book a demo or sign up for a 30-day free trial of Insights.