Crop cycles

Start a cycle for the crop and variety in a particular field. The record connects the planned planting, the expected harvest and the stage the team is working through. A manager can use the Crop Cycles stage board to find growing and harvesting cycles while the chronological list shows what came before. If the same crop is planted again, create a separate cycle so the old harvest and work history stay attached to the right planting.

A field can have several cycles over time. Before adding the next one, the manager checks the field’s availability and earlier cycle status. The field reference matters because tasks, observations and zone boundaries all join back to it. A cycle without a dependable field link makes the later handoff hard to review.

• Planning. Record crop, variety, field and expected harvest before field work is assigned.
• Progress. Move the cycle through planned, planted, growing and harvesting as the work actually occurs.
• Close. Compare the expected harvest with the actual harvest date and linked harvest evidence.

The team can distinguish a cycle still in growing work from one ready for harvest by its stage. A manager uses that stage alongside the dated planting and harvest fields; a changed stage alone should not be treated as proof that a task happened.

Agree which physical growing areas count as fields and which surveyed shapes belong in zones. Set a naming convention for crop and variety so reports do not separate the same variety under slightly different labels. Decide who may change a cycle stage and who records the actual harvest date after review. The manager should also decide how to review a planting that is cancelled before work begins.

Use the expected harvest date as a planning aid. It is not a promise that all produce is ready on that day. The harvest record carries the observed date, grade, quantity and unit that the reviewer checks.

Take a planned basil cycle in a named field. The manager links that field, records the variety and expected harvest, then assigns a planting task to a grower. After planting, the manager checks the dated work and moves the cycle to planted. During growing, irrigation or feeding tasks and observations remain linked by field and cycle. When picking begins, the manager moves it to harvesting and the grower enters a harvest with its actual date, quantity, unit and grade. The reviewer checks that harvest against the live cycle before the manager closes the cycle.

Run the same rehearsal with a second cycle on the field. Make sure the team can tell the two plantings apart in both the board and the harvest history. The source cycle reference on a harvest should identify only the intended planting.

• Active crop cycles — Find plantings in progress by crop, field and stage.
• Crop cycle board — Compare planned, planted, growing, harvesting and closed work.
• Harvesting cycles — Check expected and actual harvest dates before closure.

Follow cycle planning into field work and harvest review. Start with a small pilot in implementation.