FarmRec: 'n geïntegreerde ekstensiewe veeboerdery rekordhoudingstelsel

English: Extensive farmers in South Africa do not generally keep records of their farming activities, and if they do, it only entails financial record keeping for the Receiver of Revenue. Resources for farm record keeping, especially with regard to grazing and animals, are scarce, and the systems that do exist are elementary. Those farmers who do keep records make use of various approaches, ranging from manual and paper-based systems and computer spreadsheets, to specialist software for certain aspects oftheir farming activities. The FarmRec record-keeping system was developed to provide for a wide range of livestock farming activities. With the development of this record-keeping system, existing shortcomings and problems were addressed, taking into consideration all aspects to be included and contained in a record-keeping system in order to provide a purposeful, comprehensive and user-friendly product. Various information categories are integrated in this system, thereby negating the need for several different types of record-keeping systems. The main purpose of record keeping is to gather information from one's own data. The need for specific information makes it necessary for records to be kept of certain resource data. The relation between resources and the information obtained from them is comprehensively discussed. This relation also indicates the flow of data and information between resources. The FarmRec system was designed and developed around these relations. The waterfall and evolutionary development processes were used to develop and test the system, and to make corrections and improvements to the system. By means of this system, records are kept of information relating to paddocks, land, grazing, animal numbers and animal management actions, as well as of animal and plant product quality and quantity, income and cost information, infrastructure, and financial and rainfall information pertaining to the farming unit. The information to be provided for the different record-keeping facets is discussed. Attention is also given to the integration of information. The information is made available in the form of reports. The extent to which these reports are available is determined by the degree to which the user entered the data of the different facets into the computer. This system makes a large number of reports available to the user. The type of report is determined by the grouping of the selected data. The user himself/herself determines the selection criteria, which consist of the reporting period or date, subunit, groupings and sorting order, as well as level of detail in the report. The system was provided to users and then evaluated to gain an indication of the ease with which the functions and reports in the system can be used. From the evaluation it can be deduced that the FarmRec system is user friendly and easy to use. The system offers many more functions and reports than needed or used by any individual user, but the diversity of users means that different combinations of functions and reports are needed. The level of use by users also varies considerably. With the exception of a few isolated reporting functions, respondents indicated that the functions in the system are easy to use and of much value. The FarmRec system succeeds in addressing a wide range of record-keeping facets. The users indicated that the magnitude and integration are more than sufficient. The system resulted in an improvement in the keeping of grazing records - an aspect that otherwise went unrecorded. Record keeping in respect of grazing was made possible for the user by means of simple notes on animal movement. The total record keeping of the users furthermore improved from their original record-keeping systems. The improvement in record keeping occurred without the users having to spend more time on record keeping. This is regarded as a very positive reaction, as many users indicated that the time available for record keeping is extremely limited.