Sprayer Reporting App Problem Statement

Pesticides and Herbicides have revolutionized the agricultural industry, allowing for both higher yields (and
profits) for growers as well as lower prices for consumers at the grocery store. As we have learned more about
these chemicals and the impact of different environmental conditions (like wind, moisture, topography) they're
sprayed in, we have a better understanding of the best ways to get the benefits of applying while minimizing
negative external impacts. This is also leading to higher regulatory scrutiny from governments around the world
who are looking to meet environmental targets while ensuring growers can maintain a quality way of life.

In the United States Specialty Crops, like fruits, vegetables, and nuts, are one sector that is ahead of the curve
in this area. Largely produced in the western states, these growers have been navigating state regulations and
filing requirements for spraying for years. Like many other areas in agriculture, this is currently done very
manually often by pen on printed forms. Each state has its own set of regulations and processes with some
requiring more data, and steps, than others. For example, California requires not only more data but also a
state-licensed operator to apply the prescribed chemicals, while Colorado requires only information about
where you sprayed, what you sprayed, and the weather conditions.

Navigating these hurdles while managing information for dozens of sprayers manually (pen and paper, or
excel) can be a nightmare, and lead to inaccuracy in what is recorded and filed. This can lead to not only a
higher risk from a regulatory standpoint, but also, as was very public in Dicamba lawsuits, improved
documentation and reporting can reduce litigation risk and improve relations between neighboring farms. In
addition, easier collection and analysis of sprayer data will lead to fewer groundwater leaks and improved
water quality.

Due to the maze of regulations across different states, it's helpful to focus on solving this problem for the
"lowest common denominator", or the state that has the set of reported items most common with all states. For
this, we should use Colorado.
 
After spraying, a Colorado grower must report certain items including the following:
● Operator and Farm Profile
● What you sprayed: which chemical?
● Where you sprayed: outline of field/path of application
● How you sprayed: machine and sprayer implement information
● Weather information at the time of spraying (wind, temperature, moisture etc.)
 
Instead of doing this manually with pen and paper, let's find a way to automatically record and populate these
items for the state of Colorado. As a stretch, we can prepopulate these same items along with other required
information for other states.

Please review this site from Colorado State for more details:
https://cepep.agsci.colostate.edu/2-regulations/recordkeeping/