Farmer’s Helper · Set up your farm
Stock types
Stock types describe the forms of the products you keep, such as seeds, plants or harvested produce. One product can have several stock types.
Use this tab to name those forms and choose how each one is counted or measured.
Default product
Select the product normally used for this stock type. Fill empty starting choices can place it in a blank Add Stock or Produce or harvest draft. You can enter a different product in the draft; the shortcut keeps an existing choice. Leave this blank when the stock type is used for several products.
Stock type
Name the reusable kind of stock people will select, such as Seed packet, Young plant or Harvest lot. This is different from the stock number that identifies a particular item or quantity.
Physical form
Describe what this stock physically is or how it is held. A stock type named Harvest lot might have Tomatoes in crates as its physical form. Product identifies what you produce, Stock type names the kind of record, and Physical form describes its physical presentation. Keep the form of an established stock type unchanged; add a new type if the form changes.
How to track
Choose Separate items when each item needs its own stock number and history, such as an individual mother plant. Choose Grouped quantity when an amount is managed together under one stock number, such as 5 kg of harvested tomatoes. Separately tracked items use count and a quantity of one per record.
Quantity unit
Select how amounts of this stock are measured, such as count, kg or mL. Create or adjust the available units on the Units tab. The unit must remain consistent with the way the stock is tracked.
Growing or handling process
Choose a process created on Processes. Its stages come from Stage plans. Leave this and Starting stage blank for stock that does not follow a staged process.
Starting stage
Choose the stage where new stock normally begins. Only stages from the selected process are offered. Fill empty starting choices can fill this in a blank draft; it keeps a stage already entered. This is a step in the process, not a physical place.
Starting location
Select the physical place where new stock normally begins. Fill empty starting choices can fill this in a blank draft; it keeps a location already entered. A Suggested location on Stage plans does not override this starting choice or cause a move.
Usual use in production
Record the normal role: Continuing source for stock that remains after contributing, Material used for a consumed input, Produced stock for an output, or Choose during entry when the role varies. This describes your intended practice. In this preview you still enter the actual source, amount used and output on the production pages; the setup choice does not consume or retire stock automatically.
Use-by rule
Choose No use-by date when no date is needed, Ask for a date on each item when each record needs its own date, or Calculate from a recorded date when you use a fixed lifetime. These are saved instructions for how your farm handles this stock. This preview does not calculate a record’s usable-until date from this rule; enter that date on the stock entry.
Lifetime days
For Calculate from a recorded date, enter a positive whole number of days. For example, 14 days from a harvest on 1 June gives 15 June. Calculate the date from the actual event and enter it on the stock record; this setting does not fill the date automatically.
Count lifetime from
Choose Receipt, Creation or Harvest as the event whose date starts the lifetime. Use the date of that actual event, not a later data-entry date. If it has not happened or its date is unknown, do not invent a use-by date.
Purpose
Describe why you keep this kind of stock, such as Maintain mother plants or Sell fresh produce. This is a description for your team. It does not control production amounts, availability or stage changes.
Stock number prefix
Choose a recognisable beginning for suggested stock numbers, such as PLANT or HARV. Start with a capital letter and use up to 12 capital letters, digits or hyphens in total. Each stock type needs a distinct prefix. Stock numbers provides suggestions; existing stock numbers are kept.
Show in dropdowns
Choose Yes if you want this to be an available option in your dropdown menus. If you choose No, it will not appear as a new option. Existing records are kept.
Reference keep unchanged
This reference connects this setup entry to its saved history. Leave it unchanged.
Using the starting choices
Create Products, Units, Locations, Processes and Stage plans before selecting them here. When entering stock, choose a stock type and use Fill empty starting choices if you want its product, unit, stage and location filled into blank draft cells. This action saves repeated entry while keeping your deliberate changes. It does not post the record.