Automated schedules

I am somewhat of a new user to excel. I just don't use it that much. The more I start to fiddle with it, the more I see of what great use it can be for me. I work for a seed and fertility company. We soil sample fields each year and then take the data and make recommendations on those results. I am wondering how (or if it is possible) for me to make more of an automated schedule or something close to it. The way I did it this time was I looked on the internet for a free template and then erased the text and filled in my own. It worked but took a long time to do and is hard to keep track of what customers fields are due this year. The way our program works is like this. We have a 4 year rotation of soil samples. Meaning, a customers field is sampled every 4 years. So this year X amount of fields are due with X amount of farmers. Next year will be X amount of fields with X amount of farmers. We are sampling every year but they are different fields each year.. Might be the same farmers but different fields until we reach the 4 year mark. I am wanting to know if their is a way to set up a table or something where I would be able to input all of my growers in with their farms and field names. Then I would like to be able to select a year or tell excel I want all the growers farms and fields that need to be sample for X crop year.. ie.. 2010 or 2011. It would bring up all the information I would need know. I would ask if it would just input all the information into cells in a nice template similar to the one I made but I think that is asking to much right now. My main objective is to learn how to automate the process a little better instead of rummaging through paperwork year after year to see who is due for soil sampling this year. Anybody catch what I am trying to do?