The On-Farm Network®, a program of the Iowa Soybean Association, focuses on precision agriculture tools and technology to collect information that can increase growers’ profits from crop production.
We use a variety of tools, including remote sensing, GPS and yield monitors to collect data in real world conditions. Growers and agronomists follow protocols that ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data collected, yet are easy and practical to implement. Trials run throughout fields and are made up of replicated strips marked with GPS. The strips compare a grower’s normal practice with just one alternative, which can be a difference in products used, application method, timing, or other management practices.
A single trial has value, particularly to the grower on whose farm it was conducted. However, there is much more value in looking at data from many trials, whether they are collected from farmers in a local group or pooled from across the state and across time.
On-Farm Network® Staff
Front Row (L-R)
Tracy Blackmer, Ph.D - Director of Research
Steve May - Resource Development
Christine Borton - Contract and Administrative Manager
Back Row (L-R)
Mick Lane - Communications Manager
Peter Kyveryga, Ph.D - Senior Research Associate
Patrick Reeg, CCA - Technology Manager
Matt Sweeney, CCA - Project Manager
