U.S. farmers are challenged to increase crop production while achieving greater resource use efficiency.  The Nebraska On-Farm Research Network (NOFRN), enables farmers to answer critical production, profitability, and sustainability questions with their own fields and equipment. The NOFRN is sponsored by the University of Nebraska – Lincoln Extension and derives from two separate on-farm research efforts, the earliest originating in 1990.  Over the course of the last 29 years, new agriculture technologies have become more common on farms, providing opportunities to both evaluate the utility of these technologies through on-farm research (such as multi-hybrid planting and crop canopy sensors) and use these technologies to expedite on-farm research implementation and data collection (such as variable rate applications and yield monitors). Additionally, spatially dense data such as yield monitor data, EC data, and aerial imagery are more readily obtained, allowing for new approaches to data analysis and interpretation. Specific skills and additional time are required to fully utilize data from these available technologies; access to individuals and teams with skills in data management systems and spatial data analysis are invaluable, yet many extension educators express low knowledge in using these technologies. Training opportunities are needed to enable educators and researchers to be confident in using these technologies when conducting on-farm research.

As the NOFRN participation and geographic footprint has grown, new tools have been developed and employed to facilitate on-farm research data collection, analysis, and sharing.  A variety of mediums including twitter, email newsletters, and YouTube are leveraged to extend opportunities and research findings to a technologically proficient generation of farmers and crop consultants. A smartphone app was developed to aid in plot layout and data recording.  Additionally, an interactive archive of study results is available online. To assess long-term impacts of the program, cooperating farmer perceptions, motivations, and behavioral changes resulting from study participation were documented in 2002 and 2016. In 2016, a study of 40 past on farm research participants documented experiences in an on farm research program. The study found that an increase in use of new agriculture technologies has made conducting on-farm research more feasible and less demanding at harvest, reducing the number of participants who thought about quitting participation in on-farm research.