Small Farm Efficiency: Choose One Change to Trial

Updated October 25, 2026

Start with a farm job that repeatedly takes longer than planned. Record where the time goes, compare ways to change the work, then trial one change against the result you need. A new machine, irrigation controller or app belongs in that decision only when it answers the recorded problem.

This guide offers a work-record and comparison method. It does not report a farm trial or predict savings. Use it for a defined job on your own farm; crop and soil decisions also need guidance suited to your location.

Record the task before choosing a solution

Choose a recurring job with a clear finish, such as moving harvested crates from a growing area to a collection point. Describe what must arrive, where it must go and when it is needed. Record a normal occurrence before changing the setup.

Keep these fields together in a notebook or a file that the people doing the job can use:

• Task and result: the material or crop, quantity, destination and acceptable condition at the finish.
• Route: the collection and delivery points, gates, turns and places where movement stops.
• Time: preparation, productive work, waiting, travel and cleanup, recorded separately.
• People and equipment: who was available and what they used.
• Conditions: weather, ground condition and anything unusual about that occurrence.
• Problem: the repeated trip, missing supply, queue or unfinished step that needs attention.

Where did the delay actually occur? A slow journey and a long wait for a shared tool call for different investigations. Record the wait rather than counting the entire job as slow machine work. If the occurrence was unusual, keep that note and observe another comparable job before choosing a change.

An optional notebook for outdoor records

Use the record format above with the paper or digital tool that suits the job.

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  Rite in the Rain No. 135 field notebook

  Record the route, waiting time and ground conditions while a job is under way. The pocket notebook has 50 all-weather sheets; use a pencil or all-weather pen on wet paper. A phone or ordinary notebook can serve the same record.

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Compare a process change with shared, hired and owned resources

Use the record to ask what each option would change. Include preparation and handover work in the comparison, not just the period when a tool is running.

Write down the cost items you can substantiate and leave unknowns visible. For a shared machine, ask what happens when several farms need it at the same time. For hired work, clarify whether transport and cleanup are included. A low headline price alone does not settle either question.

If the record points to a tractor requirement, continue with the small-farm tractor features and configuration guide. The tractor job and package checklist can help organize the offer. Neither link replaces confirmation of the actual machine, implement and operating requirements.

Investigate irrigation only when watering is the bottleneck

For a watering problem, first distinguish time spent moving equipment from a concern about water delivery to the crop. Note the crop, soil, water supply, area and available labor before comparing systems.

University of Minnesota Extension's specialty-crop irrigation guide explains that these conditions and initial cost influence the choice between drip and overhead irrigation. Drip can reduce sprinkler-moving work once installed, but installation labor, clogging and plastic waste also belong in the decision. The guide's Minnesota context matters; it does not establish a saving for your farm.

Ask a supplier or local adviser to check the proposed system against your water supply and crop layout. Obtain the equipment's applicable requirements before selecting components. Automation does not, by itself, show that the crop is receiving suitable irrigation.

Check the soil before making compost the solution

If the problem concerns soil management or a recurring stream of organic material, separate two questions: how to handle that material, and whether a particular field needs the finished amendment. Creating compost does not establish that the soil needs more of it.

UMN Extension's guidance on excess compost and manure describes nutrient imbalances and soluble-salt problems after excessive applications. It recommends soil testing to assess those problems and says compost should have completed the composting process before application.

For a suspected excess, discuss suitable soil tests and the field's input history with a local adviser. Use the results to decide what, if anything, to apply. This guide supplies no compost rate, fertilizer prescription or promise of a better harvest.

Trial one change and decide whether to keep it

Choose a change you can assess on a limited job or area. Before starting, write the required result and the question the trial must answer: fewer return trips, less waiting or completion within the available work window. Set an acceptable condition for the finished work as well as a time measure.

Use the same record fields for the original setup and the trial. Compare similar workloads and note differences in conditions. Include setup, transport, cleanup, purchased supplies and any rework. Stop if the proposed arrangement conflicts with applicable equipment instructions or makes the route or work unsuitable.

What improved, and what became harder? Keep the change only if the record supports the result you need at an acceptable cost and workload. If weather or a different task size prevents a useful comparison, mark the result inconclusive. Keep that record for the next comparable occurrence before committing to a larger purchase or wider rollout.