• Virtual Stick

• HHR 3070
• Tru-Test

To change the Scan Mode, select this option at the bottom of the ‘Read Tag’ screen.

Choose between:

• Single Read – to scan each tag individually using the ‘Scan Tag’ button. The Virtual Stick will automatically assign all readings to the current session. 
• Assign to a Group – when a tag is scanned, you will be given the opportunity to assign it to a group within the current session. You can mark a particular group as the default from within this option as well as from the Setup Groups option. 
• Continuous Read – this option will allow you to start scanning continuously against a number of tags. Click on ‘Scan Tag’ to start scanning and ‘Stop Reading’ to finish.

The below stick readers are compatible with Farmplan (please note this may not include all models):

• Agrident stick reader (including AWR100)
• Allflex stick reader (including RS340 and RS420)
• Farmplan virtual stick (Psion/Workabout Pro)
• Gallagher stick reader (including HR3 but not the HR5)
• Shearwell stick reader (including SDL 400 and SDL 440)
• Syscan stick reader
• Trutest stick reader (including XRS, XRS2 and SRS2)

To select which stick reader you are importing tag records from please go to Tools, Options and Stick reader from within your program.

If you are looking to purchase a new stick reader and it is not listed above then please contact Farmplan prior to purchase.

Check that you have selected the correct model of stick reader within Tools > Options.

You can then read from the stick reader within the Select Animal screen when entering a movement/treatment/action by clicking Stick Reader and then Read Stick.

• Animal Logger Devices (Psion and iMan)

• HHR 3070
• Tru-Test Devices

Click here for information about retagging using the Psion.

Click here for more information about retagging on a Psion.

Click here for more information about using the Speed Mode on a Psion.

• Flock Manager

• Flock Manager Version 1.65

New Totals Reports

There are now 2 new reports that will also help identify the number of animals of each category and breed at individual holdings. Go to Report Library – Holding Register

Animal Summary Report

This report shows the number of animals on any specific date by holding and/or breed.

Animal Movements Report

The Animal Movements report can be filtered by Holding and Breed to show the detail of all movements to or from any location and a running total since a specified date.

The combination of these 2 new reports will provide you with an accurate and up to date record of all sheep owned by you according to your data.  It is similar to the existing Holding Audit but will also show all movements to and from other people’s holdings to monitor all sales/purchases with other traders.

Click here for more details about backing up your data.

When to Backup will depend on the volume of data that is being entered and individual circumstances. However it is recommended that a portable copy is made frequently and kept away from the computer.

Additional copying will depend on the user – perhaps make a hard disk copy every hour and a web backup or portable copy at the end of the day. But do not overwrite these copies immediately; rotate a series of at least 3 backups always overwriting the most out of date copy.

It is extremely important to label each copy clearly with the exact details of what is on it – the dataset name, date/time and, for example, some details that remind you of the last entry made.

The below stick readers are compatible with Farmplan (please note this may not include all models):

• Agrident stick reader (including AWR100)
• Allflex stick reader (including RS340 and RS420)
• Farmplan virtual stick (Psion/Workabout Pro)
• Gallagher stick reader (including HR3 but not the HR5)
• Shearwell stick reader (including SDL 400 and SDL 440)
• Syscan stick reader
• Trutest stick reader (including XRS, XRS2 and SRS2)

To select which stick reader you are importing tag records from please go to Tools, Options and Stick reader from within your program.

If you are looking to purchase a new stick reader and it is not listed above then please contact Farmplan prior to purchase.

Go into Settings on your XRS stick reader. Scroll down to Option 10 and change the setting.

Check that you have selected the correct model of stick reader within Tools > Options.

You can then read from the stick reader within the Select Animal screen when entering a movement/treatment/action by clicking Stick Reader and then Read Stick.

All our desktop programs need to be installed within a Windows environment (Windows 8 and Windows 10).  Windows 7 is no longer supported by Microsoft, meaning you will not be able to install onto Windows 7 machines.

Apple hardware can be configured with Windows 10 Pro using Parallels Desktop. Click here for more information about Apple hardware or for information about our recommended computer spec click here.

Please contact Farmplan’s Hardware team if you have any further queries on 01594 545033.

Your software can be licenced by going to File and selecting Licence.

You will be given a new screen where you will have your details entered. Providing your Web Access Code has been entered, you can click Get Key followed by Register. 

Your licence will then be updated. To allow Farmplan to update using this method you will need to be connected to the internet.

If you do not have a Web Access Code or internet connection please contact Farmplan.

Click here for more information about setting up ARAMS.

ARAMS – Electronic movement submissions (England only)

In April 2014,  the Animal Reporting and Movement Service (ARAMS) took over the processing of all sheep movements from each local authority in England.

Paper ARAMS1 form

When moving animals, it is the recipient of the animals who is responsible for notifying ARAMS by sending the white paper copy of the form to them.  The seller keeps one copy (yellow) but the other copies go with the animals – ARAMS (white), destination copy (pink)  and the haulier (blue).  The ARAMS printout is available from Reports – Movement Documents within the program.

Electronic Notifications

The option has now been added to send movement details to ARAMS electronically via the Flock Manager program.

As a farmer you may either be sending the ‘on’ and ‘off’ movements,  for example, when animals are moved from your holding to another farmer’s OR you may just be confirming someone else’s movement onto your holding – providing they have done an off movement – for example buying animals via a market.

In order to use the electronic movement option within Flock Manager, you should first register with the ARAMS service by going to:

http://www.arams.co.uk/Portals.aspx

You will create an account which will include your user name (usually your email address) which will generate apassword which will be emailed to you.  This may take up to 48 hours.  Make sure you take a note of these as you will need to enter them into the Flock Manager program.

Make sure that you select the option to be a Package User.

Please note that ARAMS will either allow farmers to register as an ‘ARAMS Portal User’ i.e. movements are entered directly to their website or as a ‘Package User’ to use a 3rd party package such as Flock Manager to submit movements with read only access to their website.  You currently cannot use both options.  If you have already registered as a Portal User then you should contact ARAMS so that they can change your registration details.

You will need the CPH number and postcode of the main (primary) holding.  Additional (secondary) holdings may be linked to your primary holding once you have registered successfully.  This must be done within the ARAMS website before they are linked within the Flock Manager program.

Run the current Holding Register Report.

• Go to the Report Library
• Select this by clicking on the Reports button on the Homepage main toolbar at the top of the screen
• When the Library opens, select Holding Register under the Report Categories on the left of the window
• Double click on the appropriate Holding Register to run the report This will display English/Welsh/Scottish depending on the Holding location selection.

You can download a PDF printer driver from the Internet onto your computer. Just use a search engine to find a ‘Free PDF printer driver’. When you are downloading it keep answering ‘Run’ if asked. Go to the report and select the option to ‘Print’. You will see that this PDF driver is now an option under the available printers. Select this one instead of your normal printer and the report will be created in the format of a PDF file. This will allow you to use the normal pdf functionalities of being able to select a page or attach this file to an email.

The Holding Register can be viewed/printed in English, Welsh or Scottish formats. You can change the region of your data to change the layout of the Holding register as necessary by going to Setup – Business Details.

On installing the program it will default the report layout to English but you will be given the opportunity to select the main region when you create your own data. If you have holdings in more than one region you should normally select England at this point.  This will default your opening date to 1 December for each holding.

The opening numbers for the Welsh/Scottish holding can either be entered on 1 December or 1 January but the Holding Register will run from 1 January of the new year.

You won’t be able to call up a record card for an individual sheep, but you can go from the Tools menu to Find an Animal … Enter the ear tag number of the sheep and click on the Find button to view and select the tag and see what has been recorded against this particular tag number.  This record can be printed.

• Enter a Sale record prior to the sale, so that date and full details of sheep to be sold are entered.  This record will appear as a Planned Sale
• Go to Reports and select the Movement Documents category
• Select and run the ARAMS Movement Document for Sales to preview and print a pre-populated Movement Document and FCI Statement
• Planned Movements can also be entered in order to produce the appropriate Movement Documents.

If your program is showing Demonstration Data you will need to go to File > Select Dataset within the program and click the drop down arrow (shown below in red) and select your own business before pressing Ok. This will then take you into your business.

If your data is on a Network please ensure you have access to the data location from outside the program.

To establish which version of Flock Manager is in use:

• click the Help menu
• then click on About Flock Manager

The program version and your Farmplan customer number will be displayed.

The exact procedure will depend on the region in which you live.  Go to the option called Upgrading from the Actions section of the list bar. Enter the details of the new tags first on the left hand side of the screen, followed by the previous tag details on the right.

Click here for more information about retagging in Flock Manager.

Click here for more information about identifying lambs.

• Click on the Reports button on the Homepage main toolbar at the top of the screen then Report Library
• When the Library opens, select Treatments under the Report Categories on the left of the window
• Double click on Animals in Withdrawal periods to run the report

It is now possible to copy an existing Drug Treatment to create a new treatment record. For example you may be repeating an existing treatment on a different date, treat the same group of animals with a different drug or treat 2 different groups of animals with the same drug.

Click on the Copy button of an existing treatment screen to bring up the new entry.

You can then change any details as appropriate for example a different date and time, the identities of the animals or the batch number of the drug.

• April 2023 – John Deere Gen 4 Improvements
• December 2022 – Sentinel update
• October 2022 – John Deere Gen 4
• May 2022 – Carbon Audit Data
• November 2021 – Climate FieldView Integration
• October 2021 – Sentinel Library Improvements
• July 2021 – Device and Program update
• May 2021 – Devices update
• February 2021 – Web Apps and MyJohnDeere changes
• August 2020 – Farm Mapping Lite
• Gatekeeper and John Deere Gen 4 Controllers
• July 2020 – John Deere Gen 4
• November 2019 – AHDB RB209 Version 9 API changes

• Gatekeeper Best Practice
• Nutrient Management – England & Wales
• Nutrient Management – Scotland
• Farm Mapping Lite
• Mapping Module
• Precision Farming Modules
• Web Apps
• Web Apps – In Cab Sheets
• Stock & Trading
• Produce
• Budgeting
• Reporting

• Grower Quick Start
• Agronomist Quick Start
• Setting up a New Year
• Web Grower Quick Start

Below is a video explaining how to set up crops and varieties as an agronomist, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

Below is a video explaining how to set up create recommendations, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

Gatekeeper agronomists can publish recommendations from their desktop Gatekeeper to Gatekeeper Cloud users. For more information, please click here.

Gatekeeper agronomists with a Sentinel Active subscription can now automatically send EAMU documents as an email attachment at the same time as publishing a recommendation to a grower’s Gatekeeper.

To send the relevant EAMU document(s) when publishing a recommendation:

• Create your recommendation as usual
• Use the ‘Publish Gatekeeper plan’ button
• Select contact(s) and settings as usual
• Tick ‘Email linked EAMU PDF documents’
• Continue as normal

Synchronise or send/receive as usual, and your contact will receive an email with PDF attachment(s).

For details on using agronomy packs in recommendations, including setting them up in catalogues and sending ag packs in orders, please click here.

For details on using site supervisor, please click here.

It is strongly recommended that data local users have a robust backup policy which includes regularly saving a copy of their Gatekeeper backup to an external media source to mitigate against data loss. Data secure users should also consider a similar approach.

Gatekeeper automatically creates a backup on the local machine during the synchronisation process. To create a backup in an alternate location:

• From the main Gatekeeper screen, click ‘Synchronise’
• In the ‘Backup Options’ section, select ‘Alternate’
• Click ‘Browse’
• Navigate to required alternate location (USB or other external drive, etc) and click ‘OK’
• Click ‘Synchronise’

Gatekeeper should be synchronised after every data entry session.

Your data is the most important aspect of your business – it is important to regularly ensure that you have a valid backup of your data that has been placed on to an EXTERNAL media (such as a USB Drive). For help with this please call support on 01594 545 022.

Users with more than one site should synchronise before entering any data to pick up any changes the other user has made and after data entry is complete to backup your data and make the amended data available to other users.

If you are not using Gatekeeper on a regular basis then we recommend that Gatekeeper is synchronised once a month to keep the program up to date.

For users who have created or imported a nutrient management plan, there are a number of options for how fertiliser jobs are verified against the plan.

These options are found on the ‘Plan’ tab of any planning jobs, or the ‘Options’ tab of recording jobs, and are controlled by tick boxes:

‘User defined nutrient verification’ checks the job against any product extra checks or field protocols created by users.

‘Nutrient Management verifying’ checks the job against the calculated nutrient management requirements (RB209 figures but not NVZ rules).

‘NMax verifying’ checks the job against any calculated NVZ figures (NVZ rules only).

When sulphur is included in a nutrient management plan (NMP), users may find that it causes a verification failure. This is because typically the amount of sulphur applied to arable crops (often in an N:S product) exceeds the requirement calculated by the RB209. There are a number of possible resolutions which you may find useful, and these are detailed below.

Please remember before proceeding that Farmplan cannot provide agronomic advice. The notes below explain how the program works, and are not an agronomic endorsement of any approach. Use of the nutrient management module and ensuring any plans created are appropriate remains at all times the responsibility of the user.

Option 1 – Don’t include sulphur when creating the nutrient management plan

The failure is caused by the fact that the amount of sulphur applied has exceeded the requirement calculated. If you do not include sulphur when creating the plan, there is no maximum allowed amount calculated, so no exceedance is possible.

Once an NMP has been created in a cropping year, it is not possible to delete the plan or remove nutrients, so this option is not a solution where a plan has already been created including sulphur.

Option 2 – Include sulphur in the plan, and edit the requirement figure

If you wish to include sulphur in your NMP, but you intend to apply a greater amount than calculated by RB209, then you may wish to manually edit the sulphur requirement after it is calculated. After using the RB209 integration to create the NMP, use the edit option to adjust the sulphur figures. For more information on editing an NMP, please see page 21 of the nutrient management guide books (England and Wales or Scotland).

Option 3 – Adjust your verification settings

Sulphur is only checked as part of verification where the option ‘Include Nutrient Management verifying’ is ticked. The verification status of a plan job is controlled via the ‘Plan’ tab; and of a recording job via the ‘Options’ tab.

There are currently two RB209 rulesets available for use in Gatekeeper. The appropriate ruleset to use depends on your location, cropping, and preference.

Users in England and Wales can chose to use the new version 9 of the RB209, referring to the new AHDB document and calculations, which requires an active internet connection. Alternatively you may prefer to keep using version 8 of RB209, utilising the PLANET system, which has been available through Gatekeeper for a number of years. Please note that at present, grass fields must be calculated using RB209 v8.

Users in Scotland should select the Scotland specific selection from the available list.

When adding a fertiliser product to Gatekeeper, it is necessary to add the nutrient contents of the product. Once this has been done, nutrients applied can be automatically calculated from the amounts of product applied, or conversely amounts of fertiliser required can be calculated from nutrient figures.

To add analysis to an existing fertiliser:

• From the main Gatekeeper screen, go to Setup > Products (Business)
• Navigate the list on the left through Variable Costs > Nutrition > Fertiliser and click on the fertiliser name
• Click on the ‘Nutrition’ subtab
• Click ‘Add Item’
• Select the nutrient required (e.g., N)
• Enter the nutrient content of the fertiliser (e.g, 34)
• If required, click ‘Add Item’ again and repeat to add the next nutrient. It’s not necessary to add nutrients with a 0 analysis – for example, for 0:24:24, just add P₂O₅ and K₂O.

This information must be entered if you will be using the nutrient management centre.

When adding a manure product to Gatekeeper, it is necessary to link the product type and nutrient contents to the product. Once this has been done, the nutrients applied can be automatically calculated from the tonnage of manure applied to the field.

To add analysis to an existing manure product:

• From the main Gatekeeper screen, go to Setup > Products (Business)
• Navigate the list on the left through Variable Costs > Nutrition > Organic Manure and click on the manure name
• Click on the ‘Nutrition’ subtab
• In the ‘Manure type’ dropdown, tick the white box to activate the dropdown list and select the appropriate type for your product
• On the ‘Total’ tab on the right hand side, select from the available nutrient management rulesets, and standard figures will be populated.
• Optional: if you wish to override the standard figures, tick ‘Override analysis’ and enter your own figures
• Optional for V9 England and Wales ruleset use: if you wish to add ‘Available’ figures to display on the ‘Fertiliser’ tab of field records,
  • Tick ‘Override analysis’ on the ‘Total’ tab
  • Go to the ‘Available’ tab
  • Click ‘Add Item’, select nutrient, and enter available figure as required. Repeat as necessary for additional nutrients.

This information must be entered if you will be using the nutrient management centre.

Gatekeeper’s nutrient management centre allows users to create nutrient management plans based on their existing field records.

Alternatively, you may wish to import a nutrient management plan from your agronomist.

Once a nutrient management plan has been created, it can be used to quickly and easily create fertiliser jobs through the season.

Click here for England and Wales Nutrient Management Guide

Click here for Scotland Nutrient Management Guide.

The cropping year in Gatekeeper normally refers to the harvest year of the crop being planted. For example, a winter wheat crop sown in the autumn of 2020 would be harvested in 2021, so Gatekeeper would refer to this as the 2021 crop year.

The cropping year you are currently working in is visible in the top right corner of Gatekeeper, and the current cropping year will be shown in green. Previous years are yellow and then red, and future years are purple, When you are ready to move into the next year, you will need to ‘Advance the cropping year’. For further information, see the FAQ below. Advancing the cropping year does not prevent you from continuing to add information into previous cropping years.

Where two crops are grown in a single cropping year (for example, a cover crop followed by a spring cereal) the crop sequence function should be used. For more information see the FAQ below on multiple crops in one year.

Click here for a printable document explaining setting up a new cropping year.

By popular request – there is new functionality in Gatekeeper to allow users to update the cropping for multiple fields at the same time. You can find the ‘Multi Update’ button within the Cropping Summary window, or click here for guidance notes.

Top tip: users with many fields may wish to use multi update to first make all arable cropping records ‘Unallocated’, and then work through the list adding the new year’s cropping, to make it more obvious which fields have had their new crop added.

This message displays when the year selected is a Plan year. A plan year is signified by the business selector in the top right hand corner of Gatekeeper being coloured purple. It is not possible to enter any records into a plan year apart from the intended crop.

If you wish to start entering data into a Purple/Plan year then please follow the instructions on how to advance the cropping year.

Please note, you can create a Nutrient Management Plan in a Purple/Plan year.

Click here for notes that can be downloaded.

For intensive cropping, such as field vegetables, the intensive cropping module may be more suitable. Please contact support on 01594 545022 if you want to discuss this.

Click here for information about working with John Deere Gen 4 and Gatekeeper.

There are two possible resolutions to this situation.

Check if the browser on the device is using the ‘in private browsing’ feature. This will need to be turned off to allow the data to be cached on the device.

Alternatively you will need to free some cache on the device.

To remove unwanted devices from the list displayed, select its name, click ‘Setup Devices’ followed by ‘Delete’

Below is a video explaining how to split or merge fields, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

Please note this is instructions on how to split or merge field records, not mapped field boundaries.

To add a new field to Gatekeeper click Setup / Fields, select the required year, click ‘Add’ then ‘Add Field in 20XX’.

The most likely reason for this duplication is that an implement setting with a linked cost has been used in addition to the product of spraying within the job.

To amend this double-click the job then click the ‘Select Products’ button and remove the cost of spraying from the list of products.

Yield map data can be imported into Gatekeeper from a variety of sources.

Click here for the precision farming modules handbook, which covers the import, handling, and presentation of map data.

Below is a video explaining how to import recommendations from your Gatekeeper agronomist, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

Your agronomist will need to email their recommendations as an XML file. This can then be imported into Gatekeeper.

The procedure for importing into Gatekeeper is:

• Save the XML attachment from your email to an easy to find location (eg C:/users/desktop).
• Open the Planning module and click the Import button.
• Ensure the File Format selected is ‘Third Party GK XML File’.
• Click the browse button (small square with 3 dots) and locate the XML file, then click Import.
• We recommend that you use the Importing Plan Option of ‘Do NOT Change Field and cropping data’. This this will prevent any errors in your agronomists field details changing your field details.
• Click the import button and the recommendation will display as a draft plan.

If you are receiving an error mentioning GK exception 46 please follow the below steps:

Windows 8

Below are the steps to start the Gatekeeper Admin Services.

From the main desktop screen:

1)            Right click on Start

2)            In the Start menu you should be able to select Control Panel

3)            In Control Panel you should be able to see Administrative Tools (If you can’t on the left hand side select classic view)

4)            Double click on Services

5)            Scroll down the list till you get to Gatekeeper Admin service

6)            Single left click and then right click, a menu will open where you can select start

Windows 10

Below are the steps to start the Gatekeeper Admin Services.

From the main desktop screen.

1)            Left click on Start

2)            Scroll down and click on Windows Administrative Tools

4)            Click on Services

5)            Scroll down the list until you get to Gatekeeper Admin service

6)            Single left click and then right click, a menu will open where you can select start

If the services do not start please contact the support team.

If Gatekeeper is stuck on loading page after clicking on Log On please follow the below steps:

Windows 8;

Below are the steps to start up the Gatekeeper SQL Service.

From the main desktop screen.

1)            Right click on Start

2)            In the Start menu you should be able to select Control Panel

3)            In Control Panel you should be able to see Administrative Tools (If you can’t on the left hand side select classic view)

4)            Double click on Services

5)            Scroll down the list till you get to SQL server (GateKeeper)

6)            Single left click and then right click, a menu will open where you select start.

Windows 10;

Below are the steps to start up the Gatekeeper SQL Service.

From the main desktop screen:

1)            Left click on Start

2)            Scroll down and click on Windows Administrative Tools

4)            Click on Services

5)            Scroll down the list until you get to SQL Server (GateKeeper)

6)            Single left click and then right click, a menu will open where you will need to select Start.

If the services do not start please contact the support team.

All our desktop programs must be installed within a current Windows operating environment (Windows 10 and Windows 11). With your device running an up-to-date antivirus product.

For more information about our recommended computer specs and advice on computer security click here.

Please contact Farmplan’s Hardware team if you have any further queries on 01594 545033 or email farmplanpcsupport@proagrica.com.

To install Gatekeeper on a new PC please call support on 01594 545022.

There are a number of possible reasons why an error message would be shown when attempting to login to Gatekeeper. Please view the other FAQ’s in this section and if these do not resolve your issue please contact software support on 01594 545022.

For a pre-harvest checklist, please click here.

For more information on the Quick Plan function, and instructions on using it, please click here.

Some plant protection products are now sold as ‘agronomy packs’, where two products in one box are sold as a single item. For information on handling agronomy packs in Gatekeeper, please click here.

It is very difficult to record the amount of seed dressing used on a field as the quantities involved are so small and it is normally pre-applied to the seed being sown.

Therefore the easiest way to record the seed dressing is to add a note to the planting job on the Notes tab. Alternatively create a new ‘Field Diary Notes’ job in recording.

Select the fields (or click on the Notes tab in an existing job), select the correct date and a heading of ‘Traceability Notes’ and in the comment box enter the seed dressing type and any additional notes you require.

Once a note has been entered under the Traceability heading it can be included in your traceability reports. This information is also available in the analysis module under the ‘Diary notes’ area.

To record weather click the Business button

Select the ‘Weather’ tab, then the required tab e.g. Rainfall. Click ‘Add Item’ and enter the date and value of the record, then press enter to add another line for the following day.

If you wish to add multiple records e.g. rainfall, temperature and wind at the same time then click ‘Pick Headings’ and select additional headings to add to the grid.

To record soil sample results click Recording, Add Job, select the New Job Type as Field Sampling then click the Add Field Sampling Job button.

Select the sampled fields and move them to the right, click OK, then select the required nutrients e.g. P, K, Mg and click OK.

The results of the sampling can then be entered into the grid.

Sampling results from major UK labs can be imported directly into Gatekeeper to save data entry time. For more information please contact us.

NB The above instructions do not apply to spatial data.

Click here for a printable document.

Home saved seed is dealt with by entering the ‘sale’ of the home saved seed followed by its ‘purchase’.

Recording the Sale
To record the financial benefit from the ‘sale’ of home saved seed, enter a sales invoice recording the relevant quantity and price.
NB If you create a new product for this purpose (eg ‘Home saved wheat seed’) ensure that this product is set up within ‘Outputs’ (as below) and recorded against the harvested field(s) as well as the sales invoice.

Recording the Purchase
A purchase invoice ‘buying’ the seed at the required price should now be entered, it can then be applied to the relevant fields.
NB The product used on the purchase invoice and any planting jobs must be within the ‘Variable Costs’, ‘Seed / Plants’ area (as below)

Data will be entered into the crop year shown by the Main Business and Year Selector (brightly coloured rectangle in the top corner of Gatekeeper).

To view or enter data to a different crop year, click the Main Business and Year Selector then select the required year from the tree view (as below).

NB Any information accidentally entered into the wrong crop year will need to be deleted and re-entered into the correct year.

To create a new job by copying a previous job (or Template or Budget Job) click ‘Recording’, ‘Add Job’, and select ‘Copying from the selected job / template job’.
Select the job to be copied from the list displayed. A summary of the job is shown and the level of detail to be copied to the new job can be selected. After ‘Copy Field Operation Job’ is clicked the job can be edited as required.

To measure the area inside a field boundary, from a mapping window:

• Ensure the correct field boundary layer is on top
• Select the active tools menu on the left hand side
• Select the measuring polygon tool (octagon with measuring tape)
• Right click inside the field and select ‘Find complex polygon’
• Right click again and select ‘Finish this entity’

The field size will be shown in the ‘Area’ box of the measurements section of the active tools menu. It is also possible to freehand draw a shape to measure the area of, or use the headland measuring or parallel line measuring tools to measure length and area of other field characteristics.

Please note: the area of the field boundary in the mapping module does not have to match the area of the field in the cropping record.

It is not possible to delete a field boundary once one has been created. However, if you wish to disassociate a boundary from the current cropping record, you can change the region attached to the cropping record:

• Open the cropping record for the field in question
• Select the ‘Region’ subtab
• Select ‘Swap Field Region’
• Select ‘Setup Field Regions’
• Select ‘Add Whole Field Region’ or ‘Add Part Field Region’ as appropriate. Rename the new or old regions as required, then ‘OK’ to close.

The field region forms the link between the field boundary and the cropping record. If you change a field’s boundary, it will change the boundary for that field in every cropping year where the cropping record is linked to the same region.

If you wish to make a change to the field boundary that only applies to certain years, or from the current year forwards, it is necessary to change the field region before making any changes to the field boundary.

This is also the case if you are importing new field boundaries captured with precision farming equipment, and want to update the records from the current year onwards, without affecting previous years.

Click here for a document containing instructions on changing the field region.

All field records in Gatekeeper have the capacity to be split into multiple cropping records – this is frequently used to reflect the fact that one field may be growing more than one crop, or have a crop plus environmental area.

To reflect this in the mapping module, every field has the capacity to hold two types of boundary. The ‘whole field’ boundary is the entirety of the field including any cropping splits; ‘cropping year’ boundary is the different parts of the field which combine to make one parcel.

If you do not have any split cropping records, the ‘whole field’ and ‘cropping year’ boundaries are exactly the same, and changing one will change the other.

Once a field contains split cropping records, the ‘whole field’ and ‘cropping year’ boundaries will be different. In this case, changing one will not result in a change in the other.

Both whole field and cropping year boundaries are managed between years by the field region (for more information please click here).

The following links provide information on adding and editing field boundaries in Gatekeeper mapping.

We advise all our customers to take care before editing existing field boundaries, or importing boundaries to fields which already have boundaries. It is possible to impact the boundary data of multiple years if the correct steps are not taken before editing or importing. For further assistance please don’t hesitate to contact the support team who will be happy to make sure you have the correct plan for your circumstances.

Click here for adding field boundaries in Farm Mapping Lite.

Click here for adding and editing field boundaries in Gatekeeper mapping.

Click here for importing RPA field boundaries.

(Not sure which mapping version you have? Have a look at the top left corner of your main Gatekeeper screen – if it says ‘Gatekeeper’, you have Farm Mapping Lite; if it says ‘Gatekeeper with Mapping’, you have the full mapping module.)

Below is a video explaining Farm Mapping Lite, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

If you wish to use Ordnance Survey data in your Gatekeeper Farm Mapping module this can come in different forms with different levels of detail.

We recommend that you firstly contact the Gatekeeper Support team on 01594 545022 and request the OS Open data (under a free license) for your farm which we can provide in 10km x 10km tiles. This will provide you with the following features in Gatekeeper Mapping:

• Administrative Boundary
• Height
• Natural Feature Area
• Natural Feature Line
• Railway Line
• Road Line
• Settlement Area
• Settlement Line
• Text
• Tidal Boundary

Please note this data does not include field boundaries; if you require OS boundary information you will need to purchase Master Map data in either a Shape or DXF format. www.emapsite.com is one of several companies which are able to supply OS data in this format.

All Gatekeeper mapping users have the ability to view a backdrop image (which includes some boundaries) from Bing based on 1:25 000 OS data by selecting the layers icon, ensuring the ‘MS Bing Maps Backdrop’ box is ticked then selecting ‘Ordnance Survey’.

There are two reasons for this:

1. Plotting tools do not display if a map scale greater than 1:30000 is selected.
2. If you wish to plot or measure from the Ordnance Survey layer supplied by Bing you will need to activate the full Bing mapping module. (Users with the ability to import field boundaries from GPS equipment may find this option more useful for their mapping needs).The upgrade from Bing light access carries a minimal licensing cost: for more information please contact Farmplan on 01594 545022.

Customers in England have the ability to import their RPA field boundaries to the mapping module; either as a cartographic layer, or as cropping record field boundaries. For more information, please click here.

Before reports are generated from the Analysis area the database must be refreshed to ensure the results are fully up to date.

In the ‘Refresh Summary Database’ screen (below) tick the required year followed by ‘Refresh Data’.

The ‘Refresh Summary Database’ screen can be opened by clicking the ‘Refresh’ button near the top of the screen.
More information on running analysis reports can be found in the Reporting handbook.

All reports in the analysis area of Gatekeeper can be copied and then modified.

Select the report to be modified then click ‘Setup’ at the top of the Analysis window, click ‘Copy’, ‘Yes’, ‘OK’, and ‘OK’.

When the copied report has been run click ‘Options’ which will allow you to select what data is displayed, column order etc as shown below.

For further information please click on

or alternatively, more information on editing analysis reports can be found in the Reporting handbook.

Below is a video explaining how to set up a contract business, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

To view your area information in a different unit toggle between ha and acres by clicking on the ‘ha’ or ‘Ac’ button at the bottom of the Gatekeeper window.

Professional users of plant protection products (PPPs) must register by 22nd June 2022 under the 2020 Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations.

This download sheet contains instructions to quickly calculate an estimate of total PPP usage in a year, which is required for the registration form.

Sentinel is an information library for Gatekeeper users. It contains information on plant protection products, as well as wider industry information such as recommended lists, RB209 information, and an extensive photo library of common weeds, pests, and diseases.

Sentinel Viewer comes as standard with all Gatekeeper sites; users may view limited library information and benefit from product pick lists when adding new products.

Sentinel Active is a subscription option which gives access to the full product library including product approvals, and the Sentinel Active verification system. Sentinel verification checks your planned use of registered plant protection products against their allowed uses, and gives you a traffic light result for peace of mind.

For more information on Sentinel, please click here for a download document.

Please note, Sentinel Active subscriptions are effective per site, not per organisation. For more information about Sentinel Active, please contact us on (01594) 545000

The Sentinel library contains a wealth of information – you can find product details, recommended lists, RB209 information, and more.

To navigate the library, open the Sentinel module, and use the tree view on the left hand side to navigate the contents

For details of a specific product, you may wish to use the search function – please see ‘Searching the Sentinel library’

Sentinel contains product labels which have been made available to us – the library is extensive but not comprehensive.

To view a product label, you can:

Navigate Sentinel library using the the tree view:

• From the list on the left hand side, select
  • Plant Protection Products
  • Product Guides
  • The product manufacturer
  • The product type (e.g., ‘Herbicides’)
  • The product name

Use the search functionality in the Sentinel library:

• From the Sentinel home page, click the Search function
• Enter the name of the product you wish to view
• Ensure the ‘Search by’ function has ‘Name/tag’ selected
• Click ‘Search’ or hit return
• If a product label is available, the product name will be visible as a link under ‘Topics’

View the label while creating or editing a plan or recommendation:

• Write the plan/rec as usual
• Select the ‘Products’ tab
• Click ‘View Product Label’
• If you are not taken to the product label, the system does not currently contain that record.

For Sentinel Active subscribers, there are two ways to search the Sentinel library. The best approach depends on what information is required.

To search for a specific product (ideal for when you need details on a specific product):

• From the Sentinel home page, click the ‘Search’ function
• Ensure the ‘Search type’ dropdown has ‘Text search’ selected
• Select the required ‘Search by’ option:
  • Name/tag if you want to enter a product name (e.g., ‘Laser’) or topic (e.g., ‘cycloxydim’)
  • MAPP if you want to search by product MAPP number
  • EAMU if you want to find an EAMU document
• Enter your search term
• Click ‘Search’

To find products which fit specific criteria (ideal for when you don’t know which specific product to select):

• From the Sentinel home page, click the ‘Search’ function
• Ensure the ‘Search type’ dropdown has ‘Product Interrogator’ selected
• Navigate the tabs to define your search criteria
• Click ‘Interrogate’ to view search results.

Verification in Gatekeeper is a combination of a number of elements:

1. Sentinel verification (for Sentinel Active subscribers), where a plan includes a registered plant protection product
2. Nutrient management verification, where a plan uses a fertiliser and a nutrient management plan is in place
3. Product extra checks
4. Field protocols

Sentinel verification cannot be edited by users.

The level of nutrient management verification can be selected at the plan level; for more details please see ‘Verification options for fertiliser jobs‘.

Product extra checks and field protocols are both user-defined options which can be set at the business, site, or organisation level, and allow users to enter their own conditions to form part of the verification process. For further information, please contact support or see the Sentinel and verification user guide.

Below is a video explaining how to set up a contract business, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

Below is a video explaining how to set up products as a grower, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

Below is a video explaining how to set up tractor units, implements and settings, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

Below is a video explaining how to set up crops and varieties as a grower, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

The user can set up Gatekeeper to record stock quantities or not.

To record the amount used and unit price ONLY, the following approach can be adopted on a heading by heading basis.

The example below uses the ‘Fertiliser’ heading.

Click Setup / Headings then select Variable costs / Nutrition / Fertiliser / Fertiliser.

Change the ‘Stock Mode for Current Stock Period’ to ‘Price list’ and save.

Products within the ‘Fertiliser’ heading will no longer display an in stock quantity, neither will invoices need to be entered for any product within the ‘Fertiliser’ heading.

To enter a product price for the current stock period click Setup / Products(Business), select the product name (within the changed heading) and enter the desired price in the ‘Actual Price’ box.

It is possible to set up an implement with different settings, eg you may wish to record that the sprayer application rates can be 100l/ha and 200l/ha.

To enable the the recording of implements click Tools/Options then within ‘Business’ select ‘Field Jobs’ and tick the ‘Record implements used for Planning and Recording jobs’ box.

To add an implement click Setup/Implements and Settings, then ‘Add Implement’. Select the correct category, type the implement name, and select the correct Sub-category. Click ‘Add Setting’ and enter a name eg 100l/ha. Repeat to enter additional settings.

If you wish a cost to be incurred whenever this setting is selected, tick the ‘Use machinery cost’ box and select the desired cost from the list.

To enter a sprayer capacity and application rate tick the ‘Use capacities’ and the ‘Apply as tank mix’ boxes. Enter the ‘Primary capacity’ (and ‘Secondary capacity’ for a twin tank sprayer) and the planned application rate in the ‘Tank mix volume rate / ha’ box. Select the ‘Spray quality’ and ‘LERAP star rating’ from the list.

When an implement setting is used in a plan it will be displayed in the operator instructions.

Below is a video explaining how to publish your field records to your agronomist, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

Below is a video explaining how to set up a contact and exchange publishing keys, or click here for notes that can be downloaded.

For information on subscribing businesses between sites, and instructions on how to share and manage shared businesses, please click here.