How to Write Daily Reports for Staff at Agricultural Corporations: Keeping Them Separate from Work Logs and Spraying and Shipping Records, and Turning Field-by-Field Observations and Ideas About Work Planning into the Next Task

Daily reports by staff at agricultural corporations (in Japan, nōgyō hōjin, meaning farms run as companies) tend to become a list of the day's tasks and hours: 'Morning: planting out cabbage seedlings.

Afternoon: weeding. 8:00 to 17:00' (a fictional example for illustration).

A record of what was done is essential, but on its own it does not capture what you noticed about the crop in which field.

Nor does it capture how you rearranged the order of work in response to a rain forecast and how that went.

Nor does it capture what the person going into that field tomorrow should be told.

On top of that, farms already keep records required by company rules or agreements with buyers.

They include a work log for each field, records of pesticide and fertiliser use, and harvest and shipping records.

They also include machine inspection records and attendance records. So the daily report tends to look like writing the same thing twice.

In harvest season staff are often out in the fields from sunrise to sunset and worn out by the time they get back to the packing shed.

And if the farm manager never responds, the report shrinks to a single line such as 'no problems'.

The plan is made and carried out, but the part where you check the result and decide the next move, the C and A of PDCA, is missing.

This article looks at how to reposition the daily report from a copy of the work records to a tool.

That tool is for looking back on the day's fields and work planning and using that in the next task and in improvements across the farm.

The daily report here is not a substitute for the work log or the spraying and shipping records.

It is a short reflection for passing observations and handover notes to the people working on the same farm and to the farm manager.

Nor is writing daily reports a promise of higher yields or sales.

Please read on with this as a question of how reports are written and read, not of individual people.

If farm staff's daily reports are kept to about the following seven fields, they can be finished even on tiring days.

(1) The aim of today's work plan, meaning in which task in which field you will try which order, allocation of people or way of using tools.

(2) The result, meaning where work went faster than expected and where it took longer, and why.

(3) The state of the crop in each field, meaning one line per field on anything you noticed.

Examples are how growth is progressing, the colour of the leaves, changes that look like pests or disease, or drainage.

(4) The weather and rearranging work, meaning what you brought forward and what you put off in response to the forecast or the sky on the day.

(5) Observations on machinery and materials, such as a machine that is not running well or materials running low.

Repairs and orders go through the set procedures. (6) Handover notes for whoever works in that field or on that task tomorrow.

(7) What is troubling you, what you want to consult about and your first task tomorrow.

What matters is not to copy into the daily report what goes into the work log, the spraying record or the shipping record.

Keep the daily report to reflection on your own work planning, observations you want everyone on the farm to know about, and consultations.

Consider observations such as 'in the east field, water tends to stay between the ridges after rain'.

Another is 'lining up the harvest crates at the edge of the field the day before made loading faster in the morning'.

Another is 'people say the packing table is the wrong height and their backs hurt'.

These hardly fit the columns of established records and are exactly what the daily report can pick up.

How buyers, customers and co-workers are referred to in the daily report should follow the company's rules and its policy on handling personal information.

The more fields there are, the longer writing takes and the more blanks appear.

Start with about five and add or remove fields based on what people on the ground say as you go.

The norolu PDCA format consists of five fields: P, D, C and A plus the next P (P is today's aim, D what you actually did, C what you noticed and A what you will do next).

Here is an example from a staff member responsible for a field growing broccoli in the open (the content and figures are a fictional example for illustration).

P: 'Rain is forecast from the afternoon, so finish harvesting the north field in the morning and move to trimming and sorting in the packing shed in the afternoon.'

D: 'Three of us started harvesting, but with nobody carrying the crates, the cutters kept having to stop.

It started raining at 11:00 and we stopped in the north field with two rows left.'

C: 'If we had split the roles of cutting and carrying from the start, we might have finished sooner with the same number of people.

The two rows left may grow too large by tomorrow.' A: 'For the next rushed harvest, decide on one person to carry before starting.

Ask the farm manager about harvesting the remaining two rows first thing tomorrow morning.'

Next P: 'Decide on a carrier before starting the harvest and finish the remaining two rows in the morning.'

When writing A, make it one thing you will actually do in the next task.

Writing 'decide on a carrier before starting' rather than 'plan the work well' lets the next day's report show clearly whether it was done.

The amount harvested and the number shipped belong in the harvest and shipping records; the daily report keeps your ideas for planning the work and what you noticed.

One to three lines in each field is plenty.

In harvest season, seasonal staff, part-timers who work short hours and newly hired staff often take on shipping work in the packing shed, such as grading and packing.

For them, the daily report can also be a channel for letting others know early about what they do not understand (a fictional example for illustration).

P: 'When grading tomatoes, sort them according to the size guide I was taught.'

D: 'Many were close to the boundary of the guide, and I kept stopping to decide which side to put them on.

Some had small visible marks, and since I could not tell whether they could go for shipping, I set them aside.'

C: 'I did not know whom to ask about which side boundary tomatoes go to or how to handle marked ones.

Everyone looked busy and it was hard to speak up during work.'

A: 'Before work tomorrow, check with the packing shed lead how to handle boundary and marked tomatoes.

Note in the handover field where I put the ones I set aside.'

Writing down what you do not understand is not about admitting a lack of ability; it is about getting help early.

The lead or more experienced staff who receive the report first respond with something like 'thanks for writing this down'.

They then give back just one useful clue. When this is done, uncertainties come to the surface more easily.

Decisions about shipping itself are not left to the individual through the daily report; they are made under the company's rules and by the lead's judgment.

Keep the fields few so that seasonal staff can write too.

Agricultural corporations already have a work log for each field.

They also have records kept when pesticides or fertilisers are used (spraying and fertilising records).

They have harvest and shipping records, records of exchanges with buyers, and machine inspection and repair records.

They also have records of materials in stock and attendance records.

Farms working towards third-party certification such as GAP also keep the records its standards call for. These are kept in their own set places.

They are kept in line with the company's rules, agreements with buyers, the relevant regulations and the company's policy on handling personal information.

What is kept, with which items and for how long, varies with the crops grown, the buyers and the size of the farm.

The daily report cannot stand in for these records.

Assume that writing 'please tell the buyer how much is going out tomorrow' in a daily report does not mean the buyer has been contacted.

Pesticides are used following the product label, the company's procedures and the instructions of the person in charge, and their use is recorded in the established records.

Writing it in the daily report does not mean that record has been kept.

As a rule of thumb, the facts of work, spraying, harvesting and shipping, and inspections go into the established records.

The daily report, meanwhile, holds reflection on your work planning and what you noticed in the fields or the packing shed.

It also holds the gist of handover notes and the next step.

When the daily report needs to touch on what is in the established records, a single line such as 'entered in the work log' or 'entered in the spraying record' is enough.

Who contacts buyers and by what means also follows the company's rules and the judgment of the person in charge.

Dividing the roles like this at the outset saves writing the same content in two places and keeps the daily report as a place for reflection.

Things like 'the mower threw a stone that nearly hit someone nearby' or 'a staff member felt unwell in the heat' are sometimes written in the C field.

So are things like 'I found an insect in a box before shipping' or 'a buyer commented on the produce they received'.

Do not let such events end with the daily report; connect them to the procedures the company has set. You may notice an injury or someone feeling unwell.

There may be a close call with farm machinery such as a tractor or a brush cutter.

You may notice a problem that affects quality or safety, such as crop disease or pests spreading or foreign matter or damage in produce for shipping.

Or you may receive comments or complaints from buyers or customers.

When any of this happens, do not wait until it is time to write the report and do not carry it alone.

Tell the farm manager or the person in charge on the spot and act in line with the company's procedures.

Do not decide on your own how to respond, what to tell the buyer and how, or whether to stop a shipment; follow the company's rules and the judgment of the person in charge.

In addition, some information should not be written in the daily report.

That includes the names of contacts at buyers or customers, and addresses and contact details such as phone numbers and email addresses.

It also includes the details of trading terms and amounts.

So does detailed information about co-workers' health, family circumstances or employment conditions.

Handle them within the established records in line with the company's rules and its policy on handling personal information.

Where the keys to storehouses or the pesticide store are kept, and any access codes, do not go in the daily report either.

In the daily report it is enough to write the situation and your own observation, such as 'a stone was thrown up while using the brush cutter'.

Avoid settling the cause or responsibility in the daily report and avoid writing in a way that blames co-workers or buyers.

The daily report is the first step in flagging that something is wrong, not the response itself.

Adding 'reported to the farm manager' lets readers confirm whether it led to a formal response.

Farm managers and leads read the reports of the staff who worked in the fields or the packing shed that day.

Reading every report closely every day is not sustainable. So look at A (what you will do next) first.

Then go through C (what you noticed), the handover notes and the consultation field for anything that needs help.

Also look for anything to decide about who does what tomorrow or in what order.

And look for anything the company should take on, such as contacting a buyer or repairing a machine.

Replies last longer when they acknowledge the fact written in one sentence and add one question or next step.

For example: 'Good idea to separate out a carrier. Let's decide at tomorrow's morning meeting who to ask.'

On some farms, fields are spread over several places and people rarely see each other, or the workforce changes with the seasons.

There, the daily report also serves to pass on the state of the fields and tips for the work from person to person.

Figures such as yields and working hours matter too.

But not using the daily report to compare people or measure them by speed is the precondition for people writing things as they are.

Once a week, go back over the week's reports together. Discussing in the KPT format (Keep, Problem, Try) covers two things.

One is whether the same observation keeps coming up for the same field. Another is how the work plans and weather-driven changes you tried worked out.

That turns one person's observation into a review of work across the farm.

With the weekly summary in norolu PDCA, you can look back over a week of observations at once.

If a report is missing on some day, start by asking about the circumstances, and check whether the number of fields and the time of day for writing fit the flow of a farming day.

The AI in norolu PDCA stays in a supporting role: drafting reports, asking questions that help reflection and summarising a week.

That division of roles is the same at agricultural corporations.

AI can tidy staff members' short notes into readable form, or pick out observations and consultations that keep coming up about the same field across a week of reports.

But decisions such as how to change the order of work or who does what are made by the farm manager or the person in charge.

So are decisions on whether to use a pesticide and how, and what to do about harvesting and shipping.

The same goes for how to respond to injuries, close calls or comments from buyers.

Nor can an AI draft or a daily report stand in for decisions on spraying or shipping.

It is reassuring to handle the personal information of buyers and co-workers within the established records.

Do so in line with the company's rules and its policy on handling personal information, and keep it out of the daily report.

As for norolu PDCA, it is designed so that daily report data is recorded in the Google Drive (spreadsheet) of the company using it.

That is, the data goes to your own organisation, following a minimal data retention approach that does not accumulate information on our side.

Separate the roles of the established records and the daily report, write in a short format, and have the reader reply.

We believe that this repetition is the footing that links small observations in the fields and the packing shed to the next step in the work and to improvements across the farm.