University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service DD50 User's Guide

The Rice DD50 Program assists Arkansas rice producers and consultants in managing their crop by providing decision management aids based on the emergence date, the variety planted, and current temperature information. Weather information includes daily maximum and minimum temperatures provided by the National Weather Service updated daily to the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service Weather web site. The program can be used by individual producers who manage their own crops, by consultants with multiple clients, or by county agents for producers within their county. County agents in each county will automatically receive a copy of all reports (via e-mail) generated for their county, regardless of who initiated the report (producer, agent or consultant).

This guide will provide more detailed information on the different options available through the program.

 

Non-Extension Participant enrollment and login: 

New users to the Rice DD50 program (with the exception of County Extension Agents) must enroll by selecting the link New User? Enroll Now to enroll in the program before entering any data. This includes single producers who manage their own crop as well as consultants with multiple clients. The name and log-in name needs to be that of the consultant or the individual producer. Once inside the program, the client's e-mail address can be added to the data files. It is recommended to use the same log-in name and password when entering additional clients. Information required includes name, e-mail address, and password of your choice. (Passwords must be at least five (5) characters long, may contain numbers (0-9) and upper and lowercase letters (A-Z, a-z), but no spaces, and are case sensitive.) The agent in each county will review all reports for that county, and will notify participants if an updated DD50 report is needed due to a recent change in weather conditions. In the event that a password is forgotten, it will be sent to the participant's e-mail address (which must be entered into the log-in box) by selecting the link for Forgot your Password? e-mail me my password.

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U.A.C.E.S. Participant enrollment and login:

County Extension agents in rice producing counties are automatically enrolled in the program and will log-in using the link County Agents Log-in (password required). Agents will use their Intranet login and password. Personal log-ins only - county log-ins will not be accepted! Agents will continue to provide leadership for all fields enrolled in their county. Agents will be notified of all reports generated for their county and will also be responsible for entering DD50 information in the county office for those producers without access to the Web. Batch reports can be created for those producers with e-mail addresses and those without e-mail addresses. The county Extension Agent will review the data to advise and to notify the producers of updates. When a producer report is created, a report is sent by e-mail to the county agent.

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Enter Producer and Field Information

Select Enter/Edit Cards from the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. The "LIST PRODUCERS" screen appears listing all producers for this login ID. If no producers have been entered, select the ADD hyperlink to display the "Producer Editing" screen. Information to be added on this screen for each producer includes name, address, city, state zip, e-mail address and county. The remaining information for the field includes field name, rice variety planted, emergence month and date, number of acres for this field, and a check-box to designate that the producer report for this field needs to be reprinted. To edit a producer's personal information or field information, including additional fields, select the desired hyper-linked producer name. This displays the producer information along with all of the fields for this producer. After all field information has been entered or edited, press the SUBMIT button at the top of the page to record the changes. To go back to the "DD50 List Producers" screen, press the Back link, and no changes will be made to producer or field information. Pressing the RESET button will reset the producer page to the original contents if any tentative changes have been made. To delete a producer, select the DELETE link corresponding to the producer to be deleted. After confirming the action, this producer will be deleted from the file, along with all fields that had been enrolled for that producer.

If a consultant has many producers entered and wishes to locate on in particular, a search can be performed on the last name of the desired producer by entering at least a portion of the producer name into the Keyword: box and selecting Search on Name. This will find and display only the producers matching then name. To return to the list of all producers for this consultant, select the hyper-link List all your Producers.

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Reports:

Create Batch Reports

After producer and field information has been entered and saved, producer reports can be printed. To create batch reports for all fields that have been entered and have not been printed previously, select the Create Batch Reports link. This will create a report for all fields entered for this particular log-in. If there are fields that need to be printed and this option is chosen, a message will be displayed on the screen with the number of reports being printed. A link will then be available to View Reports. Selecting this link will display a list of producers, their fields, a link to each report for that producer, and the date and time that the report was created. Each file is presented in two formats: text and PDF (printer friendly). Viewing the PDF files requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. To print a report, select the PDF version and then print within Adobe Acrobat Reader. All reports for one producer are contained in one file. Reports created with this option are available for viewing for 2 days. After two days, it is the understanding that the weather may have changed enough to require that a new report be generated. (To view reports already created, select the View Reports link.)

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Create Update Reports for All Producers

Selecting this link will create updated producer reports for all producers. There are two sets of options to select from: 1) the type of fields to update, and 2) the type of files to create. One option in each category must be selected.

The type of fields to select from include Update all fields, Update by variety, Update by range of emergence, Update by emergence and variety. Any update reports created will effect only the producer reports for the current user's login ID (if the login ID is a consultant), or for the county (if the login ID is a county agent.).

Selecting to Update all fields does not require any additional choices to be made by the user. This will update all fields that have been entered into the system for this login. This option only creates the reports; sending the reports via e-mail must also be done (see E-mail reports)

Selecting to Update by variety requires the user to select the desired variety name from the drop-down list. If there are no producer records containing the variety selected, a screen will be displayed informing the user of the problem and a link will be provided to go back to the DD50 Print Update Reports screen where another variety can be selected. If reports are created, a link will be provided to allow the user to view the reports in either text or .PDF format, just as when creating batch reports. This option only creates the reports; sending the reports via e-mail must also be done (see E-mail reports).

Selecting to Update by range of emergence requires that the user select the beginning and ending date range for emergence dates. If there are no producer reports containing an emergence date in the range of dates provided by the user, a screen will be displayed informing the user of the problem and a link will be provided to go back to the DD50 Print Update Reports screen where another range of emergence dates can be selected. If reports are created, a link will be provided to allow the user to view the reports in either text or .PDF format, just as when creating batch reports. This option only creates the reports; sending the reports via e-mail must also be done (see E-mail reports).

Selecting to Update by range of emergence and variety requires that the user select the variety name as well as the beginning and ending date range for emergence dates. If there are no producer reports containing the variety or an emergence date in the range of dates provided by the user, a screen will be displayed informing the user of the problem and a link will be provided to go back to the DD50 Print Update Reports screen where another variety and/or another range of emergence dates can be selected. If reports are created, a link will be provided to allow the user to view the reports in either text or .PDF format, just as when creating batch reports. This option only creates the reports; sending the reports via e-mail must also be done (see E-mail reports).

The type of files that can be created include: 1) individual files for each producer, 2) one file for people WITHOUT e-mail, and 3) one file for people WITH and WITHOUT e-mail.

Selecting to Create individual files for each producer will provide a separate file for each producer. Viewing each file will display the fields for that particular producer.

Selecting to Create one file for people WITHOUT e-mail will update each producer who does not currently have an e-mail address entered on the producer screen. All producers who fit in this category will have their report included in this file. This will allow the county agent or consultant to print out reports and mail them directly to the producer.

Selecting to Create one file for people WITH and WITHOUT e-mail includes everyone for this consultant or agent in one file, regardless of the producer's e-mail status.

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Create Update Reports for One Producer

Selecting to create update reports for one producer takes the user to the user's list of producers, where the producer to be updated is selected. After selecting the producer to update, the screen listing the report options is displayed, including Update all fields, Update by variety, Update by range of emergence, and Update by emergence and variety as described above. Select the button corresponding to the type of update to make, and select Create Reports. The entire table of available reports is shown, showing not only the updated reports for this producer, but any previously selected reports still available.

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View Reports

Selecting this link displays the entire table of available reports still available within the two-day time frame. Reports are shown in descending order, with the latest reports shown first. This should allow the user to easily select the reports needed to view.

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E-mail Reports

Selecting this link displays the table of available reports, along with a check box only for those producers with a valid e-mail address. Select the appropriate check box (text or .PDF) for each producer to receive their report via e-mail. After all selections have been made, select the link to e-mail Reports. Producers will receive two e-mail messages. The first e-mail contains the subject "DD50 Pre Report", and informs the producer "In a few minutes, there should be another e-mail sent with a DD50 report attached. If you do not get the report, call your Cooperative Extension Service county agent." It also informs the user the format (text or .PDF) of the report. The second report contains the subject "DD50 Report" and the appropriate files (text and/or .PDF) are attached.

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Mailing Labels

The labels for DD50 are preformatted to print on 1"x4" labels with 20 labels per page. Select the PDF version, and the labels will display on the screen. Insert blank labels in printer, and select the print button on the Adobe Acrobat Reader screen. The text files of the labels can be used to import into other word processors for other uses.

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Summaries

Several types of summaries are available, including Flooding Date, Straighthead, ½" IE, 50% Heading Date, Harvest, Blast, Sheath Blight, and Emergence Date. Selecting the link to the County Summary page will allow the user to choose the desired county. After the county is chosen, select the Summaries link. As with producer reports, summary reports are only made available for two days after they are generated. After the two day time frame, new summary reports must be generated. If there are currently no summary reports available, each report will have "N/A" in the column under Text and PDF. To generate the reports, select the hyperlink heading for the desired report. If there is no data for the selected county, a message will be displayed informing the user. If a report is created, the table will be updated to reflect the name of the file containing the report and the date and time the report was created. As with producer reports, to view the report, select the hyperlink associated with the type of report to be viewed (text or .PDF). The reports will be viewed in a new browser window. When finished viewing the report, close the window to return to the DD50 program.

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Frequently Asked Questions:

• Question: I selected to view a producer's report via the .PDF file, and a blank screen appeared, but no data. What is wrong?

  Answer: You probably had too many other applications running when trying to load the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Close some applications and try again.

• Question: I would like to print update reports. If I select to Update all fields, will I be creating update reports for everyone entered in the system?

  Answer: No. Any action you take, such as creating updated producer reports, will only affect those producers and fields that have been entered by your login. If you are a county agent, you will be able to update all fields for your county, regardless of the log-in.

• Question: In previous years, I've had to manually download the Daily Weather File before creating producer reports. Where is that option this year?

  Answer: Since the DD50 has been upgraded to a web-based application, the weather information is automatically updated and incorporated into the program for you. On the DD50 Log-in page, the program still displays the last day of update for the weather so you can be assured the weather is up-to-date.

• Question: Since the program is now on the Internet, does this mean that only producers with Internet access and an e-mail address will be able to participate?

  Answer: No, the program is still available to everyone, regardless of their ability to access the Web. Options are available so that the county agent can enter the producer information, print out the producer report, and mail it to the producer just as in previous years.

• Question: I had to reprint a report for a producer. I went to the "Producer Editing" screen and checked the reprint boxes for the two fields that I needed to reprint, but when I selected Reports>Create Batch Reports, there were no records found. Why did it not reprint my fields?

  Answer: After checking the Reprint boxes on the "Producer Editing" screen, make sure you select the SUBMIT button to save the data before selecting the Reports option. If the SUBMIT button is not selected, the reprint selection (or any other data that has been changed) won't be saved.

• Question: I've been asked by a rice mill in our county to provide them with an indication of when they can expect our rice to be harvested. How can I do that?

  Answer: 1. Login to DD50 using the County Agent Log-in like you do when you are getting ready to process your reports. 2. After a successful login, select the "Summaries" option in the top left-hand corner. 3. On the next page, select the desired county name from the drop-down list. 4. Select the "Summaries" link after selecting the county name. 5. From the list of possible summary reports, select "Harvest." The report will now generate and return to this same screen. 6. Now Harvest has two listings in the column on the right; one file name listed under Report-Text and one under Report-PDF. Both links contain the same information, but in order to print in a nice format, select the link under the Report-PDF column. The PDF file will now appear of your harvest summary and you can select the print icon to print it out. You can follow these same steps to create any of the summary reports that you may need for your county.

• Question: As a county agent, I thought I would be able to see all of the reports produced in our county, even if a producer entered it himself (without going through our office). How come I can't see them?

  Answer: There are two types of logins for DD50. One login is for producers and consultants, and the other is for county staff (secretaries and agents). EVERYONE in the county office must select to login by the County Agent Log-in link. This is the login that will allow you to see all reports for your county. If you just select the regular "Log-in" option instead of the "County Agent Log-in" option, you will see only the records you've entered, and not all the records for your county.

• Question: I am a county agent and I entered 5 fields for a producer. Now I would like to enter 5 more fields for this producer, but when I go to "Enter/Edit DD50 cards" for that producer, the screen says "Cannot save record" instead of "Submit." What happened?

  Answer: The first 5 fields were entered by you after you had logged in to DD50 using the regular log-in name and email address, which is meant for producers out in the county. When you logged in to DD50 to enter the second 5 fields, you used the correct "County Agent Log-in" link, which meant you could see the producers field information, but you could not change it because it had been entered using the log-in method that producers use. County agents need to always use the "County Agent Log-in" link.

• Question: As a county agent, I received an email with this message: "A DD50 Record was added/updated. Please check the record to confirm if it is a valid record. Added record for: John Doe." What does this mean for our office when we get this announcement? How do I access this information?

  Answer: When DD50 was transferred to the web, one required feature to the program was to allow for county agents to be notified when a field was entered for their county. This was done so that agents will still have knowledge about rice production (and the use of DD50) within their county. When DD50 was a program solely in the county office computer, all data entry was done within the county office and so the county staff was aware of those producers who were using the program. When an email notification is recieved, it means that someone has entered a field that is shown to be in your county. As county agent for that county, you are then notified. Reports created for DD50 are kept for 3 days and then automatically deleted. When you receive the email notice, you can see the report for this producer, provided you are within the 3 day window, by following these steps: 1. Log into DD50 using the "County Agent Log-in." Logging in using any other method will not work. Remember to use your INTRANET login and password (the same login you use for AIMS). 2. Select the REPORTS option from the DD50 menu. 3. Select the VIEW REPORTS option. 4. If reports are available, you will see a list of producer names, with a column labeled Report-Text and Report-PDF. In the column for Report-PDF for this producer, you'll see a link that starts with the letters TDD, followed by numbers. Select this link. The report will appear. Make sure you select the report-PDF version; it will print nicely. 5. If there are no reports available, a "N/A" will designate that the report has already been deleted. This is DD50's way of helping you stay informed of the clients in your county (or clients who have fields in your county) and their use of DD50.

• Question: I keyed the wrong county for a producer while adding fields. It should have been Prairie instead Pulaski. Did not realize it until reports were mailed to producer. How do I correct this mistake?

  Answer: Try these steps: 1. Log on to DD50 using the same method you usually use. 2. Go to Enter/Edit cards. 3. Click on the producer's name. 4. His information should appear. 5. Change the county name in the dropdown box. 6. Hit 'Submit' to save the change. 7. To print the new reports, select the producer's name again. 8. Put a check mark in the REPRINT box. 9. Select 'Submit'. 10. Select 'REPORTS' from the DD50 menu. 11. Select 'Create batch reports' and you should receive your new reports.

• Question: Where do I order DD50 cards to send out to participants for enrolling in the DD50 program?

  Answer: The DD50 card is available here as a PDF, or it can be orders from PUBS. Go to SPOT, then select the PUBS link.

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Disclaimer

This product was developed by the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. The purpose of the product is to provide assistance to Extension clientele that is consistent with the objectives set forth by the Cooperative Extension Service. Resale of this product or use of it for purposes other than its intended use is strictly prohibited. Information put forth by this product should be used in close consultation with the appropriate Extension professional. The Cooperative Extension Service is not liable for damages resulting from recommendations by this product.

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Contact Information

For additional program information, please contact

Dr. Charles Wilson, Extension Rice Specialist
Box 351
Stuttgart, AR 72160
Phone#: 870-673-2661
e-mail: wilson@uamont.edu

Becky Bridges, Extension Computer Specialist
Box 391
Little Rock, AR 72203
Phone#: 501-671-2192
e-mail: bbridges@uaex.edu

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