This spreadsheet tip follows up my post about our seed room. In it I look at the basics of how we manage our seed inventory through a spreadsheet.
It is easy to try to make a spreadsheet row do too much.
But by breaking down one row into multiple rows, you can get more detail and accuracy about each step of a larger process.
Essentially each row needs to tell only one story.
In this case, the story each row should tell is how much seed of a specific lot was packed on a specific date.
We can then set up another sheet to explain how the lot has changed over time.
This inventory approach can be used for anything you want to track: carrots, garlic braids, hot sauces, collectible star wars figures, …
This Farmer Spreadsheet Tip was originally recorded as a Facebook Live. The intro and outro video quality definitely needs some work. I am looking into improving that.
I’ve been experimenting with different Facebook Live times and have realized that Thursday around 2pm is probably what will be easiest for me. (Thursday evenings overlapped with getting the kids to bed.)
I hope to see you there for my next spreadsheet tip!
If you’ve got any farm planning or management problems you think a spreadsheet would solve, please contact me! I’m looking for case studies for future tips.