Getting Started with SNMP

Always be sure to use the latest version of Spatial Nutrient Management Planner (SNMP) and Manure Management Planner (MMP). Note that the order in which you install them is not important.
To obtain an example operation that you can work with before laying out your own operation, download and install the Missouri version of SNMP. Be sure to install it in a different folder from your state's version.
In SNMP, an operation consists of one or more farms, where a farm is any contiguous group of fields. If your operation's fields are not contiguous, you can divide the operation into more than one farm.

Tip: If you don't want to divide your operation into "farms", you can just draw a farm boundary around an area big enough to include all the fields you want to work with together. You can then zoom in as necessary to draw your fields within this "farm" boundary. This approach is particularly useful if you have a large number of scattered fields.
You can name a farm anything you want. For example, if your operation consists of only one farm, you can use the operation's name for the farm. If you have more than one farm, you can use whatever names the farms are commonly referred by, for example Home Farm or Johnson Farm. You can also use FSA farm and tract numbers to identify a farm, for example F340 T2219 for tract 2219 of farm 340. (Tip: Limit farm names to 15 characters.)
You can name a field anything you want. If the operation already has field names, for example Johnson A-1, you'll probably want to use them instead of making up your own. You can also use FSA tract and field numbers to identify a field, for example T2219-3 for field 3 of tract 2219. You can also enter a subfield name if you need to subdivide large fields into more manageable units. (Tip: Limit field names to 15 characters and subfield names to 5 characters. This will make SNMP's maps more readable and is consistent with MMP's field and subfield ID lengths. Also, be sure to use field names (or field-subfield combinations) that are unique across the entire operation.)
To rename a field, click Field Boundaries on SNMP's Main Menu. In the Field Layout Tool, select a field, then click Rename Field. This brings up the Field and Subfield Names dialog, where you can edit the selected field's field and subfield names.
When drawing a field in SNMP, you can turn on the soil layer display using the Add/Remove Soils tool on the View Tools menu. SNMP can automatically determine a field's soil types if this layer is visible when you draw a field. After you've drawn all your fields, you can turn off the soil layer to make your display more legible. (Note: If you don't have the soil layer for your county, you can still use SNMP, but it won't be able to determine your fields' soil types.)

Tip: If you need to draw your fields without the soil layer turned on (for example, if the soil layer is not yet available, or the map is too cluttered for drawing with the soil layer turned on, or your computer is too slow to display the soil layer without long delays), you can force SNMP to recalculate soils later on: Turn on the display of soils, click Field Boundaries on SNMP's Main Menu, then click Done to close the Field Layout Tool dialog, which forces the soils for all fields to be recalculated. After SNMP has calculated the soils, you can turn off the display of soils again.
To see a field's soil types, click Field Info tool on SNMP's View Tools menu, then click a field. SNMP will display the field's top three soils and their percentages of the total field, along with other information about the field.
To view or edit your state's setback types and distances, click Setback Features on SNMP's Main Menu, then click Edit Setback Types on the Setback Tool. (Note: Editing or adding a new setback type here affects only the current operation.)
To export your field data to MMP, click Manure Manager on SNMP's Main Menu and then click Create MMP Plan.

Tip: Because Create MMP Plan always creates a new plan file, try to finish drawing all of your fields as completely and accurately as possible before working with the exported data in MMP. If you go back to SNMP and make changes to your fields after you've started working with them in MMP, you can update the MMP plan using the Update MMP Plan button, preserving any data you've entered in MMP. However, the update command has no way of knowing about fields that you deleted or renamed in SNMP. These kinds of changes will have to be made manually in MMP.

Tip: Another way of moving data from SNMP to MMP is to import data from SNMP into MMP rather than export from SNMP to MMP. In MMP, click the Tools button, then click the Import panel, then click the Import dBASE Field Data File button. In the dialog box, navigate to your SNMP operation's folder and select the fields.dbf file. MMP will then display its Import Wizard, where you can view any errors in the data before importing. Note that in most cases you can ignore errors caused by unentered SNMP soil test data values of "0".
To make a quick backup of your operation, exit SNMP and use SNMP Shell's Duplicate button. For example, if you're working with an operation named JohnsonFarms, you can create a duplicate operation named JohnsonFarms-backup. If you make a mistake or need to return to an earlier version of your operation, you can use SNMP Shell's Delete and Rename buttons to delete JohnsonFarms and rename JohnsonFarms-backup to JohnsonFarms.
To update an operation to the latest version of SNMP, exit SNMP and use SNMP Shell's Update button. Once updated, the operation's new ArcView project file won't know where your operation's DOQs and soil files are, so you'll need to add in these files again. First click Cancel All when SNMP prompts you for the first file, then use the Add/Remove Photo and Add/Remove Soils tools on the View Tools menu to add in the DOQs and soil layer.
To copy an operation to a different computer, use WinZip or some other zip utility to zip up all the files in the operation's folder. Copy this zipped file to a blank folder that you've created in the SNMP folder on the target computer. Unzip the operation's files in this blank folder.

Start SNMP and open the operation. If the path to the operation's folder is different from the original computer (for example, if SNMP is installed on the D: drive instead of the C: drive), SNMP will prompt you for the location of the operation's files. Click Cancel All, then use the Add/Remove Photo and Add/Remove Soils tools on the View Tools menu to add in the DOQs and soil layer.

Tip: You'll need to make sure the target computer has the same DOQs and soil layer files used by the operation. If necessary, copy the relevant files from the original computer to the target computer's DOQ and SOILS folders in the SNMP folder.
To keep your DOQs with your operation's files, move them from SNMP's DOQ folder to the operation's folder. The next time you open the operation, SNMP will prompt you for the location of the DOQ files. Click Cancel All, then use the Add/Remove Photo tool on the View Tools menu to add in the DOQs from their new location. Note that this works best with relatively small DOQ files that are used for only one operation.

Last updated: Nov. 17, 2002