The Farm Office Map
On a lot of farms the same numbers get written down more than once: hours on a notepad, then a spreadsheet, then payroll, and field work in a notebook, then a program. The Farm Office Map shows you where that happens on your operation, what it is costing you, and what is actually worth fixing.
You pay once, at the visit. If you decide to have me build any of it, that money counts toward the build.
Day 0
About three hours at your place. We go through how a normal week runs, from the field to the office.
You pay $1,000By day 14
Written out so you can read it on your own time or pass it to whoever does your books.
After you read it
We go through it together and I answer any questions.
Within 60 days
Build it: all $1,000 counts toward the build.
Or don't: the map is yours to keep and use.
The recording. With your okay I record the visit so I get your numbers right. The recording is only used to write your map. I use AI tools to help me write it up.
What to have handy. If you can, one real example of each record you keep: a timesheet, a scale ticket, and whatever you keep field work in.
Every build is scoped and priced for your farm, and you have the price in writing before you decide.
The build's price is the same with or without a map. Your $1,000 just counts as money you already paid toward it, as long as you decide within 60 days of getting your map.
Three parts, in writing: how work moves through your office, where numbers get typed twice (counted), and what to fix first.
Crew hours
Waits up to a week for Sunday.
Scale tickets
Tickets pile up on the counter during harvest.
| What gets typed twice | How often | Minutes | Hours a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crew hours: spreadsheet, then payroll | Weekly, 4 people | 40 a week | 34 |
| Scale tickets: spreadsheet, then settlement | About 900 loads a harvest | 2 each | 30 |
| Field work: notebook, then records program | About 400 entries a year | 3 each | 20 |
| Total, at $30 an hour | 84 hrs · $2,520 | ||
Every build starts from the same core. On top of that goes whatever is specific to your operation. That part is different on every farm, so the map is where we work out what it covers.
Whatever your map turns up, like a field-by-field profit report. Scoped and priced for your farm, in writing, before you decide.
Your crew sends hours, what got done and what broke from their phone, and it lands where it belongs, typed once.
I'm Daniel Knutson. I farm with my family near Meservey: corn and soybeans, an organic rotation with alfalfa and oats, and cattle and goats. I've spent my own evenings in the office retyping records, and that is where this came from.
This winter I am taking on five farms, before planting.