Purpose: The purpose of the Field Seed Spacing Template is to provide a tool to gather information on seeds that have been planted. The results provide a numerical evaluation of the plant population and spacing, as well as graphical representation of the seed spacing. To properly evaluate the performance of a particular row or planter, 3 different locations in same field with the same seed needs to be identified. Each location needs at least 100 feet of seed spacing data gathered to make a statistically valid evaluation. Definitions: Population Amount of seeds planted in a particular area of land. Results are expressed in actual number of plants (seeds/acre), or % of seeds planted compared to the monitor population. Spacing Average distance between seeds in a given row of planted seeds. Results are expressed in inches. Standard Deviation Amount of variation there is away from the average seed spacing. Results are expressed in inches. Coefficient of Variation Amount of variation as a percentage of the average spacing (COV = Standard Deviation/Average Spacing). Results are expressed in percent (%).
Open file named: Dealer Field Seed Spacing Template.xls A security warning will come up, Click Enable Macros The spreadsheet will open and will look like the picture below: Page 2 of 7
At the top of the spreadsheet there are Short Cut Buttons to perform common functions within the spreadsheet. At the bottom of the spreadsheet there are two Tabs. The summary page is a central location that all of the data will be transferred to after the spacing data is entered. The next tab is the seed plot were data will be taken (this tab may be renamed.) Fill in the information in the Set Up Section of the spreadsheet. Each cell has a note to help in filling out the form. Items in red are required in order for the data to compute correctly. Page 3 of 7
Once the tape measure is placed next to the plants where data is to be taken, write down or type in data points of the location of the plants. Values are collected in hundredths of a foot, see examples below. Begin typing in the values in hundredths of a foot into the Position cells. The Spacing column will automatically populate with numbers and will be color coded if outside the industry standard +/- 50% of target spacing. Yellow is narrow spacing, Green is wide spacing and Red indicated that data is negative (data is mistyped.) Page 4 of 7
Position data may be added or deleted using Short Cut Buttons above the data entry columns. IMPORTANT: Data that is cut and pasted manually (not using the short cut buttons) has to be pasted with the Paste Special, Values button clicks or the reference in the spreadsheet will not function. After all of the data is entered, use the Go To Results button to go directly to the results section of the spreadsheet, or simply scroll up/down to find the section. Page 5 of 7
The Results section shows the actual population, actual spacing, standard deviation and coefficient of variation (COV). Also, the graph shows the percentage distribution of the seed spacings. Using the Short Cut Buttons another tab can be added to the workbook to collect another set of data or go to the summary page to view the summary of the data collected. At the Summary Page, click the short cut button to transfer the data to the summary page. This button can continually be used as more data is inserted into the workbook. Page 6 of 7
Printouts of the Summary Page and Plot Number Tabs can be obtained using normal print methods in the spreadsheet. The template is Read-Only, so a different name will need to be given to the spreadsheet in order to Save the spreadsheet. Page 7 of 7