Overview
Farm groups provide a way for farmers, advisors and organisations to group farms enabling aggregated reporting and benchmarking. This provides a mechanism for working collectively to understand and lower nutrient losses into the environment.
The following are some examples for the use of farm groups within OverseerFM:
- Farms within a water catchment to work together
- Processing companies or irrigation schemes to report on and work with a group of farms
- Farming enterprises managing multiple individual farms
- Farms in a local area that wish to collaborate and help each other
Once a farm group is created, farms are invited to join the group and can share year-end analyses with the group by publishing to it. If you are unsure of how to publish an analysis, please take a look at the Guide to Publishing
Published farm analyses enable aggregated information and benchmarking for the group. Results are visible to those within the group or the organisation to which the analysis was published. More details are set out below.
Creating a group
Anyone can create a group by selecting the “Create farm group” link on the “Dashboard” as shown.
When creating a group, a name is required, and a description can be entered.
The visibility for the group must be set. This should be set based on the group’s purpose and who requires access to the information. It can be:
- Private: Only the organisation that created the group can see the reporting
- Owner: The organisation that created it and the owners of farms within the group can see the reporting
- Farm access: All organisations that have access to any farm in the group can see the reporting
Selecting “Show member list” will allow members to see the list of farms that are in the group.
A ‘member farm’ is a farm that is invited to a group and then subsequently accepts the invitation to be part of the group.
To invite a farm, enter the farm’s name in the ‘Farm search’ text box. The search results will show the name, address and ownership status of the farm. Once the farm account is found (please double check that you have the right farm), select it by checking the checkbox next to the farm name.
Multiple farms can be searched for and invited to the group at once. The farms already selected will remain in the search results when another search for a farm is executed.
Additional farms can be invited at any time after the group has been created.
Comments can be added when creating the group. These comments will appear on the invitation email that is sent to the farm owner and on the invitation notification that will be displayed on the farm owner’s dashboard.
Select ‘Save’ to create the group. Once saved an invitation email is sent to the owner or pending owner of the farms that are in the list.
If your organisation has ownership access to the farm you have invited, these farms are automatically accepted into the group.
Once you create a group, you and all members of your organisation are administrators of the group. Farm groups that you are an administrator of are displayed within the “Farm groups” section on the dashboard, shown below. The farm groups table shows when the group was created, how many farms have been invited to the group and how many have accepted membership of the group.
Administrators can delete a group if there are no current members in it.
When the group is selected the following screen is displayed.
Group details (name and description) can be edited by selecting the “Manage farm group settings’ link.
Additional farms can be invited to the group using the “Invite new members” link.
The above screenshot shows the state when no analyses have been published to the group for a selected year.
Once analyses have been published, the following tabs are available:
- Aggregated reporting provides totals for the published analyses in the selected year.
- Benchmarking by farms compares farms losses.
- Benchmarking by blocks compares block losses by block type in the group
- Membership shows the list of farms that belong to the group
More detail is provided on reporting later in this document.
The “Membership” tab shows the invited farms and the farms that have accepted the invitation to join the group. Pending invitations can be deleted from here. Member farms can also be removed from the group by administrators of the group. If member farms are removed from the group, the associated publications to the group are removed. Farms that you have access to will have a link to take you to that farm.
Accepting membership
A group invitation email is sent to the owner of a farm and a notification appears on the farm owner’s dashboard within the “Action required” section.
The invitation can be declined or accepted by the farm owner. If declined, the notification is removed from the dashboard and the farm does not become part of the group.
Once accepted, the farm becomes part of the group and can publish year end analyses to the group.
If the group is set to provide access to any organisation with farm access, all organisations with farm access can now see the “Farm groups” blue section within the farm. Accessing reports from within the farm will view the reports from the context of this farm.
Publishing
Farms can now publish analyses to both individual organisations or farm groups that the farm is a member of.
Groups are shown in the publication list as shown. Users that have been given access to a farm can publish to their own organisation for reporting.
By publishing you are making the information in the analysis available to that group or organisation for aggregated reporting and benchmarking. Not all information is visible in the reports and farm names are not shown to users that do not have access to the farms themselves. Please read the following sections on reporting to see what is shown to users in each report.
Reporting
Organisations can view reports for the analyses that have been published to them. Farm group members can see reports for analyses that were published to the group.
For groups, access to the reports are based on the permissions set for the group (refer creating a group section on page 1 of this document). For organisational publications, only the users within that organisation can see the reports.
There are three ways to access the reports:
From within a farm that is a member of the group
From the dashboard, if you are the administrator of the group
From the publication summary section of the dashboard if organisational reporting
Aggregated Reporting
The aggregated report totals the OverseerFM results for each published analysis by year.
Overview – Shows the total productive area, irrigated area, effluent area receiving liquids and area of all farms that were published. The total losses for nitrogen, phosphorus and GHG emissions are also shown. The per hectare values are the total losses divided by the total farm area. It does not represent an average loss per farm, but rather a loss per hectare for the entire group.
GHG emissions - The GHG emissions table shows the totals for all farm emissions. The figures are represented in tonnes of eC02 per year broken down by methane, N20 (nitrous oxide) and C02.(carbon dioxide)
Block types – This section displays the number of farms and blocks that are represented in the aggregated data set broken down by Overseer block type. It also shows the total area and percentage (by area) of each type.
Block graphs – Shows the nitrogen and phosphorus losses by block type. You can switch between total and per hectare values using the buttons above each graph.
Livestock – Shows the breakdown of stock using revised stock units (RSU). Shows the amount of energy each type of enterprise obtained from various food sources (crops, pasture or supplements). RSU is 6000 MJ ME/year (amount of metabolisable energy required from feed). This is a way of comparing stock from different animal enterprises and is the basis for the Overseer modelling.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking compares farm and block results by year. If accessed via a farm, the farm’s results will be highlighted to easily see that farm’s results compared to the others in the group.
The results can be filtered by animal enterprise type. Only farms with the selected animal enterprise will appear in the reports. Selecting the “non animals” filter will include farms that do not have any animal enterprises.
Benchmarking by farm – Compares the results for all farms in the group. It can switch from showing total losses to showing per hectare losses for each farm. Nitrogen surplus and nitrogen conversion efficiency graphs are shown when showing per hectare losses.
The reoport now starts with a map, for farms that you have permission to see, the map shows the location of each farm. The size of the circle indicates the size of the farm. You can click on a circle to view its details on the right. Farms are colour coded by farm enterprise type.
Below the map are the benchmarking graphs, each bar represents a farm that has published an analysis for the selected year. The results are ordered by kg/ha from smallest to largest even if the report is viewed by total kgs.
If you have accessed this report from the farm, the farm will be highlighted so you can see where it sits in relation to other farms in the data set. If you have accessed this from the dashboard no farms will be highlighted.
Clicking on a bar in any graph will show summary data for the farm (average climate, area, irrigated area, animal enterprise RSU, nitrogen loss, phosphorus loss and GHG emissions). The bar for that farm will be highlighted in each of the graphs.
The name of the farm that is selected is only shown if you have access to that farm. If you do not it will be marked as ‘anonymous’ but you will still be able to view the summary data for that farm.
For help with downloading data from the benchmarking by farms page visit the Downloading results from Aggregated Reporting / Farm Groups article
Benchmarking by block - This report also starts with a map, showing the location of productive blocks on farms which you have access to, and which have drawn blocks. Blocks are colour coded by type.
The graphs show losses for each block in the group. Each bar within the graphs represent the results of a block that is in the data set. The results are ordered by kg/ha from smallest to largest even if the report is viewed by total kgs.
Only one block type can be reported on at a time. Only the block types that are within the aggregated dataset are displayed in the filters. Once a block type is selected, the graphs display the N and P loss for each block within the data set that is of that block type.
If you have accessed this report from the farm, all blocks within the farm will be highlighted so you can see where each block sits in relation to other farms in the data set. If you have accessed this from the dashboard no blocks will be highlighted.
Select a bar in any graph shows summary data for the block (average climate, area, irrigated area, pasture type, animal enterprise RSU, nitrogen loss and phosphorus loss). The bar for the selected block will be highlighted in each of the graphs.
