If you want to learn about the diversity of OFE, its value proposition and contribute to shape the Global OFE Network, don’t forget to register to the #OFE2023 by using this link. Authors of the #OFE2023 have submitted their contributions, and the review process is underway. The topics of these publications are distributed across five main themes: Agronomy, Data & Technology, Implementation, Scaling & Policy, and Strategy. Stay tuned to learn more about these themes and the conference program (coming soon) by visiting the #OFE2023 website.

The International Conference for On-farm Precision Experimentations is organized by the multi-university Data-Intensive Farm Management Project (DIFM) and sponsored by the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture. The purpose of the conference is to present and promote a revolution in agricultural sciences that moves agronomic experimentation from university- and corporate-owned fields to farmers’ own fields. The ICOFPE will take place in South Padre Island, TX, USA from Jan. 8-11, 2024. More information and registration here.

The UK’s main agricultural universities have teamed up to publish their first sector-wide research strategy. The strategy focuses on increasing the impact on agricultural research, and includes new analysis of research activities. “It concerns how we work, rather than prioritising research questions. “ Key commitments include open and inclusive research priority-setting with farmers and other stakeholders. The review was led by the Centre for Effective Innovation in Agriculture, which supports OFE in the UK. Access the full report here.

Harper Adams University (UK) will be hosting the 6th symposium of the Global Institute for Agri-Tech Economics (GIATE) on 18th-19th September 2023. This event is supported by ISPA and CEIA amongst others. OFE-related keynotes include Prof James Lowenberg DeBoer on lessons learned from 30 years of precision agriculture research, and Dr Andreas Meyer-Aurich on Enabling agroecology through digitalization in agriculture. More details and previous proceedings here.

[...] "Top-down political processes such as UNFSS +2 and bottom-up movements should not simply co-exist but converge — and recognize their mutual dependence. The global food system is increasingly complex and interconnected, and coordinating different interests in the face of climate change and other global challenges requires supranational bodies capable of setting guidelines at the macro level. Yet, it is the change coming through social movements and the people on the ground that confers the transformation process legitimacy and ownership, making it attuned to different people’s demands and making it sustainable over time." Read the full Nature Food editorial article about the value of indigenous knowledge here.

[…] “We find that criticism from narrow disciplinary and institutional perspectives has provided few practical options for policy makers managing these complex and interacting goals. In contrast, ideas from a longstanding but little recognized literature on adaptive governance have potential to create innovative policy options for addressing the multiple interacting goals of Australian drought policy.” […] “Essential to delivering these options is the creation of flexible, regionally distributed scientific support for drought policy capable of integrating local knowledge and informing the livelihood outcomes of critical importance to governments and rural communities.” Read the full paper here.