Merging Fields without a Common Boundary

Occasionally you may want to merge multiple fields into one field in Farm Trac. To merge two fields together, they need to share a common boundary. If the fields are separated by a road or waterway, you can draw a bridge to connect the two fields, allowing them to be merged. The bridge will be hidden unless you are zoomed into a close view of the field.

The following steps are used to merge fields without a common boundary:

  1. Make a backup of your project.
  2. If you have Farm Site, load the Main Farming Layer as the Active Layer.
  3. Select the Pointer Tool.
  1. Right-click on the first field you want to merge and select Delete.
  2. When deleting the field, select only Delete Objects. This will leave the boundaries associated with the field you have deleted. Click OK.
  3. Repeat steps #4-5 until all fields that you wish to combine are deleted.
  4. After deleting the fields that are to be merged, select the Zoom button to zoom into an area between the first two fields.
  5. Select the Dual Line tool and draw a line that starts inside one field and ends inside the other field. This line should cross the area between the two field boundaries.
  6. Make the line 1 foot wide and click Edge.
  1. Zoom in on the newly drawn line/bridge.
  2. With the Pointer tool, click on and delete the ends of the dual line, as well as the section of boundaries that fall within the dual line. You will now have an open bridge between the two fields.
  3. Repeat Steps #7-11 until all fields are connected by bridges.
  4. Select the Define Object tool and click inside one of the fields. This will redefine all of the fields connected by bridges as one field.
  5. When defining, select one of the deleted fields from the Current drop-down list. You can then modify the description to reflect the combined fields.
Note that when combining fields, make sure that all crop enterprises for the year are closed and the crop enterprise is set to Field Prep. It is recommended that this process be done after harvest has been recorded and before any records for the next year's crop are entered. All field records that you record from this point forward will be associatd with the newly combined field, and you will be unable to enter records for the previous subfields.