Q. How do I enable the Premier Crop API interface, so I can import recommendations from PCS into Agvance?
A. The Premier Crop interface allows Agvance users to import recommendations from PCS into Agvance from within the Planning or Blending modules.
Setup
Contact the Agvance support department to enable the Premier Crop interface API tab.
Note: Agvance must be at least version 6.0.10090 or later to access this functionality.
In the Hub of Agvance, navigate to Setup / Company Preferences. On the Customer tab, select the Customer Attributes button, and add an attribute. In the Attribute Name area, enter PremierCropCustomer. Select the Disallow Duplicates option and click Save.
On the Farm tab, click the Attributes button. Add an attribute. Enter PremierCropFarm in the Attribute Name area, select Disallow Duplicates, and Save the attribute.
On the Field tab, click the Field Attributes button. Add an attribute. Enter PremierCropField in the Attribute Name area, select Disallow Duplicates, and Save the attribute.
On the Product tab, click the Product Attributes button. Add an attribute. Enter PremierCropProduct in the Attribute Name area, select Disallow Duplicates, and save the attribute. Click Save.
Reopen the Preferences window. On the API / Premier Crop tab, select the appropriate attributes from the Customer Attribute, Farm Attribute, Field Attribute and Product Attribute drop-down menus. Enter the PCS Customer ID provided by PCS. Save the preferences.
Reopen the Preferences window and select the Link Growers/Farms/Fields button in the lower right corner of this tab.
This opens the Link Premier Crop to Agvance window to select which Agvance growers, farms, and fields match up to the PCS list. With the Agvance Grower/Farm selected, double-click in the corresponding Premier Grower box and select from the PCS list which displays.
Repeat the process for Farms.
Repeat the process for Fields.
Once these links are established, use the Update button at the bottom of the window to save information to the database.
Functionality
In either Planning or Blending, the recommendations from PCS may be imported into Agvance. When one or more fields are selected for the Agvance transaction, if a cross reference has been established in Agvance for any of those fields, when adding any of these transactions, an Import PCS button is visible.
Selecting the Import PCS button opens a window defaulted to the current year. If no recommendations are “Applied” in PCS for the selected Agvance fields, a message displays. Select the appropriate year and click Apply to reload the list of recommendations. Select one or more recommendations and use the Add to Grid button to populate the grid with the recommendations to import.
The first time a product from PCS is used in Agvance, it will not know the corresponding Agvance product to use. Double-click in the Agvance Product column of the grid to select the corresponding Agvance product to use for this recommendation. If the product is not shown in the brief list, double-click in the text box at the bottom left to select from the full list of Agvance products. The Agvance product selected is automatically linked to the PCS product. Future PCS recs with that same product will default to the correct Agvance product.
On subsequent uses of this import window, the Year defaults to the setting on the previous import of a rec.
Once the product is selected, the calculated product quantity is displayed. This uses the Unit Weight of the Agvance product to convert from the pounds quantity in PCS. Using this value and the unit weight, the amount of the Agvance product needed is calculated regardless of the units used in the product setup. If the Agv Inv Amt needs adjusted, it may be edited at this screen or on the Blend/Plan window in the products tab as normal.
Once a product is setup, the next time the same PCS product is used on a recommendation, the Agvance product automatically defaults based on the Default Products from the Location in the combo box selection. The same PCS product may be linked to your Agvance product in each location in the database.
If the product on the recommendation is not at your location, you can link to substitute products.
In the following scenario, this location does not have a MAP, but they have DAP and TSP. On multiple Blend Tickets, they have used each of these products. When the recommendation is selected and no product defaults, double-clicking in the grid displays the short selection list of the Agvance products that have been linked to this PCS product previously. You can choose to select one of these products or select another one if needed. Selecting a product from the brief list uses that product and allows changing its quantity if needed, to account for a different analysis, before using it on the Plan or Blend.
In any method that is used to select products, the quantity is back calculated to the rate/acre of the current Blend Ticket and the resulting values rounded to blender scale which may result in slight differences in the total quantity in Agvance as opposed to the quantity PCS provided. When a new field in PCS has an Applied recommendation available, go back and link that field in the Hub / Setup / Company Preferences and repeat the process as needed. Once a field has been linked, there should be no need to relink it again. Only new fields that have not previously existed in PCS need to be linked in Agvance.
