Planting areas are the geographical areas of a farm or a ranch where crops are planted and often referred to as fields, lots, blocks, paddocks, orchards, etc. The planting area retains information about the soil type and the latitude and longitude of where you are growing your crop. Add a new planting area under ranch settings.


In the “add planting area” form enter the name of the planting area, the size in acres, and enter the coordinates (latitude and longitude) of the center of planting area or select the location from the map.

Selecting the field from the google map will automatically import in the coordinates and soil type. Soil property information is imported from the National Resource Conservation Service Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) via UC Davis SoilWeb. This information can be modified by selecting the “dotted” icon to the right of soil type.

CropManage certified data implies that the administrator for CropManage reviewed the data for the soil type and approved the values. Soil properties can be adjusted based on your own laboratory results. The soil texture data (% sand and silt), as well as bulk density, are important for estimating plant-available soil moisture. Soil tension at saturation is the corresponding tension of the soil approximately 12 hours to a day after irrigating, when the soil has had time to drain. The mineralization rate value is an approximate estimate of nitrogen mineralization from the soil organic matter. Increasing this value will contribute more mineral nitrogen to the crop.

If a soil layer is impervious to root growth, such as a compacted zone, sudden change in soil texture, or perched water table, this depth can be indicated by selecting “root depth obstruction.” CropManage will limit the maximum depth of the roots to the depth of this layer.
Now you are ready for the next step: customizing the fertilizer list