Getting Started: How to setup Inputs

Overview:

One of the first steps of setting up your Traction Enterprise account is adding Inputs.  There are four categories for Inputs: Seed, Chemical, Fertilizer, and Mixes. 

Requirements:

• Determine how you want to set up the Inventory & Purchase Unit for each input.
• Determine estimated price for each input.

Answer:

To start building your personal Input Catalog, navigate to Setup>Inputs.  Select one of the tabs - Seed, Chemical, Fertilizer, or Mixes.  Click Add and start typing the input you want add.  View the details below to find more information about adding specific inputs to your account.

Seeds, Chemicals, Fertilizers

After you select the Input Category and Input, you are able to specify the attributes, available units and default units, settings, and price estimates.

• Attributes Tab:
  • Name: Is the original name that was assigned to the input during Setup
  • Preferred Name: This is the Input Name that will be displayed throughout Traction Enterprise
  • Type: Select the type of input (seed, fertilizer, or chemical)
  • Category: Select the category of seed, fertilizer or chemical (i.e. Fungicide)
  • Manufacturer: If you don't know the manufacturer, select Unknown
    
    
    
    
• Units Tab:
  
  • State: Choose Liquid or Dry (after State has been set, it cannot be changed).
  • Density is used to calculate nutrient values and cannot be change once an amount has been entered and saved.  If you are not sure about the density of this product, we recommend leaving it blank for now.
    
    This tab allows you to select or define new units that your operation might use to purchase, store, and/or apply inputs.  For example, some farms purchase inputs in totes while others prefer to purchase in bags while storing in pounds and applying in ounces.
    
    
  • Conversion Rate: This is where you will enter any conversions for this input.  These unit conversions allow you to consider the density of your inputs.  For example, common fertilizer conversions include:
    • 1 ton 10-34-0 = 172 gal
    • 1 ton of 28-0-0 = 187.6 gal
    • 1 ton of 32-0-0 = 181.2 gal
      *Confirm product density conversions with your retailer for accurate records
      
      Note: After an input transfer is made using a conversion, the set conversions can be edited only once.  You will see the blue information bar switch to yellow to signify you can no longer edit them.  You can add custom units as often as necessary, but you cannot edit them.  This preserves data integrity.
      
      
      
      
• Defaults Tab:
  • Purchase Unit: Used to display purchasing quantities and your price estimates
  • Inventory Unit: Used to display total input quantities in inventory and in reports through Traction Enterprise - Input Usage Analyzer, Input Usage Summary, or Input Usage by Task
  • Application Rate:  The rate you plan to apply (often a per acre amount)
  • GDU to Black Layer:  See Manufacturer website for best result (seed inputs only)
  • Relative Maturity: Enter the Input's relative maturity (seed inputs only)
    
    
    •  Note:  Changes to Default Units affect future transfers only
      
      
• Prices Tab:
  
  • This tab allows you to set an input price estimate for several years
  • Planned prices are used to build your budget in Traction Enterprise.  Enter your estimated prices for your inputs to take advantage of our budgeting and forecasting tools.
  • Actual prices are driven by your delivered price, which you can enter on the Inputs>Inventory>Transfers page by clicking Add and selecting Delivery.

Mixes (Tank or Dry)

On the Mixes tab, you can create Tank and Dry Mixes from the chemicals and fertilizer you already added to your farm input catalog.

• Incorporate these products as a mix rather than as individual products to provide a more efficient experience for the Operator performing that task.
• When you create a Tank Mix, the amount of carrier is automatically adjusted so that the total amount of product adds up to the total application rate. 

In-Context Add:

Add a new input (seed, fertilizer, or chemical) to your farm catalog without having to leave the Task Details window.  

When you're creating or editing a task from the Crop Plans or Field Plans pages, you won't need to close out of your current workflow, navigate to the Inputs page, add your input and start over with creating your task from scratch.  You can quickly and easily add individual inputs directly from the Task Details window.

In addition, if you use machine data, you might plant or apply an input that's not in your farm catalog.  When reviewing field operations, you can now add new inputs to create a record right on the spot.   

Keep in mind - this is only available on Crop Plans, Field Plans, and Field Operations pages.

Related Articles:
How to create a custom Input?
Why is my Input not available to add to a Task?