On-Farm Experimentation
What is On-farm Experimentation?
Farmer-centric On-farm Experimentation, or “OFE,” is defined as an innovation process that brings agricultural stakeholders together around mutually beneficial experimentation to support farmers’ management decisions.
Key Points:
Farmer-led research: Farmers address practical questions by investing their time and resources in finding solutions that directly impact their farms.
Scientific and Practical: OFE generates valuable data to guide farming practices and support sustainable agriculture.
Enhanced with Digital Agronomy: Using digital tools, the insights from these experiments can be shared and scaled, accelerating the transition to sustainable food production.
Combining traditional farming knowledge with modern technology, OFE helps create a more resilient and sustainable agricultural system.
What's in it for farmers?
Farmers can experiment on their terms while benefiting from science-grade digital agronomy lab resources for data collection, organization, and interpretation. The synergy between these two approaches lies in their mutual enhancement through data exchange and collaborative learning.
Data Exchange: Farmers provide real-world data and insights from their OFE, which scientists analyze to find trends and patterns. This observational data supports hypothesis generation and validates experimental results.
Collaborative Learning: Scientists design experiments to test specific hypotheses, providing farmers with scientifically backed strategies and techniques. This integration accelerates the development of effective, context-specific solutions.
Co-Creation of Solutions: The continuous feedback loop between OFE and academic research fosters an environment where practical and scientific knowledge merge, leading to sustainable and resilient agricultural practices.
By leveraging the strengths of OFE and academic research, we can enhance decision-making, accelerate learning, and promote the widespread adoption of innovative farming practices.
Quick Start Guide
In On-Farm Experimentation (OFE), farmers lead the experimentation process by choosing what to test and designing their experiments based on their specific context and capacity. The Farmers DataLab supports this process by collecting, organizing, and analyzing data, which benefits both farmers and scientists. Farmers gain more value from their investments in experimentation, while scientists can learn from the rich data generated.
- Register Your Experiment
Farmers fill out an Experiment Card detailing their hypothesis, experimental design, data collection methods, and interpretation plans. This information helps the Farmers DataLab suggest additional data points to enhance context and interpretation. Farmers can also identify the specific field for their experiment.
2. Conduct Experiment & Collect Data
During the growing season, farmers manage their fields and implement their experiments as planned. The Farmers DataLab will visit the fields as needed to collect agronomic data from the experimental plots.
3. Organize the Data
As data is collected, Farmers DataLab researchers will standardize it across sites and years. This includes integrating remote sensing imagery, weather data, topographic maps, and Drought Monitor data. The organized data is stored in a structured SQL database for efficient analysis.
4. Interpret the Data
Once the data is ready, the Farmers DataLab generates results that enable farmers to draw conclusions from their experiments during the winter. Acknowledging that farmers iterate on their experiments, the analysis generates infographics that are easy for farmers to understand during workshops that bring together farmers, agronomists, students, and scientists.
OFE Network Map
On-Farm-Experimenation field locations and collection of experimental data to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration. Since 2021, over 1400 samples have been collected from NY farmer's experiments. Insights are shared freely with farmers.
Current and Upcoming Projects
Farmers Testing Biologicals
Explore how farmers are testing biologicals as a sustainable alternative to traditional nitrogen fertilizers, with support from Farmers DataLab, to better understand crop health and soil conditions. Details coming soon!
Farmer-led Conservation Trials
Farmers are leading experiments with conservation practices, using advanced tools like aerial imagery and geospatial yield data to gain deeper insights into crop performance and resilience. Details coming soon!
We are recruiting. In 2025, Farmers DataLab will support at least 10 farms experimenting with N fertilizer rates and cover crop management to find the best solutions for optimizing corn yield. Interested farmers are encouraged to participate by visiting the project's page and filling out an Experiment Card.
How is On-Farm Experimentation Part of a Global Movement?
Farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation (OFE) is a groundbreaking research field in agronomy, uniting farmers and scientists from around the world. This collaborative approach is transforming agriculture by empowering farmers with data-driven insights and innovative practices.
Want to dive deeper?
Visit the Global OFE Network website
Read the comprehensive Nature Food publication
Sign up for the monthly newsletters from the ISPA OFE Community to stay informed and inspired. The International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) is a non-profit professional scientific organization whose mission is to advance the science of precision agriculture globally.