#OFE2021

The First Conference on Farmer-Centric On-farm Experimentation — Digital Tools for a Scalable Transformative Pathway was held on October 13th-15th 2021 in Montpellier, France.

#OFE2021 Abstract Submission Deadline Extended

Abstracts for #OFE2021 are accepted until June 30, 2021. Submit your 150-word abstract for an e-presentations on On-Farm Experimentation activities or research. Topics addressing lessons learnt as well as research results are suitable and encouraged.

#OFE2023

Stay on top of the latest information for the 2nd Conference on Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation, which will take place in a virtual format on Dec. 5-7 2023, by visiting the conference webpage: https://www.gofen.org/ofe2023/

#OFE2023 conference program

See the detailed conference program here.   Also available on the website of the conference.

#OFE2023 – Abstract submission is open until July 1st

Stay on top of the latest information for the 2nd Conference on Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation which will take place in a virtual format on Dec. 5-7 2023 by visiting the conference webpage: https://www.gofen.org/ofe2023/. You may submit your 150-word abstract here.

1. Value Creation

Monday May 10th (8-10 a.m. Chicago = 3-5 p.m. Paris) “Farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation”, or “OFE”, is a shared, self-sustaining process of change. Value is essential to its development and success. With the aim of enhancing interest, trust and investment in OFE, this webinar will ask: How is value created? How is value shared? Who gains from OFE? How can science and technology improve OFE processes? Experience suggests that farmers need little persuasion to engage; on-farm experimentation is a process they already do and understand. But to scale up, we need to recognize how OFE creates ...

12th ECPA - Deadline Updates

Dates: 8-11 July 2019 Location: Montpellier, France Website is http://ecpa2019.agrotic.org   The French organisers are pleased to welcome the return of the ECPA conference to France and to Montpellier. The conference will continue with the successful format of previous conferences of building in strong industry sessions and participation. Taking advantage of the location of Montpellier on the Mediterranean coast, this 2019 edition will be an opportunity to focus on precision farming applied to small Mediterranean farms. Of course, oral and poster presentations will be welcomed from authors on any precision agriculture topic, though particularly welcome on ...

14th Annual ICPA - Quick Links

  Oral Program Poster Program

14th ICPA Extension of deadline for papers

All,   Many thanks to those who have uploaded a paper (or 2-page summary for posters) for the ICPA proceedings. We have also had many requests for an extension of the deadline.   To accommodate as many presentations as possible, we are extending the deadline for full papers to Tuesday, May 15th. Please have your paper uploaded by that time.    Please remember: Full papers (or 2-page summary for posters) must be uploaded by 15 MAY 2018 to be included in the conference and proceedings. One or more authors of a paper must be registered for the conference ...

14th ICPA in the Ag News

PrecisionAg Magazine's Rodrigo Trevisan provides a nice write-up of the conference keynotes and the research presented. Trevisan, a three time attendee of ICPA, notes, "the transformation and evolution of scientific research during the last several years has been incredible." See article

14th ICPA June Update

Reminder to Authors:  One or more authors of a paper must be registered for the conference by 01 JUNE 2018 for it to be included in the conference and proceedings. Proceedings papers should be uploaded by now. Please email abstracts@ispag.org if you have a question. Papers not meeting these requirements will not be included in the conference or proceedings. Workshops Pre-conference workshops descriptions have been updated. Please consider joining either: 1) Processing Precision Agriculture Data with R; 2)  Decision support using on-farm trial (or research) data; 3) UAV Operation and Data Analysis for Precision Agriculture Applications. Registration for the ...

14th ICPA Quick Links

Authors: abstract management, instructions for full papers and posters Registration: online registration, pdf form for registration Hotel / Travel: hotel info, Montreal Invitation: email info@ispag.org to request a letter of invitation Workshops: Data with R, Online Decision Support, Logistics of UAV Operation  Tour: Wednesday technical tour Sponsors: become a sponsor, sponsor sign up Exhibitors: prospectus, exhibit hall map ISPA Membership: renewal, new members, pdf form Smartphone App: iOS, Android

14th ICPA Update

Deadline for Papers extended to 15 May 2018 Reminder to Authors:  Full papers (or 2-page summary for posters) must be uploaded by 15 MAY 2018 to be included in the conference and proceedings. One or more authors of a paper must be registered for the conference by 01 JUNE 2018 for it to be included in the conference and proceedings. Papers not meeting these requirements will not be included in the conference or proceedings. Workshops Pre-conference workshops descriptions have been updated. Please consider joining either: 1) Processing Precision Agriculture Data with R; 2)  Decision support using on-farm trial (or ...

14th International Conference on Precision Agriculture

The 14th International Conference on Precision Agriculture will be held 24-27 JUN 2018 at Le Centre Sheraton in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.    More information about the conference hotel, abstract submission, and registration is available at ispag.org/icpa

15th ICPA Announcement with Coronavirus Updates

As our member community makes plans to join us for the 15th ICPA currently scheduled for June 28-July 1, 2020 in Minneapolis, MN, we want to assure our exhibitors, attendees, speakers, and partners that we are continuing to plan for the conference. Keep an eye on your inbox for up-to-date information.   The ISPA staff and Board are aware of the concerns and uncertainties related to the COVID-19 (coronavirus). Our top priority is the health, safety, and security of our members and meeting attendees. We are closely monitoring developments and staying abreast of updates from health organizations. While ...

15th ICPA Awards

Know an graduate student or outstanding scientist? Nominate them for The ISPA Outstanding Graduate Student Award or The ISPA Pierre C. Robert Precision Agriculture Award. Nominations are due Monday, June 1, 2020.

15th ICPA Exhibitor and Sponsor Opportunities

As an elite vendor in the precision agriculture industry it's important to connect to clients, prospects, and their centers of influence. Trade shows and conferences offer a unique opportunity to meet your clients and prospects and show off your latest offerings.    The 15th ICPA will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States June 26-29, 2022. This will be an excellent opportunity to expand interest in your company with centers of influence from across North America and the rest of the world.    ICPA typically brings about 400 people from 30+ countries. The attendees consist of precision agriculture ...

15th ICPA Exhibitor and Sponsor Opportunities Follow Up

I wanted to follow up regarding the sponsor opportunities for the 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture which will be held June 28 - July 1, 2020 in Minneapolis, MN.   We brought the conference back to its roots in Minneapolis for the 15th edition. We are working with the University of Minnesota and local organizations to set up a really great experience for our domestic and international attendees. The 15th ICPA promises to be another strong conference with over 280 abstracts submitted.    We invite you to participate in the conference as an attendee, exhibitor, and sponsor. Attached is the ...

15th ICPA Exhibitors and Sponsors

Become A Exhibitor Or Sponsor Of The 15th ICPA Companies exhibiting at the 15th International Conference On Precision Agriculture have the opportunity to network with both in-person and virtual conference attendees.     Exhibitors can network with the in-person conference attendees via their booth in Minneapolis, and with the virtual attendees via their virtual exhibit booth hosted on the conference website.    Instructions on how to customize your virtual exhibit booth can be found at https://www.ispag.org/icpa/exhibits  

15th ICPA Get Involved

The Future Of ISPA The Future of the International Society of Precision Agriculture Survey: ISPA would like to hear from you.  "The Future of ISPA" survey is your opportunity to make a suggestion to the board on how to improve the society and to let the board know of services you have enjoyed as a member of ISPA.   Click here to complete the survey.  

15th ICPA Hotel

Reserve Your Room Today! Rooms are available in the ICPA room block at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center.  Call the hotel to reserve your stay today!   Please be sure to let them know you are attending the 15th ICPA to recieve the discounted conference nightly rate.    Minneapolis Marriott City Center +1 612-349-4000

15th ICPA Hotel

The 15th ICPA will be held at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.    A block of rooms has beeen reserved at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center for the conference at the rate of $169 USD per night. Book your room online or call +1 612-349-4000 to book a room. Make sure to mention ISPA to receive the conference room rate. The discounted rate is only available until June 5, 2020 or until the block is full, so please book your room early. 

15th ICPA June 10th Deadlines

Discounted Room Block Rate - EXTENDED You now have until June 10th to reserve your stay at the Minneapolis Mariott City Center and receive a discount on your hotel room rate.    Reserve your room here. 

15th ICPA June 1st Deadlines

Oral and Poster Presenters - Registration Your abstract Presenter and at least one Author must be registered for the conference by June 1st.  Register for the conference here. Virtual Oral Presentations - Video Submissions The deadline to submit your presentation recording is June 1st.  All virtual oral presentations must submit a presentation recording. Please submit your recording as an MP4 file to info@ispag.org.   Recording instructions can be found on the  Author Instructions webpage.  ISPA Board Elections - Nominations The deadline to submit your nomination for the next ...

15th ICPA June 8th Deadlines

Early Bird Registration The last day to register for the 15th ICPA and receive the early bird discount is June 8th.   Register today!

15th ICPA Keynote

Monday, June 27th Keynote Speaker Our Keynote Address will be presented by Dr. Rober Sparrow on Monday, June 27th, 2022   Realising the potential of agricultural robotics and AI: The ethical challenges Recent advances in AI and robotics may dramatically transform agriculture by greatly expanding the number of contexts in which the techniques of precision agriculture may be applied. Inevitably, this next agricultural revolution will generate profound ethical issues: opportunities as well as risks. Clever applications of AI and robotics may allow agriculture to be more sustainable by facilitating more precise applications of water, fertilisers, and herbicides. Robots may take some ...

15th ICPA Keynote

Monday, June 27th Keynote Speaker Our Keynote Address will be presented by Dr. Robert Sparrow on Monday, June 27th, 2022   Realising the potential of agricultural robotics and AI: The ethical challenges Recent advances in AI and robotics may dramatically transform agriculture by greatly expanding the number of contexts in which the techniques of precision agriculture may be applied. Inevitably, this next agricultural revolution will generate profound ethical issues: opportunities as well as risks. Clever applications of AI and robotics may allow agriculture to be more sustainable by facilitating more precise applications of water, fertilisers, and herbicides. Robots may ...

15th ICPA May 1st Deadlines

Oral and Poster Abstract Submission Deadline Please submit your Oral or Poster abstract at https://www.ispag.org/abstracts    Paper Submission Deadline  Full Papers (or 2-page summary for posters) must be uploaded by 01 May 2022 for inclusion in the proceedings.    Please submit your paper via https://www.ispag.org/abstracts Author instructions can be found at https://www.ispag.org/icpa/Author_instructions A short paper extension is possible.  Please email us at abstracts@ispag.org to request an extension.  Please include your abstract number in your request. 

15th ICPA May 2nd Deadlines

Pierre C. Roberts Precisison Agriculture Award(s) Nomination The Pierre C. Robert Precision Agriculture Award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to precision agriculture science and technology and who are presenting an oral or poster paper at the conference.   Two awards will be given in this catagory to a Young and Senior Scientist/Professional. The selected candidates will be honored during the conference award ceremony with a Plaque of Achievement and US $1000 cash award.    Learn more at https://www.ispag.org/icpa/Awards Completed nomination packages should be emailed to awards@ispag.org&...

15th ICPA Plenary Presentation

Plenary Keynote Join us on Tuesday, 28 JUNE for Dr. Raj Khosla's presentation: Past, Present, and Future of the Precision Agriculture and our Professional Society.  Learn more about the Plenary Keynote and following Panel Discussion here.   Past, Present, and Future of Precision Agriculture and our Professional Society   The passage of law in 1983 to allow Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to be available for civil applications was a landmark event in the history of human kind.  Later in early 2000 a further commitment was made by the US government to grant civilians access to un-degraded GPS signals on par ...

15th ICPA Plenary Session Panel

The Aspirations of the ISPA Panel Discussion Join us for The Aspirations of the ISPA Panel Discussion on Tuesday, June 28th as a part of the 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture. Get to know the panelists at www.ispag.org/Program/Plenary_Session. Viacheslav Adamchuck McGill University Yafit Cohen ARO, Israel Kwame Agyei Frimpong Cape Coast University, Ghana, President of the AAPA Raj Khosla Kansas State University Brenda Ortiz Auburn University  

15th ICPA Post Conference Tour

Post Conference Tour Following the ICPA closing session on Wednesday, June 29th, join us for an enlightening tour of the University of Minnesota’s Robotics Institute and the Precision Agriculture Center. Buses will leave the Marriott Conference Center at 1:00 pm and return by 6:00 pm. A box lunch is included in the tour registration.   Learn more about the tour here!  

15th ICPA Post Conference Tour

Post Conference Tour Following the ICPA closing session on Wednesday, June 29th, join us for an enlightening tour of the University of Minnesota’s Robotics Institute and the Precision Agriculture Center. Buses will leave the Marriott Conference Center at 1:00 pm and return by 6:00 pm. A box lunch is included in the tour registration.   Learn more about the tour here!

15th ICPA Quick Links

Conference Home Page Online Registration: don't put it off, registration rates go up after June 8th Registration Form pdf Exhibitor Details Sponsor Details Book your hotel room today

15th ICPA Registration

Registration is open for the 15th ICPA in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA on June 28 - July 1, 2020. The 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture will highlight significant research and its applications in precision agriculture and showcase emerging technologies and information management for agriculture. It will offer oral and poster presentations and exhibits, as well as a discussions and exchange of information in various aspects of precison agriculture. Sessions will offer information on key topics for scientists, crop consultants, advisors, extension personnel, agronomists, producers, and other practicioners.   For additional details about conference registration, please visit the ICPA registration page.&...

15th ICPA Silver Sponsors

Minnesota Corn Growers Association  www.MNCorn.org   With more than 6,500 members, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association is one of the largest grassroots farm organizations in the United States. Working in close partnership with the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council, MCGA identifies and promotes opportunities for Minnesota’s 24,000 corn farmers while building connections with the non-farming public. We accomplish this by investing in third-party research that focuses on water quality and soil health, targeted consumer outreach, developing new uses for corn and working to add value to every bushel of corn grown in Minnesota.   #DigitAg France&...

15th ICPA Silver Sponsors

15th ICPA Upcoming Deadlines

15th ICPA Upcoming Deadlines Hotel Room Block:  Reserve your stay at the Minneapolis Mariott City Center by June 1st to receive the discount on your hotel room rate.    Reserve your room here.  Oral and Poster Presenters: At least one author of your abstract must be registered for the conference by June 1st.   Register for the conference here. Virtual Oral Presentations: The deadline to submit your presentation recording is June 1st.  All virtual oral presentations must submit a presentation recording. Please submit your recording as an MP4 file to ...

15th ICPA Virtual Conference Instructions

The conference uses a combination of Zoom and Registrant-Only content on the website. Only users registered for the 15th ICPA will be able to access the live streams and recordings.  You can begin your ICPA online experience from the website: www.ispag.org/icpa.  Log into the website using the credentials from the account creation email you received.  Click on the MY ACCOUNT link.  Use the MY CONFERENCE tab to view the recorded presentations  JOINING WEBINAR There are many ways to access the live webinar, but the simplest is by logging ...

15th ICPA Virtual Poster

Virtual Poster Presentations Begin Customizing Your Virtual Poster:  Authors presenting their poster at the 15th ICPA virtually can begin customizing their virtual posters here (please log in to view your abstract).    Authors presenting their poster in-person at the 15th ICPA can create a virtual poster but they are not required to do so.  The addition of the virtual poster would allow you to showcase your research to the virtual attendees as well as the in-person conference attendees.    Instructions on how to customize your poster can be found on the&...

15th ICPA Workshops

Pre Conference Workshops We are offering two pre-conference workshops, on Sunday, June 26th.  The workshops are only available to those registering for the conference.  Learn more about the workshops here. The Google Earth Engine Workshop will be led by Mr. Harel Greenblatt Mr. Greenblatt is a mechanical engineer working as a mechanization and technology instructor in the Ministry of Agriculture.  As an M.A. student in the Department of Geography, he specialized in remote sensing and GIS.  Mr. Greenblatt has developed a manual on the use of Google Earth Engine for agricultural purposes and he ...

15th ICPA Workshops

Pre Conference Workshops We are offering two pre-conference workshops, on Sunday, June 26th.  The workshops are only available to those registering for the conference.  Learn more about the workshops here.     The Google Earth Engine Workshop will be led by Mr. Harel Greenblatt Mr. Greenblatt is a mechanical engineer working as a mechanization and technology instructor in the Ministry of Agriculture.  As a M.A. student in the Department of Geography, he specialized in remote sensing and GIS.  Mr. Greenblatt has developed a manual on the use of Google Earth Engine for agricultural purposes ...

15th ICPA: Abstract Notifications Sent

Thank you for submitting an abstract for the 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture. At this time, all abstract notifications have been sent IF your abstract was submitted before the 24 DEC 2021 deadline. If you have not received it to your inbox, please make sure to check your spam filters for the notification.    If you have not received the notification and you submitted your abstract before the deadline, please let us know at abstracts@ispag.org. We will resend the email to you.    More information about preparing your paper for the conference can be found here.&...

15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture

Hello ISPA Country Representatives! We are excited for the upcoming 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture. We hope to see you at the conference this year.    Attending the conference is a great way to connect with ISPA members and academics from your country or region. It is also a great opportunity to meet young, accomplished students who are passionate about Precision Agriculture.   The 15th ICPA is welcoming attendees from 31 different countries. Attendees include students, professors, researchers and ISPA members.    During the conference, ISPA Communities and Country/Region attendees have the opportunity to meet ...

15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture

The 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture will be held 28 June - 1 July 2020 at Minneapolis Marriott City Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.    More information about the conference hotel, abstract submission, and registration is available at ispag.org/icpa.

15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture

  The 15th ICPA Is In Ten Days!   Register Today To Attend The Conference In-Person or Virtually The conference will include over 200 Oral and Poster presentations on a wide range of Precision Agriculture topics.  Register for the conference here.    In addition to the Oral and Poster programs, conference attendees have the opportunity to attend two Pre-Conference Workshops and a Post-Conference Tour.    Learn more about the Google Earth Engine and the Data-Intensive Farm Management workshops here.    Learn more about the Post-Conference Tour here.  The Post-Conference Tour will visit the Minnesota Robotics ...

16th ICPA Program Topics

2. People and Processes

Wednesday May 12th (8-10 a.m. Chicago = 3-5 p.m. Paris) How can we ensure that digitally enabled On-Farm Experimentation avoids the classic “Technology Fallacy,” and instead centres transformation around people? Recent research from MIT demonstrated that “people are the real key to digital transformation” (Kane 2019). Change is as much about us and our organizations as it is about the technology. Change occurs when people change, transformation occurs when individual changes scale up through their networks and their organizations. The underlying change throughout is in knowledge and shared culture. This webinar will explore various examples of ...

20150630 Minutes

20160712 Minutes

20160731 Minutes

20161024 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   October 24, 2016   Conference Call   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Ian Yule, President Elect; Raj Khosla, Founding President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: John Stafford, 2012-14 President     The meeting started at 15:30 EDT.   Nicolas presented the meeting agenda orally, which consisted of the following three items:   How to strengthen and formalize our partnership with ACPA Decide on what to answer Armin Werner (email of October 12th, 2016) Update from Ian Yule on InterMET ...

20161215 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   December 15, 2016   Conference Call   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Ian Yule, President Elect; Raj Khosla, Founding President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; John Stafford, 2012-14 President; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary     The meeting started at 14:30 EST.   Raj asked that “relationship with ECPA” be added to the agenda. The modified agenda was agreed on.   The minutes from August 3, 2016 meeting were reviewed and unanimously approved.   The minutes from the October 24, 2016 conference were reviewed. Raj inquired about a follow ...

20170309 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes March 9, 2017 Conference Call Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Ian Yule, President Elect; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary Could not attend: Raj Khosla, Founding President; John Stafford, 2012-14 President The meeting started at 14:30 EST. Nicolas started the meeting by listing the participants and absences and reviewed the agenda. Nicolas reviewed the minutes from December 15, 2016. Terry and Ken will look into financial items. The minutes were unanimously approved. Quentin described the details of the Sheraton Hotel proposal. The facility is of a ...

20170717 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes July 17, 2017 Holyrood Room (John McIntyre Conference Center, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK) Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Ian Yule, President Elect; Terry Griffin, Treasurer (joined late); Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; John Stafford, 2012‑14 President Guest: James Taylor, Chair of 11th ECPA Conference Could not participate: Raj Khosla, Founding President; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary The meeting started at 18:00 BST. Nicolas reviewed the agenda and invited James to describe his perception of the coordination of ECPA activities and ISPA and the potential to improve the process. While reviewing the minutes, ...

20170928 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   September 28, 2017   Conference Call   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; John Stafford, 2012‑14 President; Raj Khosla, Founding President (joined late); Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Ian Yule, President Elect   The meeting started at 10:00 EDT. Nicolas reviewed the agenda. The next meeting will focus on ICPA and should take place at the beginning of November. Solicitation of abstracts is our priority. Each Board member should volunteer to solicit contributions focusing on different topic areas. The ...

20171111 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   November 11, 2017   Conference Call   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer (joined late); Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Ian Yule, President Elect; John Stafford, 2012‑14 President; Raj Khosla, Founding President   The meeting started at 15:00 EST. Nicolas reviewed the agenda. Slava reviewed the minutes of the September 28 conference call. Quentin commented that the low-income country reduced membership fees policy has been implemented. The minutes were approved.   Nicolas started discussion on the 14th ICPA. He reviewed ...

20180131 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   January 31, 2018   Conference Call   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Ian Yule, President Elect; John Stafford, 2012‑14 President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Raj Khosla, Founding President   The meeting started at 14:30 EST. The distributed agenda was approved. Slava reviewed the November 11, 2017 minutes and they were approved.   Nicolas gave an update on the newsletter. Quentin will implement a practice of keeping future events on the list until they take place. ICPA keynote speakers will ...

20180302 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   March 2, 2018   Conference Call   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President;  Ian Yule, President Elect; John Stafford, 2012‑14 President; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Raj Khosla, Founding President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer   The meeting started at 14:30 EST. The distributed agenda was approved. Slava reviewed the January 31, 2018 minutes and they were approved.    Nicolas read communication to and from SPAA pertaining to the bid to host the 2020 ICPA. Ian characterized the regional perspective on ICPA and ACPA conferences. ...

20180409 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   April 9, 2018   Conference Call   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President;  Ian Yule, President Elect; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary    Could not participate: John Stafford, 2012‑14 President; Raj Khosla, Founding President; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   The meeting started at 15:40 EDT (via a phone conference instead of GoToMeeting). The distributed agenda was approved. Nicolas reviewed the March 2, 2018 minutes and they were approved.    Nicolas started with ICPA updates. We have four gold and multiple silver sponsorship slots covered. Nicolas ...

20180503 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   May 3, 2018   Conference Call   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President;  Ian Yule, President Elect; John Stafford, 2012‑14 President; Raj Khosla, Founding President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   The meeting started at 15:00 EDT. The distributed agenda was approved. Slava asked for Board elections to be included in the agenda. Slava reviewed the minutes from April 9, 2018 meeting. June 8 will be the deadline for nominations. Raj asked if any steps had been taken to contact possible ...

20180612 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   June 12, 2018   Conference Call   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; John Stafford, 2012‑14 President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Ian Yule, President Elect; Raj Khosla, Founding President   The meeting started at 15:30 EDT. Nicolas reviewed the agenda, which was accepted as distributed. Nicolas reviewed the minutes from the May 21, 2018 call.   Per communication with Raj, Nicolas acknowledged that three nominees for the president’s position have been received: ...

20180624 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   June 24, 2018   La Sheraton Centre Hotel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ian Yule, President Elect;  Ken Sudduth, Past-President; John Stafford, 2012‑14 President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Raj Khosla, Founding President   The meeting started at 15:05 EDT. Nicolas reviewed the agenda, which was accepted as distributed. Slava reviewed the minutes from the June 12, 2018 conference call. The minutes were approved.   Quentin presented the early results from ...

20180626 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   June 26, 2018   Le Sheraton Centre Hotel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada   Participants: Nicolas Tremblay, President; Ian Yule, President Elect; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Raj Khosla, Founding President; John Stafford, 2012‑14 President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Viacheslav Adamchuk, Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary; Jess Lowenmerg DeBoer, New President Elect   Guests: Nicole Dimos (Society of Precision Agriculture Australia, SPAA); Rodrigo Ortega (chair of Latin American Association of Precision Agriculture, ALAP); Manjeet Singh (chair of the next ACPA); Gabor Milics (chair of ...

20180913 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   September 13th 2018   Participants; Ian Yule, President; Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect Ken Sudduth, Past-President; John Stafford, 2012‑14 President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Raj Khosla, Founding President Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President, Victor A.  Secretary   The meeting started at 13.06 UTC -6   Ian will contact regional conference reps with a review of this board meeting.   Minutes of Last Meetings (at ICPA) Ian reviewed the minutes from the last two board meetings ...

20181129 Minutes

Minutes of ISPA board meeting, November 29, 2018   Participants: Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; John Stafford, 2012 14 President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Ian Yule, President; Raj Khosla, Founding President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President;   The meeting started at 13.06 UTC-6   The agenda was appraised and approved.   The minutes of the previous board meeting were reviewed and approved.   ISPA Reporting: financials, membership, publications – not discussed   Administrative agreement: The administrative agreement is very similar to the previous. The board approved it unanimously.   Location for 15...

2019 Precision Agriculture in Denmark

In 2019 28% of Danish farms occupying 66% of farmland used some type of precision agriculture (PA). Denmark is one of the few countries where the government statistics office collects information on the adoption of precision agriculture (PA). The data is from a stratified sample drawn from all farms with cultivated area registered with the government for administrative and regulatory purposes. The 2019 sample size was 6005 respondents. The Danish survey asked about Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), sprayer section control, software for planning nitrogen applications, satellite & drone images and crop sensors. Some key results:   In Denmark the most commonly adopted PA technology ...

20190103 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   January 03, 2019   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; John Stafford Past President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Raj Khosla, Founding President;   The meeting started at 13:05 UTC-6   The agenda was appraised and approved. Previous Minutes were not circulated. Victor will produce minutes of the last two minutes and send out before next meeting.   Treasurer’s Report Terry went through the ISPA treasures summary ...

20190207 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   February 07, 2019   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Victor Alchanatis, Secretary; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; John Stafford Past President; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Raj Khosla, Founding President;   Call to Order/Welcome Ian welcomed the forum. Jess in Germany talking about robotics.   Agenda appraisal No other items.   Review and approve previous minutes Nicolas noted an inaccuracy at the audit discussion, which was corrected. Remaining action items were noted for follow up ...

20190321 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   March 21, 2019   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Victor Alchanatis, Secretary; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; John Stafford, Past-President; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could Not Participate: Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; Raj Khosla, Founding President   The meeting started at 13:30 UTC-6   Welcome: We had a double-start to the meeting as North America jumped the gun on daylight savings and Quentin did not update the start time accordingly. So had a double-start to the meeting, but all were able ...

20191127 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   November 27, 2019   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Could not participate: Raj Khosla, Founding President; John Stafford Past President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer;   Guest participant: Francesco Marinello – for the first part of the diacussion   The meeting started at 13:35 UTC-6   Consultation for a roadmap for precision agriculture.  Nicolas gave an intro and background. Francesco gave also an introduction. He wants ISPA to provide ...

2020 ISPA Elections

The nomination committee of ISPA is requesting nominations for the following offices for the ISPA President Elect – (Six year appointment) to serve as President Elect from July 2020 to July 2022, and then move to President for July 2022 to July 2024 and then to Past-President 2024-2026. Secretary – (Two year appointment) to serve from July 2020 to July 2022 Treasurer - (Four year appointment) to serve from July 2020 to July 2024 More on officer responsibilities is available here.    The ISPA is governed by an international Board of Directors consisting of elected officers (President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary, and ...

20200302 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   March 2nd, 2020   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary; Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; Raj Khosla, Founding President; John Stafford Past President;   Could not participate: ---    The meeting started at 13:30 UTC-5    2020 ICPA preparations   Abstracts status: 299 submitted so far this conference, 217 accepted for Oral presentation.   Exhibitors and Sponsors ⁃           Board requested to ...

20200312 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   March 12, 2020   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary   Excluded from participation due to the personal involvement in topic discussed: Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; John Stafford Past President;   Could not participate: Raj Khosla, Founding President;    The meeting started at 13:30 UTC-5 (There was a time change in the US, that Victor was not aware of, he joined the conference 45 minutes late.)   2020 ICPA preparations ...

20200326 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   March 26, 2020   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary, Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; John Stafford Past President; Raj Khosla, Founding President   Could not participate: --   The meeting started at 13:30 UTC-5   2020 ICPA preparations Following the current situation with COVID-19 around the world which does not seem to enable the conference in June 28 2020, the board explored different options.   All board members agree that June 28-July 3rd 2020 ...

20200404 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   April 4, 2020   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary, Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; John Stafford Past President; Raj Khosla, Founding President   Could not participate: --   The meeting started at 13:30 UTC-5   2020 ICPA preparations Quentin went over detrails on the communication with Marriot during last week:   Marriot (Heather) has offered the possibility to allow the collected cancelation fee to be applied towards future booking and actualized ...

20200411 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   April 11, 2020   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary, Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; Raj Khosla, Founding President   Could not participate: John Stafford Past President;   The meeting started at 13:30 UTC-5   2020 ICPA preparations Quentin described the recent communication with Marriot, which was essentially similar to that of last week:   Marriot (Heather) has offered the possibility to allow the collected cancelation fee to be applied towards ...

20200418 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   April 18th, 2020   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary, Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; John Stafford Past President;Raj Khosla, Founding President   Could not participate: -   The meeting started at 13:30 UTC-5   2020 ICPA preparations Request another month of extension.  Ask Marriot who will bare liability and how should they enforce   The possibility of a joint event with NCR180 was raised. Raj was not ...

20200429 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   April 29th, 2020   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary, Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; ; John Stafford Past President;Raj Khosla, Founding President   Could not participate: Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer;   The meeting started at 13:30 UTC-5   2020 ICPA preparations The revised contract from Marriott was circulated. The impossibility clause is missing in the new contract. The hotel room rate is $10 more than the previous rate.    The reservation of the ...

20200506 Minutes

International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) Board Meeting Minutes   May 6th, 2020   Conference Call   Participants: Ian Yule, President; Nicolas Tremblay, Immediate Past President; Victor Alchanatis,  Secretary; Quentin Rund, Executive Secretary, Jess Lowenberg DeBoer, President Elect; Ken Sudduth, Past-President; Terry Griffin, Treasurer; John Stafford Past President;Raj Khosla, Founding President   Could not participate: -   The meeting started at 13:30 UTC-5   Agenda item 1. Review minutes from 2020 discussions Dec 19, 2019 Mar 2, 2020 Mar 12, 2020 PRAG discussion Mar 26, 2020 Apr 4, 2020 Apr 11, 2020 Apr 18 Apr 29   Board members will review the minutes and send their comments to Victor. Amended minutes will be sent ...

20200706 Minutes

Agenda of ISPA board meeting help on 8th July 2020 Participants: Lowenberg-DeBoer, Tremblay, Khosla, Kerry, Stafford, Fulton, Sudduth Absent: Cambouris   Welcome to new board members Minutes of previous meeting(s) Treasurer's report - 2020 agreement with PAQ Interactive? Lessons learned from the Virtual ICPA on June 30 Plans for ICPA webinars including: Feedback from community leaders - Nicolas Data from ICPA accepted authors Ideas for virtual poster sessions Posting papers on the ISPA website in lieu of proceedings Delegation of responsibility for contacting authors and organizing specific poster and oral paper sessions Robert Awards session - will that be a ...

2022 ISPA Elections

ISPA Board Elections Don't forget to cast your ballot in the 2022 ISPA Board Elections. You will need to log in to your account on the ISPA website to vote. To learn more about the nominees and to cast your vote, please visit: https://ispag.org/election_candidates President Elect Nominees Athyna Cambouris Rodrigo A. Ortega-Blu Steve Phillips   Secretary Nominees Athyna Cambouris Joby Czarnecki Brenda Ortiz  

2024 ICPA Awards

Know a graduate student or outstanding scientist? Nominate them for the ISPA Outstanding Graduate Student Award or the ISPA Pierre C. Robert Precision Agriculture Award. Nomination submissions are due 16 APRIL 2024. Brief descriptions of the awards in different categories are listed below:   Pierre C. Robert Precision Agriculture Award(s) The Pierre C. Robert Precision Agriculture Award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to precision agriculture science and technology and who are presenting an oral or poster paper at the conference. Two awards will be given in this category to a Young and Senior Scientist/...

3. Data and Analytics

Monday May 17th (8-10 a.m. Chicago = 3-5 p.m. Paris) How should we rethink the planning and analysis of on-farm experiments with farmers’ interests in mind? How should we organize and curate data and metadata for this purpose? Farmer-centric experimentation has great potential to improve the design and adoption of better farm management practices. All stakeholders, including farmers, commercial product and service providers, scientists and policy makers, must seize this opportunity to improve farm practices in terms of precision, efficiency and impact. From smallholders to broadacre farmers, from local to greater scales, well-targeted analytics can be deployed to ...

3. Data and Analytics

Monday 17th (8-10 a.m. Chicago = 3-5 p.m. Paris) How should we rethink the planning and analysis of on-farm experiments with farmers’ interests in mind? How should we organize and curate data and metadata for this purpose? Farmer-centric experimentation has great potential to improve the design and adoption of better farm management practices. All stakeholders, including farmers, commercial product and service providers, scientists and policy makers, must seize this opportunity to improve farm practices in terms of precision, efficiency and impact. From smallholders to broadacre farmers, from local to greater scales, well-targeted analytics can be deployed to exploit ...

4. Policy Linkages

Wednesday May 19th (8-10 a.m. Chicago = 3-5 p.m. Paris) Policy, legislation and investments are necessary to support transformation through OFE which is, essentially, a local process that engages farmers and others around specific changes on the farm. Currently, initiatives around OFE are happening in spite of poorly aligned institutional structures and incentives within the agricultural sciences, with funding mechanisms, career paths and norms favouring traditional experimentation. Harnessing the transformational potential of OFE for agricultural sciences and innovation requires more strategic institutional alignment. To scale up, OFE will need nurturing policy, well-designed legislation and secure investment. This webinar will ...

4. Policy Linkages

Wednesday 19th (8-10 a.m. Chicago = 3-5 p.m. Paris) Policy, legislation and investments are necessary to support transformation through OFE which is, essentially, a local process that engages farmers and others around specific changes on the farm. Currently, initiatives around OFE are happening in spite of poorly aligned institutional structures and incentives within the agricultural sciences, with funding mechanisms, career paths and norms favouring traditional experimentation. Harnessing the transformational potential of OFE for agricultural sciences and innovation requires more strategic institutional alignment. To scale up, OFE will need nurturing policy, well-designed legislation and secure investment. This webinar will present ...

A Framework to Better Understand How Farmers Experiment Agroecological Practices

Farmers’ experimentation has long been identified, but until now, its dynamic has hardly been studied at all. The aim of this paper from Catalogna et al. (2022) is to understand the multiannual experimental itineraries that farmers follow when they try new agroecological practices on their farms. Results show how the representation of experimental itineraries could support farmers in their experiments and enable them to learn more efficiently.  

A French network in a problem-solving approach

  Sugar beet production in western Europe is under threat because of the damages due to the impact of viruses that are transmitted by peach aphids. Since 1993, this threat has been under control by the use of neonicotinoids in seed treatments. Due to French regulations, this pesticide has been withdrawn from all crops since 2018. In absence of protection, major yield losses were observed in 2020 (-27.4%) due to early aphid arrivals. A derogative regime for sugar beet was set, that went to an end after the decision of the European Commission Justice Court in January 2023. In order to identify levers and ...

A GARDIAN of Big Data

GARDIAN is CGIAR’s (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) flagship data harvesters. It enables the discovery of publications and datasets from across the thirty-odd institutional publications and data repositories from CGIAR Centers and beyond. Actually, most data and publications are not stored in it but in other public databases and repositories. GARDIAN a key component of the Platform’s objective to establish the infrastructure, tools, and approaches to making CGIAR data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR). GARDIAN employs text mining to enrich the associated metadata to enhance discovery, and will soon test data mining techniques with cleaned, ...

A more promising theory of change

Interesting piece in The Conversation from Assoc. Prof Phillip A Loring (Guelph University) reinforcing the importance of farmer-centric OFE. "There is no doubt that regenerative agriculture and other agroecological practices can help address climate change, including by sequestering carbon in the soil. But, at a time when innovation and diffusion of new ideas are urgently needed, fostering an ethical agroecological space where people can experiment and share is a more promising theory of change than creating mechanisms to enforce uniformity and exclusion." Full article available here.

A new knowledge exchange platform for agriculture

FarmPEP is a new knowledge exchange platform created for agriculture. It was initiated in January 2020 via an Innovate UK project with ADAS, Agri-techE, CCRI, Innovative Farmers, Open Coop and The Farming Forum with the aim of connecting Knowledge Exchange in agriculture, post-Covid19. Read more about the initial project here. It has been co-designed to connect across agriculture, enabling knowledge exchange through a new Performance Enhancement Platform. It aims to connect people, organisations, projects and resources to enable knowledge across farming to be shared, found, discussed, distilled and developed. Various topics include On-Farm Experimentation, Farm centric ...

A Practical Guide to On-Farm Pasture Research

A guide in 6 steps: 1) define the study question; 2) choose treatments; 3) how and where to conduct the study; 4) choose variables to measure; 5) conduct the experiment and analyze the results; 6) share your results.  

A Practical Way to Share Data With Confidence

Farmers often feel that they do not get the value back after sharing their data. The GODAN (Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition) organization has recently made available an Agricultural Data Codes of Conduct Toolkit. By using the toolkit, they can understand and control what is done with the data, who can do what, and so on. They feel engaged, considered and this strengthens the farmer value structure. The toolkit allows farmers to select clauses that might be of relevance and to easily produce a printable and saveable Code of Conduct that provides the conceptual basis for general, scalable ...

A Reflexion on a New OFE-Based Agronomy

Accurate interpretation is the key to getting value from OFEs—good interpretation helps farmers learn more from each OFE, and manage with greater certainty as a result. Sadras and co-authors [Making Science More Effective for Agriculture: Advances in Agronomy, 163:153—77] call for an expanded role for agronomic logic to solve global crop production challenges. Yet many OFEs generate insights of complex and variable crop behaviour that call for stronger engagement of agronomy with these farmer-driven operations. In fact, some data scientists believe analysis can proceed without theory—an approach Taguchi adopted for dealing with complex systems. As we ...

A Review of Yield Stability Analysis Methods in Long-term Field Experiments (LTE)

This review provides guidance for the most commonly encountered methodological issues when analyzing yield stability in LTEs. Consistent use of the suggested guidelines and recommendations may provide a basis for robust analyses of yield stability in LTEs and to subsequently design stable cropping systems that are better adapted to a changing climate. Reckling, M., Ahrends, H., Chen, TW. et al. Methods of yield stability analysis in long-term field experiments. A review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 41, 27 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-021-00681-4    

A Review on Precision Agroecology

Merging precision agriculture technology and agroecological principles offers a unique array of solutions driven by data collection, experimentation, and decision support tools. Precision agroecology provides a unique opportunity to synthesize traditional knowledge and novel technology to transform food systems. Duff, H.; Hegedus, P.B.; Loewen, S.; Bass, T.; Maxwell, B.D. Precision Agroecology. Sustainability 2022, 14, 106. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010106  

Abstract Reviewer Reminder

Dear Colleague:   Thank you to those who have completed evaluation of the ICPA 2022 abstracts assigned to you. For those who are still working on the evaluation, this is a reminder that we need your response by January 24th to provide feedback to authors by Feb. 1.   The evaluation is simple:  Is the topic precision agriculture?  Do you think an ICPA audience will be interested in this research?  Based on the abstract, is the science robust? What information would be useful in assessing the science?  We need a recommendation on whether to accept ...

Abstract submission is open until July 1st.

Dear colleague,   This is a friendly reminder to send your abstract for The Second International Conference on Farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation. When ready, please submit your short 150-word abstract on how your work relates to OFE here: ABSTRACT SUBMISSION We look forward to reading about your work. Louis Longchamps and the #OFE2023 team conference@gofen.org https://www.gofen.org/ofe2023/

Abstract submission reminder

Dear OFE community, Abstract submission for the Second International Conference on Farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation is open until July 1st 2023. Submit your 150-word abstract here towards a 5-page paper and/or a 3-minute video e-presentation. Should you have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to visit the conference website, email us, or visit the OFE2021 Conference (proceedings and e-presentations). Thank you for sharing the word about #OFE2023 within your network. Sincerely, Louis Longchamps,  Conference Chair  #OFE2023 Virtual Conference Dec. 5-7th 2023

Abstracts Deadline for 14th ICPA Extended Until December 22

Thanks to everyone who submitted abstracts to the 14th ICPA by the November 30 deadline. We had a terrific surge of submissions the final week for a total of over 300 abstracts submitted. We also had a number of requests to submit an abstract after the deadline. We have allowed for these later submissions and we want to be fair to everyone, so we are extending the deadline to 22 December 2017.   Due to the need to review all abstracts in a timely manner we will need to maintain this as the final deadline for submissions.    Abstracts can be submitted ...

Abstracts Deadline for 16th ICPA Extended Until December 1st

  Thank you to everyone who submitted abstracts to the 16th ICPA by the 31 October deadline. We had a terrific surge of submissions the final week. We also had a number of requests to submit an abstract after the deadline. We have allowed for these later submissions and we want to be fair to everyone, so we are extending the deadline to Friday, 1 December 2023.    Due to the need to review all abstracts in a timely manner we will need to maintain this as the final deadline for submissions.    Abstracts can be submitted ...

Abstracts Due this Friday 22 December 2017

Just a reminder that submission of abstracts for the 14th International Conference on Precision Agriculture are due this Friday, 22 December 2017. Please submit your abstract for consideration.    Due to the need to review all abstracts in a timely manner we will need to maintain this as the final deadline for submissions.    Abstracts can be submitted online at https://www.ispag.org/abstracts.   If you have any questions about submitting or the conference, please contact abstracts@ispag.org or phone +1217-762-7955.

Abstracts Under Review

We received over 430 abstracts for the 14th ICPA. This is a 50% increase from last conference. We are hopeful this means an uptick in attendees as well.    All abstracts are currently under review. Corresponding authors should receive an email notifying you of the status of your submission by 9 February 2018. If you do not hear from us by then, please contact abstracts@ispag.org. 

Advancements in Precision Agriculture: A Look at Japan's Current Landscape

By Japan's ISPA Country Representative, Dr. Eiji Morimoto (morimoto@gold.kobe-u.ac.jp) In a stride towards modernizing agriculture, Japan is actively pursuing precision farming initiatives. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) has taken the lead in fostering the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Through subsidies extended to agricultural machinery manufacturers and start-ups, MAFF aims to address challenges in cultivation management and promote automation with IoT. Kobe University stands at the forefront of this technological revolution, steering its focus towards farmer-centric precision agriculture. Embracing the philosophy of on-farm experimentation, the university is making significant strides ...

Advances in Crop Sensing

  Register now!     13:30 Central Daylight Time (UTC -5), Thursday, August 27, 2020 Angelica Suarez Cadavid - Carrot Yield Forecasting Using Different Multispectral Satellite Sensors This study explored the accuracies of Sentinel-2 (S2) and Worldview-3 (WV3) satellite sensors to forecast carrot root yield at the field level in three principal vegetable regions in Australia located in Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania. The growing regions featured different cropping configurations, seasons and soil conditions. Above ground biomass (AGB) and yield measures were collected between 2017 and 2019 from more than 400 sample locations in 24 fields across the regions. Several reflectance-based vegetation indices were calculated and ...

Advances in Crop Sensing - STARTS IN 90 MINUTES

Virtual ICPA Webinar Instructions You will be asked for your name and email to register for the webinar.    Advances in Crop Sensing Webinar Join us for a webinar on August 27th, 2020 at 1:30 PM CDT (UTC -5).   Register now!   PROGRAM: Welcome and Housekeeping - James Taylor, Research Director, INRAE Carrot Yield Forecasting Using Different Multispectral Satellite Sensors - Angelica Suarez Cadavid, University of New England EO4Agri Analysis of Potential Earth Observation for Precision Agriculture - Karel Charvel, WirelessInfo Sugarcane Crop Classification and Varietal Discrimination from Sentinel-2 Using Supervised Classifier - Preeti Kumari Tiwari, K J Somaiya ...

Agreement Reached with other Conferences

We are proud to announce that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed on the 26th day of June, 2018 at the 14th International Conference on Precision Agriculture in Montreal, Canada, by representatives of the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA), the European Conference on Precision Agriculture, the Latin American Conference on Precision Agriculture, and  the Scientific Conference on Precision Agriculture and Agro-informatics in Hungary. The MOU recognizes the regional conferences as affiliated to the ISPA and the need for the chairs to work collectively under the auspices of ISPA. It establishes a partnership and cooperation framework for mutual coordination ...

Agricultura de Precisión: Integrando conocimientos para una agricultura moderna y sustentable

The collaborative book from PROCISUR (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Brasil) in Spanish: Agricultura de Precisión: Integrando conocimientos para una agricultura moderna y sustentable”. PROCISUR/IICA. Programa Cooperativo para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y Agroindustrial del Cono Sur. Montevideo, Uruguay (15 Diciembre 2006). ISBN 92-9039-741-1; 244 páginas 

Agricultural Research Data Network

The Agricultural Research Data Network (ARDN) provides tools and protocols to allow researchers to not only share their data, but to make their data interoperable and reusable. Additional tools allow end users of the data to combine and reformat ARDN data for quantitative analysis and modeling.  

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Living Laboratories Initiative

The Living Laboratories Initiative is an integrated approach to agricultural innovation that brings farmers, scientists, and other partners together to co-develop, test, and monitor new practices and technologies in a real-life context.  

AgriTech4.0

The gap is still huge between researchers and farmers. More needs to be done to give them opportunities to have a say in how research happens. However, co-design requires more funding, and more patience. Many companies took part in AgriTech4.0 which was an opportunity to learn about new developments in sensors and data management, and promote the importance of including farmers from an early stage of development. The goal is to help ensure technological solutions are useful, practical and easy to use in farm contexts, ultimately driving uptake of these technologies on farms. Access to the 45+ recorded presentations can be ...

An Efficient Geostatistical Analysis Tool for On-farm Experiments

A new paper proposes a spatially varying local cokriging method for large on-farm experimentation data which could lead to high-resolution site-specific farming treatment recommendations. Its accuracy of spatial prediction is compared with five other techniques. The open source code is accessible via a user-friendly interface of Quantum GIS. [Huidong Jin, K. Shuvo Bakar, Brent L. Henderson, Robert G.V. Bramley, David L. Gobbett. 2021. An efficient geostatistical analysis tool for on-farm experiments targeted at localised treatment. Biosystems Engineering 205:121–136, ISSN 1537–5110.]  

Another potential benefit of OFE: Adaptive governance to inform better policies

[…] “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 ...

Apparently, On-Farm Demonstration is not On-Farm Experimentation

There is “a project involving 400 farms and around 40 villages in the Deux-Sevres region of western France, where scientists are experimenting with different techniques to cut pollution.” GREAT! "We have demonstrated that conventional farmers can reduce nitrogen and pesticides by a third without loss of yield, while increasing their income because they lower their costs" BRILLIANT!! "Even the farmers who participated in the experiment and saw the results with their own eyes did not noticeably change their practices" THEY WHAT???? Full article available here.

ARDN conference on agricultural data interoperability

A conference will be held on June 9, 2022, at the USDA National Agricultural Library to showcase the agricultural data interoperability work done as part of ARDN, the Agricultural Research Data Network. This work started with development of the AgMIP data interoperability standards in 2010 and has been expanded in collaboration with CGIAR and the USDA National Agricultural Library. The ARDN project team will describe methods developed for data annotation and sharing which can be used to “rescue” legacy data or be applied to new data sources to facilitate interoperability and reuse of our most valuable agricultural research product: data. The ...

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ASD OFE call

Assistant Professor, Precision Agronomy - University of Saskatchewan (USask)

The Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) invites applications for a faculty position in precision agronomy. This is a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor. The preferred candidate will join a cohort of several new professors being hired by the College of Agriculture and Bioresources within the strategic area of Sustainable and Digital Agriculture, a priority research area rich in potential for collaboration, partnership, innovation, and impact. Information about this cluster hire can be found at agbio.usask.ca/agbio-cluster.php.   The candidate will be expected to develop a research program in precision ...

ATTENTION: 15th ICPA Now a Hybrid Conference!

The 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota June 26-29, 2022. Due to continued concerns over Covid and travel, ICPA will be hybrid, offering both in-person and  virtual participation!    Registrants Now Have A Virtual Option In addition to the live, in-person event, registrants will now have the option of participating virtually as well. Registrants will be able to join the meeting live or remotely and will have access to all papers submitted to the conference.   Abstract Submission Extended To better serve the global precision agriculture community, ICPA has reopened abstract ...

Australian Farm Data Code

The Australian Farm Data Code aims to promote adoption of digital technology, by ensuring that farmers have comfort in how their data is used, shared and managed. It is intended to inform the service providers who manage data on behalf of farmers, and a tool for farmers to evaluate their policies.  

Author Instructions and Template for ICPA

Full Paper Instructions 2-Page Summary Instructions Template for Proceedings   Also can be found online at, https://www.ispag.org/icpa/Author_instructions

Bi-annual Business Meeting at the ICPA

Invitations are extended to participate to the bi-annual Business Meeting of the  On-Farm Experimentation Community of the ISPA that will take place from 6:30-8PM on Tuesday July 23rd 2024 at room Konza Prairie C of the Manhattan Conference Center, in Manhattan, KS. This community is dedicated to advancing OFE within the precision agriculture community worldwide. It is also the opportunity to connect with active OFE colleagues in the US and beyond!    The meeting’s agenda is: Updates for the OFE-C Newsletters  Increased membership Conference  Global OFE Network (GOFEN) Scientists AND ...

Biennial conference European Seminar on Extension & Education

The biennial conference European Seminar on Extension & Education was held in Toulouse - 10-13 July 2023. This 26th ESEE which gathers scholars, advisors, and educators, was titled Sustainability transitions of agriculture and the transformation of education and advisory services: convergence or divergence? A number of the themes had some relevance to OFE, these included Digitalization in agriculture, and the effects of digital technology on the practices, actors and organization of advice and education. Learning for innovation and resilience, specifically learning amongst the farming and advisory community including approaches, tools, and ...

Big Data

September 10, 2020 - Big Data Converting data to decisions is one of the major precision agriculture challenges. This webinar includes presentations on: using cell phone images to estimate soil organic carbon, neural networks to classify weed images, video based deep learning for estimating maize ear height, and automated data correction for plant breeding locations.    Join us on September 10th, 2020 at 13:30 Central Daylight Time (UTC -5).     Register now!     Asim Biswas - Cell Phone Images to Estimate Soil Organic Carbon Soil organic matter (SOM) is considered as the backbone of soil health and soil ...

Big Data - STARTS IN 90 MINUTES

Virtual ICPA Webinar Instructions You will be asked for your name and email to register for the webinar.    Big Data Webinar Join us for a webinar on September 10th, 2020 at 13:30 Central Daylight Time (UTC -5).   Register now!   PROGRAM: Welcome and Housekeeping - Dr. Alex Thomasson, Head, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Mississippi State University Asim Biswas - Cell Phone Images to Estimate Soil Organic Carbon Iftach Klapp - A deep learning system for estimation of melons individual weight and location using UAV images George Mohler - Automated Corn Ear Height ...

Big Data Promises and Obstacles

A virtual Workshop on Big Data Promises and Obstacles: Agricultural Data Ownership and Privacy was hosted by the Digital Agriculture “UASPSE” (Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Plant Sciences and Education) project, the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences and PepsiCo.   Recordings of the presentations: Cultivating Trust in Technology-Mediated Sustainable Agricultural Research The Law and Economics of Agricultural Data Privacy FAIR to FAIRS: Data Security by Design for the Global Burden of Animal Diseases Big Data, Data Privacy, and Plant and Animal Diseases Research Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Agriculture: Data Issues of Privacy, Ownership, and ...

Biweekly seminar series on Data Intensive Farm Management

The Data-Intensive Farm Management Project at the University of Illinois will be hosting again their biweekly seminar series where members of the DIFM/CIGOFT project will present their research. The seminar series will be held on every other Thursday's starting October 20, 2022. People who have tried the DFIM system and would like to share their experience are encouraged to reach out to Carli J. Miller (cjmille5@illinois.edu). You can connect via email with Carli J. Miller for the link to the seminars. Come and join us.  

Board of Directors

The board is composed of the following officers: President President-Elect Secretary Treasurer Immediate Past-President Board service is an excellent opportunity for members to participate in the society in a leadership role.

Books from Embrapa: Agricultura de Precisão: resultados de um novo olhar

Books from Embrapa: Agricultura de Precisão: resultados de um novo olhar  https://www.macroprograma1.cnptia.embrapa.br/redeap2

Books from Embrapa: Agricultura de Precisão: um novo olhar

Books from Embrapa: Agricultura de Precisão: um novo olhar https://www.macroprograma1.cnptia.embrapa.br/redeap2/publicacoes/publicacoes-da-rede-ap/capitulos

Bridges for Open Sharing and Re-use of Data

A final report on Research Data Alliance (RDA) 18th Virtual Plenary Meeting is now available, capturing various takeaways from the November feeding. All videos from Virtual Plenary 18 are now available on YouTube. The videos are all now available for the public to listen to at their convenience. Have a special look at the "BO2 - IG Agricultural Data IGAD: Interest Group on Agricultural Data: A roadmap for our CoP" broadcast.  

Business Meeting Minutes - On-Farm Data Sharing (OFDS) Community at ICPA

26 June 2018, Montreal, Quebec, Canada   The meeting started at 6:35 pm with 11 people in attendance. After introductions, a discussion occurred about changing the focus of the OFDS Community from sharing of field-scale trial data collected on production farms to methods, protocols and analysis of on-farm experimentation.   The rationale for the change provided by Nicolas Tremblay and Tom Morris was that the proposed new Consortium for On-Farm Experimentation with leadership by Simon Cook would benefit from having a scientific home in ISPA, and because some of the objectives of the OFDS group have been shifted to an OFDS Working Group in ...

Call for Papers

Online abstract submission for the 15th ICPA is open at https://www.ispag.org/abstracts.   We invite you to submit an abstract for the 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture. Instructions and a list of program topics is available at the conference home page, https://www.ispag.org/icpa   Abstract length must be in the range 300-500 words with no figures, references or tables. Authors of accepted abstracts will be entitled to present their research at the Conference after payment of registration fees. They will also be asked to submit full papers (due February 2022) for ...

Call for papers on Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation in Agronomy for Sustainable Development

Here is an exceptional opportunity to let the scientific community know about your On-Farm Experimentation (OFE) work. Contributions are most welcome to this Virtual Issue focusing on recent advances relative to Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation (OFE). It coincides with OFE2021, the 1st Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation Conference (13–15 October 2021) and is open to everyone. Indeed, participation in OFE2021 is not mandatory to submit OFE-related work to this special issue. Submissions end on March 1, 2022. The conference was supported by the OECD—CRP Sustainable Agricultural Systems, DigitAg, INRAE and the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA).  

Can OFE support insurance companies to provide better and cheaper service to farmers?

Climate change has disrupted agricultural cycles and added to the risks faced by farmers globally. Floods, droughts, cyclones, wildfires, and other natural disasters have become more frequent and intense and cause massive destruction and losses. The pandemic-led restricted movement added to farmers’ problems. Crop insurance protects farmers against loss from natural calamities and other risks. However, insurance companies need reliable and timely information on crop area, production, and yield to insure farm operations, customize insurance products for crops and regions, and verify claims. Can OFE help solve this challenge created by climate change? Read more here.

Co-editor of the month

Thanks to my co-editor of the month Dr. Myrtille Lacoste who is an Independent consultant in OFE, Montpellier, France

Comments, Reactions and Additions to the Nature Food paper?

You might consider submitting your work to the Special Issue in Agronomy for Sustainable Development. This virtual issue coincides with OFE2021, the 1st Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation Conference (13–15 October 2021) and is open to everyone. Submissions end on March 1, 2022.  

Concerns about the transition from Agriculture to Agriautomation fueled by OFE

By: Montana State University On-Farm Precision Experimentation Group We consider the potential endpoint of our research utilizing on-field experimentation to optimize crop production so that it maximizes farmer profits but minimizes pollution from crop production inputs (e.g. cover crops, fertilizers and pesticides). Our research has contributed the ability to fully automate OFE through the use of precision technologies and modern analytics. The conundrum is that agriautomation results in a more ecologically based agriculture that can simultaneously focus on food nutritional density and minimization of pollution, but ultimately removes human and historic mechanisms of knowledge. Agriautomation, the end point of ...

Convenors

Dr. Véronique Bellon Maurel, INRAE, Director of #DigitAg, France Dr. Nicolas Tremblay, International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA), Canada Prof. Simon Cook, Murdoch University, Centre for Digital Agriculture, Australia

Coordination and Support of International Research Data Networks: Final Report Published

The OECD Global Science Forum (GSF) and the World Data System (WDS) partnered on a project to inform policies to promote open data for science focused on internationally coordinated data networks. The overall aim was to identify principles and policy actions that can enable the establishment and maintenance of effective international data networks that are necessary to support a global open science enterprise.

Cornell University, School of Integrative Plant Science – Section of Soil and Crop Sciences

Section of Soil and Crop Science School of Integrative Plant Science College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Program for Farmer-Centric Digital Agronomy Extension Associate   The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is a pioneer of purpose-driven science and Cornell University’s second largest college. We work across disciplines to tackle the challenges of our time through world-renowned research, education, and outreach. The questions we probe and the answers we seek focus on three overlapping concerns: We believe that achieving next-generation scientific breakthroughs requires an understanding of the world’s complex, interlocking systems. We believe that access ...

Country Representative - Eiji Morimoto

Country Representatives serve to help promote ISPA by championing the ISPA mission and purpose globally, in particular, in the country they represent. ISPA is growing internationally so Country Representatives remain an important position to help ISPA best serve people, groups, governments and others, globally connecting them to science and experts.   Please join us in thanking ISPA Country Representative from Japan, Eiji Morimoto.    If you are interested in becoming a Country Representative, please email info@ispag.org with your bio highlighting your experience in precision agriculture and your CV.  ISPA requires that ...

Crowdsourcing Uses and Opportunities in Agriculture

Crowdsourcing, understood as outsourcing tasks or data collection by a large group of non-professionals, is increasingly used in scientific research and operational applications. Close connections with the farming sector, including extension services and farm advisory companies, could leverage the potential of crowdsourcing for both agricultural research and farming applications. [Julien Minet, Yannick Curnel, Anne Gobin, Jean-Pierre Goffart, François Mélard, Bernard Tychon, Joost Wellens, Pierre Defourny. Crowdsourcing for agricultural applications: A review of uses and opportunities for a farmsourcing approach. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 142, Part A (2017): 126-138.]  

Cutting Edge Science symposium on Responsible AgTech Innovation.

CSIRO’s Digiscape Future Science Platform and Responsible Innovation Future Science Platform will be hosting a one-day Cutting Edge Science symposium on Responsible AgTech Innovation (27 May 2021 8:30 am – 5:00 pm AEST). The event will bring together key stakeholders to explore how the combination of science, agriculture and responsible innovation can strengthen Australian farming and land management.  

Data & Digital Revolution for Food Systems

To address the global food system challenges effectively, we must overcome fragmentation within and across sectors to act in a transdisciplinary fashion, bringing together the natural and social sciences with data and technology to drive food systems towards more favorable potential futures for humanity and the planet. The Global Coalition for Digital Food Systems Innovation participated to the “Forum COP26 Live”. The recording is available here. The Coalition involves FAO, World Bank, CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture, Mineral at X, Google, Digital Green, GEOGLAM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, VARDA, Consumers International, Bayer Foundation, Mercy Corps, World ...

Data Becomes Really Useful Only When Aggregated

There is a growing need to quantify complex interactions of processes for diverse environmental conditions and crop management realities. Any study is worth very little in itself unless its data is being agglomerated with others to express conclusions valid for real use. In order to tear the agronomic data Babel Tower down, there is little alternative but to converge on standards, at least for a minimal set of them. Do you use a standard to construct your agronomic databases? If so, which one? Please fill in this two-question survey. The OFE-C will use the results to start a ...

Data Becomes Really Useful Only When Aggregated - Survey Results

We launched a quick survey in the OFE-C info letter no. 5. To the question, “Do you use a standard for your agronomic data? » 85% answered, “No, but I would be interested,” nobody simply answered, “no” and 15% answered, “Yes.” Among the latter, the following standards were suggested: AgMIP / ICASA: Porter, C.H., C. Villalobos, D. Holzworth, R. Nelson, J.W. White, I.N. Athanasiadis, S. Janssen, D. Ripoche, J. Cufi, D. Raes, M. Zhang, R. Knapen, R. Sahajpal, K.J. Boote, J.W. Jones. 2014. Harmonization and translation of crop modeling data to ensure interoperability. ...

Data Sharing Toolkit

Data Sharing Toolkit could contribute to unlocking greater food security. CABI and the Open Data Institute (ODI) has launched a Data Sharing Toolkit which could contribute to greater food security in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia through better access to data on soil health, agronomy and fertilizer.  

Data Visualization and Analysis Tool for Synthetizing on‐farm Research Networks Data

ISOFAST simultaneously reports all trial results about the same management practice to simplify interpretation of multi‐sites and multi‐year summaries. [Laurent et al. 2021. Research Synthesis Methods 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1440.]  

Data-Driven Understanding of on Farm Yield Variation

Agriculture research uses “recommendation domains” to develop and transfer crop management practices adapted to specific contexts. The scale of recommendation domains is large when compared to individual production sites and often encompasses less environmental variation than farmers manage. Farmers constantly observe crop response to management practices at a field scale. These observations are of little use for other farms if the site and the weather are not described. The value of information obtained from farmers’ experiences and controlled experiments is enhanced when the circumstances under which it was generated are characterized within the conceptual framework of a ...

Data-Intensive Farm Management (DIFM) Project

Dr. David Bullock made a presentation entitled “Contributing to an International Cyber-Infrastructure for On-farm Precision Experimentation” before the OFE2021 “Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation” Conference and the University of Bonn PhenoRob Institute.  The purpose of the trip was to publicize DIFM’s latest efforts and seek collaboration with researchers in the European Union. The DIFM team has also created a multistate Research Project, titled NC1210: Frontiers in On-Farm Experimentation which will enable researchers from all across the United States to collaborate and host meetings on an annual basis.  

Demonstration of Drone Technology for Aerial Spray

submitted by Dr. Ejaz Ashraf, 06 FEB 2019   Recently, on January 14, 2019 a high level delegation headed by the Dr. Yubin Lane from South China University, China visited University of Sargodha, Punjab-Pakistan. The purpose of the visit was to introduce precision agricultural technologies to the researchers and farmers of the province of Punjab-Pakistan. Dr. Yubin presented the documentary and slides to demonstrate the applications of Drone technology in the field of agriculture. The delegation visited the agricultural fields in the agricultural campus of the University of Sargodha and practically demonstrated the applications of drone technology first time in the history of the ...

Designing Your Own OFE - Bramley

Have a look at this classic 2006 guide (Designing Your Own OFE - Bramley) for farmers and their advisers on precision agriculture-based field experiments - their design, and the important issues to be considered in analysing the results. The guide was published by the Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC) of the Australian Government.  

Digital Agriculture Certification Course

Kick-off of the first edition of the Digital Agriculture certification course (AgroDigiLab) at the Université d'Abomey-Calavi This intensive two-week training course started with a welcome address by Mr Pascal Marcolino, representative of the AUF- Benin, and a speech by Prof. Enoch Gbenato Achigan-Dako, Director of GBioS. In his opening speech, Mr Pascal Marcolino stressed the importance of digitalisation in all sectors and urged participants to seize this opportunity to enrich their knowledge. "Digitalisation has an impact on all areas. Make the most of this training to equip yourselves further," he said. Several modules will ...

Digital tools for OFE

In this video, you can see the demonstration of the field region analysis tool in the Climate FieldView platform that can be very helpful for On-Farm Experimentation. If you watch from about 15:00 to about 21:00, the speaker provides a very good example of how a tool like this can facilitate the work of farmers in their experimentation. Granular AgStudio offers a similar tool called Treatment Analysis. This poste is not endorsing the Climate FieldView or Granular platforms. It rather shows that interesting digital tools for OFE exist.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this report are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or of the governments of its Member countries.  

Disparate Big Data in Systems Agriculture

In our data-rich world, identifying optimal systems for sustainable intensification or diversification is lacking a data management system across spatial and temporal resolutions including workflows, interpretation methodology, and a delivery structure. This paper offers solutions for developing a platform for bridging component parts (encompassing multiple scales and disciplines) to analyze system functionality for greater resiliency. [Tulsi P. Kharel Amanda J. Ashworth Phillip R. Owens Michael Buser. 2020. Spatially and temporally disparate data in systems agriculture: Issues and prospective solutions. Agronomy Journal 112 (5): 4498–4510. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20285].  

Download of Files and Presentations

Dr. Adamchuk has created a temporary link to R_Workshop.zip file that contains files from Timothy Schwinghamer, Terry Griffin and Xiaofei Li:   http://adamchukpa.mcgill.ca/R_Workshop.zip   Please click the link to access the file. It is a 118MB download. 

e-Presentations and/or short paper

These e-presentations are made as a short video (4 min recording) for publication on the OFE2021 website (by June 30) A short paper (5 pages; 1500–2000 words) can be coupled to the e-presentation or standalone for publication in the Conference Proceedings (by September 15)

Early Registration Discount Ends After Today

Just a reminder that June 1 is the last day of the early registration discount. After today registration fees increase US$ 100.   June 1st is also the deadline for authors and presenters to register for ICPA to be included in the program and proceedings.   Finally, June 1st is the deadline for nominations for the Graduate Student Awards and the Pierre C. Robert Scientist Awards. 

Economics Community Webinar

November 5, 2020 - Economics Community Precision agriculture will only achieve widespread adoption if farmers and agribusiness can use it profitably. This webinar includes presentations on the regulation of agricultural robotics, adoption of smart phone apps in German agriculture, and the impact of seed technology on farm equipment manufacturers.   Join us on November 5th, 2020 at 13:30 Central Standard Time (UTC -6).     Register now!     Welcome and Housekeeping - Jordan Shockley Climate Change Adaption and Mitigation for Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: Making a Case for Precision Agriculture Technologies Development - Martin Bosompem US Ag Dealers Continue Commercialization ...

Ecosystem for FAIR Data for Cross Domain Research

Have a look at a very packed page on the challenge around data with clarifications on the lexicon for terms such as “metadata, interoperability, governance, cleaning and big data.” We learn that “over the last two years, a CODATA-led pilot project has developed, tested and refined methods for aligning metadata specifications, taxonomies and ontologies to address these problems in a consensual fashion.”  

Efficient Water Management for Smallholders in Africa

Developed by the Virtual Irrigation Academy, piloted water front detectors (WFD) are a simple soil moisture tool that informs farmers when to irrigate and when to stop applying water to their fields. Now, freely available satellite data, covering a wide geographical area with repeated measurements over time, offers an alternative way to monitor and assess intervention impacts in fragmented smallholder landscapes. A wide range of freely available satellite data sources exist, capturing the Earth’s surface in various levels of detail. Landsat 8 satellite data provided the best available resolution for the period during which on-farm water management interventions took ...

Engage farmers in research

The one-size-fits-all approach of research has had success but advances are slowing. “How well crops and livestock grow depends on the interaction of genes, management and environment. As weather patterns fluctuate, gains in production will depend ever more on innovating in context. Big knowledge flowing from institutes to farm must be complemented by local knowledge.” Small-scale agricultural innovation will boost yields and protect the planet. See this Nature Comment.  

Establishing the Precision and Robustness of Farmers’ Crop Experiments

Precision farming experiments are generally incompatible with conventional statistical methods and alternative models of response variables (e.g. yield) must be estimated if the effect of the management decision is to be distinguished from other sources of variation. The model-based statistical analyses of these experiments require assumptions regarding the variation of the response variable. When these assumptions are inappropriate (e.g. if the correlation between response variable measurements is poorly modelled) then the inferences from the experiments can be unreliable. Marchant, B. et al. Establishing the precision and robustness of farmers’ crop experiments. Field Crops Res. 230, 31-45, doi:10.1016/...

Event: International Forum on Agroecosystem Living Labs

Announcement of International Forum on AgroEcosystem Living Labs 02-06 October Montreal, Canada.  A side event within the Adaptation Futures 2023 Conference in Montréal, Canada, from October 2 to 6, 2023. Submission deadline is March 30th 2023. Learn more here.

Every farmer should be doing on-farm research

The Natural Resources Defense Council is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. It works in the US, Canada, China, India and Latin America. In their latest report entitled REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE: FARM POLICY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Policy Recommendations to Advance Regenerative Agriculture, they stress that “On-farm research is a key ingredient of regenerative agriculture, important for developing techniques and solving problems”. Full report available here.

Evidence Synthesis in Agronomy

There is a need to shift the focus from individual studies to the accumulating body of evidence concerning the agronomic and environmental benefits of innovative farming practices. Systematic reviews, evidence mapping, on-farm research, and meta-analyses are available for the integration of results but they are not yet used as frequently as one might expect. Both qualitative (systematic reviews, evidence maps, farm surveys) and quantitative syntheses (meta-analyses, modeling) have been published in a special issue of the European Journal of Agronomy. [Makowski, D. Editorial of the special issue “Evidence synthesis in agronomy”. European Journal of Agronomy 122 (2021) 126183. ISSN 1161-0301. https://...

Exhibitor Prospectus

Interested in exhibiting at the 15th ICPA in Minneapolis, Minnesota? Review the exhibitor prospectus here. If you have additional questions or would like to sign up, please contact us today! 

Expected outputs

Framework for OFE that identifies transformational value processes; organisation for social capitalisation; functions for digital technologies and linkages to policy, legislation and investment Technical summary for policy-makers Network of specialists to execute further steps in OFE development

Extension Instructor or Open Rank Extension Educator - Water & Cropping Systems (Dawson Co.)

Working Title: Extension Instructor or Open Rank Extension Educator - Water & Cropping Systems (Dawson Co.) Department: NE Ext Engagement Zone 3-12352 Requisition Number: F_240049 Posting Open Date: 04/08/2024 Application Review Date: (To ensure consideration, please submit all application materials before review date) 05/10/2024 Open Until Filled: Yes Description of Work Overview This position is based in Lexington, NE with the geographic accountability region of Dawson, Buffalo, and Hall Counties. Primary responsibilities are developing and delivering water and cropping systems extension programming that: a) improves profitability and sustainability, b) reduces environmental risk, c) encourages stewardship, d) enhances resiliency, and e) ...

FAIR Quality Information Guidelines

This “FAIR Quality Information guidelines” reviews FAIR principles from a “quality” perspective and summarizes this into guidelines for data producers, users, custodians and stewards. The guidelines are aimed at Earth Science datasets with these composing most of the examples. However, the advice is quite general, applicable to agricultural datasets.  

Farm Hack

Farm Hack is a worldwide community of farmers that build and modify their own tools. They share their hacks online and at meet-ups. Their work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.    

Farmer-based Research program on the Falkland Islands

On-farm experimentation (OFE) and precision agriculture technologies could be a potent mix for driving change in agricultural systems. Many of us recognize the significant opportunity in large, tech heavy and digitally enabled cropping enterprises. However, most of the world’s agricultural land is characterized by extensive, tech-poor livestock systems (LS). “OFE in LS” could help to introduce appropriate digital technologies in a way that is meaningful to farmers. Have a look at this recording from Matthew McNee, agronomy advisor in the Falkland Islands.  

Farmer-Centric OFE

Farmer-Led Innovation Network in the UK

A Farmer-Led Innovation Network (FLIN) was established in October 2018 to share knowledge and experiences and provide a collective advocacy voice for farmers in the UK. The main aim is to understand, learn from and “power-up” farmer-led innovation initiatives and increase their economic, environmental and social impact across the industry.  

Farmer-Led Research Webinar

A Farmer-Led Research Webinar was conducted last month by the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph. The webinar mentioned the need for scientific rigor, yet keeping a balance between practical and robust protocol, on the one hand, and keeping data collection and research flexible, on the other hand. The recording is now available.  

Farmers’ experiments and scientific methodology

“Testing of only one variable at the same time,” has quite recently been described as one of the criteria that a scientific field trial has to satisfy. In projects involving cooperation between farmers and scientists, scientists have sometimes been “frustrated” with farmers whose experiments have not satisfied the one-variable requirement. Reportedly, this is “one of the points that has [led] research station scientists to dismiss farmer innovation.” This study investigates methodological and philosophical issues pertaining to farmers’ experiments such as the choice of interventions to be tested, the planning of experiments, and the ...

Farmers’ Experiments and Scientific Methodology

“Testing of only one variable at the same time,” has sometimes been described as one of the criteria that a scientific field trial has to satisfy. In projects involving cooperation between farmers and scientists, scientists have sometimes been “frustrated” with farmers whose experiments have not satisfied the one-variable requirement. Reportedly, this is “one of the points that has [led] research station scientists to dismiss farmer innovation.” This study investigates methodological and philosophical issues pertaining to farmers’ experiments such as the choice of interventions to be tested, the planning of experiments, and the means ...

Farmers’ Experiments and Scientific Methodology

This study investigates methodological and philosophical issues pertaining to farmers’ experiments, including the choice of interventions to be tested, the planning of experiments, and the use of control fields and other means to deal with confounding factors. [Hansson, Sven Ove. 2019. “Farmers’ Experiments and Scientific Methodology.” European Journal for Philosophy of Science 9 (3): 32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-019-0255-7.]  

Farming to Meet Sustainable Development Goals in Africa: Reflections on Soil Health and Policy

This webinar reflects on how to achieve sustainable productivity gains through investments in soil health and knowledge. Reports have been commissioned on pioneering efforts in East and Southern Africa to engage and empower farmers and communities through approaches that specifically support disadvantaged youth and women. Highlights include innovations in extension, soil health monitoring and agricultural policy around sustainable intensification.  

Featured Article

Trevisan, R.G., Bullock, D.S. & Martin, N.F. Spatial variability of crop responses to agronomic inputs in on-farm precision experimentation. Precision Agric 22, 342–363 (2021).  

Final Abstract Reviewer Reminder

Dear Colleague:   Thank you to those who have completed evaluation of the ICPA 2022 abstracts assigned to you. For those who are still working on the evaluation, this is a reminder that we need your response by today to provide feedback to authors by Feb. 1.   Please contact me if you have questions.   All the best   James (Jess) Lowenberg-DeBoer President of the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA)  

First article

This is the content of the article.

First ISPA Newsletter; ICPA Awards and Full Paper

Dear International Precision Agriculture Community: I am pleased to share with you the First Newsletter of the International Society of Precision Agriculture. You can read the newsletter online at the society website or download the pdf file for offline reading.  We appreciate the contributions from many countries in this newsletter and would encourage all of you to please submit articles of interest, on-going research work, awards, news, etc., that is happening in your part of the world to be shared with the entire International Precision Agriculture Community. Happy reading! Also, I would like ...

Follow up on the #OFE2023 conference

The #OFE2023 conference that took place Dec. 5-7th 2023 virtually gathered a total of 160 participants from 41 countries (42% from America; 25% from Africa; 20% from Europe; 8% from Asia; 5% from Oceania), with a live audience of about 70 people throughout the conference. Participants came from a diversity of backgrounds (47% from science, 21% students, 10% agronomists, 9% farmers, and others in NGO, government, and private sector). Participants assisted to presentation for two days and contributed to a workshop to launch the Global OFE Platform (GOFEN) on the third day. The Best Presentation awards went to Emily Murphy (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), Subha Srinivasagan (Cornell ...

Follow up on the International Conference for On-Farm Precision Experimentation

The International Conference for On-farm Precision Experimentations took place in-person and virtually in South Padre Island, TX, USA on Jan. 8-11, 2024. A total of 115 people registered for the conference from 12 countries. The audience was well balanced between academia (55%) and industry (45%), and this created unique opportunities to advance the principles of OFE. More details on the content of the conference can be found here.

Format of the Conference

Conference presentation format for 100–150 delegates to share information around four themes. See the program here. In addition, 200 delegates attending by video-streaming are expected. Two-day (13th-14th of October) information sharing from global specialists about current developments in digital agriculture, value creation, innovation systems and policy landscapes surrounding OFE. French/English translation. Third day (15th of October) field tour and focus session to pull down key messages and critical requirements for policy change to support farmer-centric digital transformation.

Global Institute for Agri-Tech Economics Symposium

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.

Guide to Farmer's Crop Trials from ADAS

By working together with other farmers, suppliers, agronomists and scientists, farmers can use their own trials to bring fast learning, new findings and best practice for themselves and the industry at large, an approach ADAS calls “Agronōmics”. GPS and other modern technologies, along with thorough trial protocols, can make farm trialling straight forward and routine. Decisions and innovations can then become thoroughly validated and tailored to real farming conditions. This Guide to Farmer’s Crop Trials outlines processes leading to successful farm-trialling and how to avoid the pitfalls.  

Guidelines about On-Farm Experimentation

Building an “OFE wiki How-to”: seeking reports and guidelines about On-Farm Experimentation   The ISPA Community OFE (On-Farm Experimentation) is creating an online “OFE wiki How-to” to support On-Farm Experimentation initiatives worldwide. We are looking for: Relevant material aimed at practitioners to (re-)publish (or link toward) e.g. design manuals, implementation guidelines for farmers, best practice recommendations, scripts and protocols for analysts, statistical solutions and packages, accounts of experiences and lesson learnt for extension personnel, etc. People motivated to volunteer time and effort to help setup, compile, organise, write-up the Wiki (excellent opportunity for ...

Guidelines for Quality Information of Individual Digital Datasets

Informed decisions on whether and how to (re)use digital datasets are dependent on an understanding about the quality of the underpinning data and relevant information. This new paper addresses the challenges and promotes the creation and (re)use of freely and openly shared information about the quality of individual datasets. Members of several groups around the world have undertaken an effort to develop international community guidelines with practical recommendations for the Earth science community, collaborating with international domain experts.  

Guides from the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario

The EFAO is a research program led by farmers which combine their curiosity with scientific rigour to answer challenging on-farm questions. Their website features an open access source to EFAO research protocols, reports and publications. Their research library lists a few on-farm research guides, two of them to be found below:  

Handbook on Systems Research for Agriculture

Farmers today face a complicated set of expectations while trying to make a living. These challenges are complex, yet most agricultural research has approached them from a reductionist standpoint. The handbook delivers guidance on how to form effective interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder teams and how to plan, implement and analyze system experiments. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program is a decentralized competitive grants and education program.  

Harmonization of Heterogeneous Spatial Data

Heterogeneous spatial datasets are those for which the observations of different datasets cannot be directly compared because they have not been collected under the same set of acquisition conditions, with consistent sensors or under similar management practices, among others. This paper details and compares four automated methodologies that could be used to harmonize heterogeneous spatial agricultural datasets so that the data can be analyzed and mapped conjointly. [Leroux, C., Jones, H., Pichon, L. et al. Automatic harmonization of heterogeneous agronomic and environmental spatial data. Precision Agric 20, 1211–1230 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-019-09650-0]    

Highlighting the Role of Agriculture and Geospatial Technology in Food Security and Sustainable Development Goals

Authors: Prem Chandra Pandey, Manish Pandey Food security is a global challenge that aligns with several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1 - “No Poverty”, SDG 2 - “Zero Hunger,” SDG 3 - “Good Health and Well-being,” SDG 13 - “Climate Action,” and SDG 15 - “Life on Land.”. To effectively address this issue, a convergence of agriculture and technology is crucial, incorporating precision agriculture, sustainable agriculture, bio-economy and advanced technologies such as machineries, Artificial intelligence-meachine learning and geospatial technology. Recent trends in food security worldwide have witnessed the adoption of technological ...

How do data and analytics from on-farm trials should be dealt with?

The OFE-C is seeking professionals and researchers dealing with data from on-farm experimentations or their analysis. We want to identify requirements and valid procedures leading to guidelines and eventually policy development. Volunteers will help select topics to cover in a webinar sometime this spring and the best presenters for that purpose. The workload will not be substantial. Please volunteer or suggest someone you know here.  

How do Research Protocols Need to be Adapted to Farmers Priorities?

Do farmers and researchers have the same criteria for gauging the success of an experimental trial in commercial conditions? Having the priorities of the farmers in mind, how should the researchers adapt their experimental approaches and analytics? White peg research or else? We are starting a structured thinking process on this question in order to frame the debate and develop consensual guidelines. Should you have elements to provide or want to be involved, drop us a line here.  

How do we enact co-innovation with stakeholders in agricultural research projects?

Mobilising co-innovation involves a complex interplay between contextual forces and facilitation processes. This interplay shapes the core co-innovation processes of joint framing, testing of solutions and creating new knowledge. The interplay between contextual and facilitation processes requires an adaptive approach to research design and management. [Ingram, J., Gaskell, P., Mills, J. & Dwyer, J. How do we enact co-innovation with stakeholders in agricultural research projects? Managing the complex interplay between contextual and facilitation processes. J. Rural Stud. 78, 65-77, doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2020.06.003 (2020).]  

How to Conduct Research on Your Farm or Ranch

This Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) technical bulletin provides detailed instruction for crop and livestock producers, as well as educators, on how to conduct research at the farm level using practical strategies and peer-reviewed research findings. It also includes a comprehensive list of in-depth resources and real-life examples in order to stimulate on-farm research ideas and provide guidance.  

How to get Attention for Research Project Outputs

Jennifer Gibson, the Executive Director of Dryad in the UK explains Social Marketing which has been an important strategy in public health promotion for 30 years and has significant potential for helping to advance change in the research community.  

Important Dates and Details

Below are important dates and deadlines for the upcoming conference. Be sure to review them, and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.   Event Date Call For Session Chairs 01 APR 2020 Deadline for Papers 01 MAY 2020 Deadline for Board Nominations 01 MAY 2020 Deadline for Award Nominations 01 JUN 2020 Deadline for Early Registration Discount 01 JUN 2020 Deadline for Authors to Register 01 JUN 2020 Deadline for Voting for Board Members 22 JUN 2020 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture 28 JUN 2020    

Important Deadlines for ICPA

Important deadlines are coming up for ICPA: 1 JUN 2018 Early-bird registration discount, rates go up after June 1st Deadline for presenters/authors to register for paper to be include in the proceedings and program Hotel room block special rates deadline. After June 1st, our block will open up and rates will go up. Make hotel reservations before June 1st.  Deadline for nominations for Grad Student Awards and Pierre C. Robert Scientist Awards 8 JUN 2018 Deadline for nominations for the ISPA board of directors 15 JUN 2018 Student award nominees will be notified of results Election Ballot email will go out to all active ...

In France, OFE is taking off!

Two years ago, the First OFE international conference (#OFE2021) was organized in Montpellier. Over the last 2 years, many OFE activities have been set up at INRAE and in various agricultural technical institutes including ACTA, Terres Innovia, Arvalis and others. Researchers in the IDEAS network (Initiative for Design in AgriFood Systems) have produced publications and organized OFE events, notably: Toffolini, Q. and Jeuffroy, M.H., 2022. On-farm experimentation practices and associated farmer-researcher relationships: a systematic literature review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 42(6), p.114. (following the OFE2021 conference),  Salembier, C., Aare, A.K., Bedoussac, L., Chongtham, I....

Inspiring from Other Sectors

Regulators Speak About Decentralized Clinical Trials While the Decentralized Clinical Trials concept is still in its infancy, the fact that regulators encourage Decentralized Clinical Trials practices indicates it is here to stay. Much work between the industry and regulators will need to occur before Decentralized Clinical Trials can become a harmonized approach. Read the news clip here.

Inspiring from other sectors

Observational research often perceived as inferior The main barrier to the publication of observational research is a perceived inferiority to randomised designs with regard to the reliability of their conclusions. This commentary addresses this issue and makes a set of recommendations. It analyses the issue of research reliability in detail and fully describes the three sources of research unreliability (certainty, risk and uncertainty). Two of these (certainty and uncertainty) are not adequately addressed in most research texts. It establishes that randomised designs are vulnerable as observation studies to these two sources of unreliability, and are therefore not automatically superior to ...

Inspiring from other sectors

“[Victoria] Sweet’s book God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine explains how, after reading about the medieval healer Hildegard of Bingen, she came to the conclusion that, to better describe the aims of recovery, we should resurrect Hildegard’s medieval concept of viriditas, or “greening” – to be healed is to be reinvigorated by the same force that gives life to trees as much as it does human beings. She, too, observed that the work of the physician is much more like that of ...

Inspiring from other sectors

Observational studies are seldom used in agronomy. However, in medical science, it proves to be a powerful complement to randomized control trials (RCT). Gaudino et al. (2020) explain “Observational studies provide important information on temporal trends in disease prevalence or in the adoption of surgical techniques. They can successfully evaluate the association of patient characteristics with outcomes and are key to develop and validate risk models. Observational studies tend to have greater external validity than RCTs, as they enroll a more heterogeneous population and measure the results of surgical interventions in the “real-world” outside of the highly ...

Inspiring from other sectors: UK Recovery Trial

The UK RECOVERY Trial is heralded as a huge success for its discovery of cheap and effective treatments to COVID even while the UK’s National Health Service was being inundated by the Tsunami of the Covid pandemic. The trial is credited with saving at least a million lives, using Dexamethasone, a cheap and readily available medication. It did so in rapid time, enrolling its first trial patient within days, its first life-saving treatment within weeks and changes to government policy within hours. The account of the RECOVERY Trial makes exciting reading in its own right, but ...

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS PREPARING FULL LENGTH PAPERS

Full papers (or 2-page summary for posters) must be uploaded by 01 JUNE 2024 for inclusion in the proceedings.  The abstract presenter(s) must be registered for the conference by 14 JUNE 2024 for it to be included in the conference and proceedings. Papers not meeting these requirements will not be included in the conference or proceedings. INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS PREPARING PAPERS FOR ICPA   NOTE: The online proceedings of the International Conference on Precision Agriculture will provide an enduring, accessible, and citable record of your research. All oral presenters are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to prepare a ...

Instructions for R Workshop for Precision Agriculture Applications

Timothy Schwinghamer and Todd Barr   June 20, 2018   14th International Conference on Precision Agriculture   R Workshop for Precision Agriculture Applications   Dear workshop participants:   It will be beneficial if you could come to the workshop with a laptop computer with preinstalled software. Following are the instructions for software installation.   Installing R Go to www.r-project.org Click on a CRAN mirror (any of the many different places that are offered as options will do as well as any other) Select the operating system Select the base system Such as Windows or Mac, etc. Select the executable file ...

Intensifying Farm Management

September 3rd - Intensifying Farm Management This webinar focuses on presentations of technologies to improve farm management including: estimation of apple load using a mobile app, impact of precision irrigation on maize yield, and use of pulse width modulation technology on pesticide sprayers.    Join us on September 3rd, 2020 at 13:30 Central Daylight Time (UTC -5).     Register now!     Harriet Housam - Automated Calves' Body Temperature Detection Using Infrared Thermography and Computer Vision Traditionally, a calf’s core body temperature is measured via a rectal thermometer. This method can be both time-consuming and invasive, meaning ...

Intensifying Farm Management - STARTS IN 90 MINUTES

Virtual ICPA Webinar Instructions You will be asked for your name and email to register for the webinar.    Intensifying Farm Management Webinar Join us for a webinar on September 3rd, 2020 at 13:30 Central Daylight Time (UTC -5).   Register now!   PROGRAM: Welcome and Housekeeping - Dr. Lav Khot, Associate Professor, Washington State University Automated Calves' Body Temperature Detection Using Infrared Thermography and Computer Vision - Harriet Housam Apple Crop Load Estimation in a Fuji Orchard Block using a Mobile Application (App) - Manoj Karkee, Associate Professor, Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems, Washington State University ...

Interesting OFE publications from around the world

Giannini & Marraccini provide a much needed perspective on OFE in Italy. Their SWOT analysis highlights challenges as well as opportunities for OFE implementation in their country which are relevant to many others.  In East Africa, Pircher et al. discuss the importance of considering innovation as a process rather than an outcome, and discuss factors supporting farmer experimentation such as a facilitating institutional environment and other services. In Guadeloupe, Andrieu et al. provide an example of OFE involving sheep for agroecological weed management on banana plantations. Meanwhile, US colleagues investigated farmers’ perspectives about engaging ...

International Conference for On-Farm Precision Experimentation

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.

Invitation to Attend Virtual ICPA 2020

Virtual ICPA 2020 As an active ISPA member you can join the webinar free of charge. Join us for a webinar on Jun 30, 2020 at 1:30 PM CDT.   Register now!   PROGRAM: Welcome and Housekeeping Keynote: Dr. David Lamb, Food Agility Pierre C. Robert Scientist Awards ISPA Election Results and Leadership Team Passing of the Gavel Closing Polls After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. View System Requirements

Invitation to Present as part of the Virtual ICPA 2020

Dear Corresponding Author,   The virtual ICPA will be continued in the fall of 2020, and the ISPA wants to give you an opportunity to deliver your paper for the conference, receive feedback from colleagues and have your paper posted in an on-line proceedings.   The plan is for ISPA to organize Virtual ICPA webinar sessions for those who want to present. LIke sessions in a face-to-face conference, those sessions would be led by a moderator and include a short Q&A period at the end of each talk. In the virtual session questions would be sent through the chat ...

iSDAsoil: African soil properties at 30m resolution

Smallholder farmers need to find a way past the status quo and a path to modernizing their operations. The mapping system—iSDAsoil— provides African soil properties at 30m resolution, and advisory services possible at the level of the single small farm. iSDA’s ultimate goal is to help smallholders develop long-term sustainable businesses. It was founded by three research institutes—Rothamsted Research, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).  

ISO 19115-1:2014

A digital geographic dataset is a representation of some model of the world for use in computer analysis and graphic display of information. To ensure that data are not misused, the assumptions and limitations affecting the creation of data must be fully documented. The objective of this part of ISO 19115 is to provide a model for describing information or resources that can have geographic extents. ISO 19115-1:2014 defines the schema required for describing geographic information and services by means of metadata.  

ISPA Economics Community

Deputy Economics Community Leader Professor Marius Michels from Humboldt University in Berlin (Germany) has successfully been elected un-opposed as the incoming ISPA Economics Community Deputy Leader.   Marius Michels, who grew up on an arable farm, pursued a bachelor's degree in agricultural sciences with a specialization in crop sciences at the Georg-August University of Göttingen, Germany in 2013. Subsequently, he commenced a master's program in economic and social sciences of agriculture at the same university, completing it in 2016. His PhD thesis centered on the utilization of smartphones for agricultural purposes.   At present, Marius Michels is a ...

ISPA Members Presenting at 7th Precision Ag Summit

The theme of the 7th annual Precision Ag Action Summit is “Creating Certainty during Times of Volatility,” and reflects the current state of the agricultural industry. Dr. Terry Griffin, Treasurer of the ISPA, will deliver the keynote address on “The Evolution of a Revolution: Past, Present & Future of Precision Ag” describing the infancy of precision agriculture and how technology evolved into big data in agriculture. In addition to delivering the keynote address, Griffin will moderate the panel on “Farmers Who Know Precision Ag” with two North Dakota farmers. Griffin is following in the ...

ISPA Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1

Sent 3/16/2015   Welcome to your new ISPA newsletter! This new format will reach you more often and in a more useful way than in the previous version.   The ISPA wants to get in touch with you with key and timely information. Stay tuned!   Your ISPA Board   10th European Conference of Precision Agriculture The 10th ECPA will take place at the Volcani Center in Israel from July 12 to 16, 2015.   First Conference on Proximal Sensing Supporting Precision Agriculture The “1st Conference on Proximal Sensing Supporting Precision Agriculture” will be held in Turin, Italy from 6 ...

ISPA Newsletter Volume 4, Issue 2

Sent 4/03/2015 10th European Conference on Precision Agriculture (Volcani Center, Israel, July 12 to 16, 2015) The meeting will provide the platform on which researchers from all over Europe and other continents will meet in order to present the state of the art in the rapidly evolving field of Precision Agriculture. Early registration closes May 4th and active ISPA members receive a discount on registration.   Sixth Asian Conference on Precision Agriculture (ACPA2015) First announcement: The Sixth Asian Conference on Precision Agriculture (ACPA2015) will be held on November 16 – 20, 2015, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China. Theme: Precision Agriculture - less fertilizer ...

ISPA Newsletter Volume 4, Issue 3

Sent 5/21/2015   13th ICPA and InfoAg 2016 The dates for the 13th International Conference on Precision Agriculture have been announced. The 13th ICPA will be 31 July through 4 August 2016 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The ICPA will be held in conjunction with the InfoAg conference. The goal is to build communication between the scientific community and practitioners of precision ag technologies.  6th ACPA: Abstract submission open The Sixth Asian Conference on Precision Agriculture (ACPA2015) will be held on November 16-20, 2015 at South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China. Abstracts due May 31st. More information at www.acpa2015.org.    ...

ISPA Newsletter Volume 4, Issue 4, Sent 08/24/2015

Technical Communities--A new way to be involved in ISPA The ISPA board has been working on a framework to establish Technical Communities within the Society. These Communities will take the place of the Scientific Division structure, with the main difference that Communities will be member-driven and flexible to respond to changing member needs and interests. We hope that all of you will take advantage of the opportunities available to create, lead, and/or participate in ISPA Communities.  Here are a few of the details. Forming a Technical Community:  A leader, vice-leader, and a total of 10 supporting ISPA members ...

ISPA Officer Elections

The International Society of Precision Agriculture holds elections in the summer of the International Conference on Precision Agriculture. Due to the nature of the board two to three offices will be open for nominations every two years. The position of Treasurer is a four-year post and that position will only have nominations accepted in the year the term expires for the current Treasurer.   Because the society's bank accounts are located in the United States, the ISPA Treasurer must be a United States resident.  Proximity to a U.S. Bank branch should be considered when submitting a ...

ISPA Officers' Responsibilities

Responsibilities of the ISPA President: Schedules all meetings of the Board of Directors that may be required for transaction of Society business. This meeting will normally be held during the International Conference on Precision Agriculture (ICPA)) meeting in the USA in even numbered years and during the European Conference on Precision Agriculture (ECPA) meeting in Europe in odd numbered years. As the society grows in its influence and in number of members across the world, such meetings may also be held with other precision agricultural conferences, such as Asian conference on precision agriculture (ACPA), etc. Responsible for organization, ...

ISPA Sponsored Events

  The International Society of Precision Agriculture is in partnership with three upcoming precision agriculture events.  To remain up to date with ISPA sponsored events, please follow us on social media.    Are you hosting an upcoming precision agriculture event?  ISPA members have the opportunity to promote their event on the ISPA website by emailing the event information to info@ispag.org.

January 2011 - Board of Directors Elected

MTA interim president Carrie Brocksmith presided over the Monticello Theatre Association annual meeting held at the Phoenix Playhouse at 1406 N. Market St. Monticello on Saturday, January 22. In addition to refreshments, the audience was treated to sketches by MTA members. A short business meeting preceded the election of officers for 2011. Those elected were: President - Lou Cicerello                    Board Member - Anne Reeser Vice President - Carrie Brocksmith     Board Member - Carolyn Walter Secretary - Edwina Finet&...

Krishi Vigyan Kendra Knowledge Network

The Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) knowledge network is an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) in India. It aims at the assessment of location-specific technology modules in agriculture and allied enterprises, through technology assessment, refinement and demonstrations. KVKs have been functioning as Knowledge and Resource Centres of agriculture technology supporting initiatives of public, private and voluntary sectors. This initiative has the potential of becoming very large and increasingly farmer-driven, leading researchers to consider farmers first.  

Last day to register to the #OFE2023

LAST DAY to register to the #OFE2023 online conference

LAST DAY TO REGISTER  Cornell University CALS is delighted to host #OFE2023, the 2nd edition of the International Conference for Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation, that will take place online Dec. 5th to 7th, 2023. The #OFE2023 conference will continue to connect OFE stakeholders across the world and to progress the OFE sciences. The objective is to assemble and showcase a global body of knowledge on the latest OFE developments. To achieve this, the conference will provide a platform for OFE researchers and practitioners to exchange on the different ways they move forward. Registration is 50USD You can ...

Latest Release From the ASD Special Issue on OFE

Back in August 2021, guest editors Myrtille Lacoste, Isabelle Piot-Lepetit, Nicolas Tremblay and Simon Cook sent a call for papers for a virtual issue on OFE, which ended in March 2022. The virtual issue is titled “Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation (OFE): digital tools for a scalable transformative pathway” Here is the latest article to be published ► Toffolini and Jeuffroy 2022. On-farm experimentation practices and associated farmer-researcher relationships: a systematic literature review.

Latin America Community - STARTS IN 90 MINUTES

It is a pleasure to invite you to attend the next Virtual ICPA Webinar, Thursday, September 24, 13:30-15:00 Central Daylight Time (UTC -5), from the Latin America Community.    This webinar will include three presentations about trends in precision agriculture in Latin America, followed by information about the second Latin American Precision Agriculture Conference (CLAP), postponed until next year.   Program: Short introduction from ISPA Short presentations about regional trends of PA: Rodrigo Ortega – Chile (rodrigo.ortega@usm.cl) Fernando Scaramuzza – Argentina (scaramuzza.fernando@inta.gob.ar) José P. Molin – Brazil (jpmolin@usp.br) ...

Latin America Community Webinar

It is a pleasure to invite you to attend the next Virtual ICPA Webinar, Thursday, September 24, 13:30-15:00 Central Daylight Time (UTC -5), from the Latin America Community.    This webinar will include three presentations about trends in precision agriculture in Latin America, followed by information about the second Latin American Precision Agriculture Conference (CLAP), postponed until next year.   Program: Short introduction from ISPA Short presentations about regional trends of PA: Rodrigo Ortega – Chile (rodrigo.ortega@usm.cl) Fernando Scaramuzza – Argentina (scaramuzza.fernando@inta.gob.ar) José P. Molin – Brazil (jpmolin@usp.br) ...

Leadership

ISPA Leadership consists of the Board of Officers, Regional Representatives, Country Reps, and Community Leaders. 

Let's Define Precision Agriculture

Today, several dozen definitions exist to define the term “precision agriculture”. Some of these definitions are more widely used than others. However, the public perspective on precision agriculture has been changing with time and the original definitions may no longer be representative of this change. Many of the authors of published definitions are members of the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA), and it will be a useful exercise to gather society-wide opinion on the proper definition. Please complete this short survey in an effort to develop a new definition and publish it on the front page of ...

Living Lab - Quebec

The scientists, together with producers and their communities will co-create applicable solutions to improve the environmental performance of farms and watersheds and help improve the health of Lac Saint-Pierre, an enlargement of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec.  

LTAR Network Data Management Portal

The long-term agroecosystem research (LTAR) network consists of eighteen sites located across the US and are situated within USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) units, universities, and non-profit conservation organizations. Research approaches include long-term monitoring efforts, common experiments, and modeling conditions.Sites are able to produce data and metadata in specified formats from local data management systems to share across the network via information technology (IT). Their data management portal provides guidance for LTAR data managers and researchers for managing data and information generated from LTAR science endeavors. These are some of the tools available: Cataloging published data Documenting, integrating ...

Lunch and learn videos

If you happen to sit at your desk over lunch and are browsing Ted Talks to learn something new, you may want to watch OFE videos. A list of e-presentations from the #OFE2021 prepared by Myrtille Lacoste: Participatory experimentation at CETA35 - N. Trubert et al. (CETA 35, France) Using digital maps to build research questions relevant to Falkland Islands farmers - M. McNee et al. (Department of Agriculture, Falkland Islands) eFields: Ohio State University’s On-Farm Research Program - E. M. Hawkins, et al. (The Ohio State University, USA) Increasing the speed and uptake of innovation ...

Major Highlights From the Presentations

Experience suggests that farmers need little persuasion to engage in OFE as experimenting on the farm is a process they routinely do and therefore understand. Alongside learning from peers, experimenting is, by far, the dominant learning process of farmers globally, with this universality acknowledged at the roundtable and throughout the conference. But beyond farmer-led OFE, scaling up collaborative farmer-centric OFE requires defining precisely how the process creates value for varied stakeholders, how this value is shared, and how scientific disciplines can contribute. This is necessary as impact pathways for OFE contrast markedly with those of conventional research.   The conference ...

Make Plans to Visit Montreal

Montréal is the largest city in Canada's Québec province. It’s set on an island in the Saint Lawrence River and named after Mt. Royal, the triple-peaked hill at its heart. Its boroughs, many of which were once independent cities, include neighbourhoods ranging from cobblestoned, French colonial Vieux-Montréal – with the Gothic Revival Notre-Dame Basilica at its centre – to bohemian Plateau.     We have gathered more information about optional tours and exploring the city and surrounding area on the conference website. Montreal Tourism invites you to explore their ...

Making Crop Data Sharing Responsible and Reliable

A GODAN webinar with Professor Sabina Lionelli and Dr. Hugh Williamson from Exeter University on Making Crop Data Responsible and Reliable that took place recently. The speakers concentrated on how social intelligence fuels ethical data management strategies for precision agriculture. The recording of the event is now available to watch here.  

Map of the On-Farm Experimentation Community Membership

Our website features a map locating OFE-C members around the world. As we want to make sure it is working as intended, we would like to know if you experience problem using it. More specifically, if you have had the "Sorry Something Went Wrong" message: Did the reset button solved the problem? If not, have you successfully tried F5? What is your browser? Thanks for your help in making sure the OFE-C tools are useful to our members.    

Minutes of First On-Farm Data Sharing Community Meeting – ICPA – St. Louis, MO

Minutes of First On-Farm Data Sharing Community Meeting – ICPA – St. Louis, MO Union Station Hotel, Grand Ballroom B, 1 August 2016, 7:40 pm to 8:40 pm Attendees: Nicolas Tremblay, David Clay, Peter Kyveryga, Ignacio Ciampitti, Scott Murrell, Tom Morris, Gordon Reichert, Gary Hatfield, David Bonfil, Clive Blacker, Richard Heath, Rodrigo Tression, Lucas Haag, Suzanne Fey, Nicole Rabe, David Krueger, Cornelia Weltzien, Marilyn Kot, Guillermo Balboa. Tom Morris and Nicolas Tremblay thank everyone for attending the first meeting of the OFDS community. Many great ideas were provided and discussed. We will keep you informed about activities of the community by email. If you ...

More information

Download the 2-page introduction to the Conference (‘PDF‘ or ‘see online‘) Subscribe to the Conference News for updates

Multi-criteria decision analysis in agriculture rarely consider important elements

The study of a corpus of 954 articles published by INRA scientists from 2007 to 2017 concludes that MCDA studies will need to include participatory science to involve stakeholders (i.e., public authorities, governmental agencies) and end users (i.e., farmers, producers, industry, consumers) in the construction of the multi-criterion evaluation but also in the resulting decisions.  

Must read

Aare, Ane Kirstine, Søren Lund, and Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen. “Exploring Transitions towards Sustainable Farming Practices through Participatory Research – The Case of Danish Farmers’ Use of Species Mixtures.” Agricultural Systems 189 (April 1, 2021): 103053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103053.

Nebraska On-Farm Research Network

The Nebraska On-Farm Research Network is a collaborative project where producers take an active role in answering questions that impact the productivity, profitability, and long-term sustainability of their operations. Research is conducted using scientifically sound methods and results provide valuable information for farmers and agronomists throughout the state. Learn about the Nebraska On-Farm Research Network here. You can also read more in the Proceedings of the North Central Extension-Industry Soil Fertility Conference.

New GOFEN YouTube channel

The Global On-Farm Experimentation Network has just launched its YouTube channel with all the presentations from the #OFE2023 conference. This channel contains a wealth of content relevant for OFE and the diversity of forms that it can take. More presentations and videos will be added from past conferences and future events as they become available. Make sure to like and share videos so that they may reach greater audiences! Great and important work from all who contributed, that is starting to fill the dearth of OFE documentation.

New report on Farmer-Centric Data Governance

The potential benefits of digital agriculture are prolific. However, farm data is generally collected by others, and smallholder farmers rely on external resources, like weather data, and proprietary tools that provide specific advisories. Farmers face a paradox: while the use of data holds much potential, control over power, resources, and data governance challenges raise the possibility that farmers do not benefit from their own data. This report contains six Deep Dives and nine Case Studies to provide user-centric approaches to data governance that places farmers and their communities at the center of data gathering initiatives and aims to reduce ...

Nitrogen Community Webinar - STARTS IN 90 MINUTES

October 8, 2020 - Nitrogen Community Nitrogen fertilizer is one of the most important crop nutrients. Because it is affected by temperature, moisture and other factors it is also one of the most difficult to manage. This webinar will focus on research by the ISPA Nitrogen Management Community to improve spatial and temporal management of nitrogen.   Join us on October 8th, 2020 at 13:30 Central Daylight Time (UTC -5).     Register now!     Dr. Raj Khosla and Dr. Athyna Cambouris - Welcome and Housekeeping Nitrogen Community Business Meeting Agenda Leader Report Election of the Vice-Leader Adjourn Dr. Newell Kitchen&...

Nitrogen Management Community - Special Issue

The Precision Nitrogen Management Community is organizing a Special Issue in Remote Sensing journal on “Remote Sensing for Precision Nitrogen Management”, the details can be found at:  http://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/special_issues/Precision_N

Nobel laureate shows the power of digital agriculture and on-farm experimentation

Michael Kremer got a share of the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for his work on experimental approaches to alleviating global poverty. He notably showed innovative uses of randomized control trials to answer key development questions related to agriculture. Kremer recently gave a lecture at the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) to show how mobile technologies and digital agriculture can create innovations reaching out to smallholders as well. Kremer also addressed the role of higher-resolution weather information, customized pest-control advice and the opportunities to improve supply chains and extension services. ...

Notes from 2018 JUN Meeting in Montreal

Bullet points regarding the Economics Community meeting at ICPA in Montreal, June 2018: Terry Griffin, Founding Leader, from Kansas State University  and Jordan Shockley, Founding Vice Leader, from the University of Kentucky initiated the first economics community meeting 26 people were in attendance plus 2 that called into the meeting. Those in the meeting represented a wide range of backgrounds, locations, and experience in PA (not just economists) Many topics were discussed but two areas the committee decided to move forward with were: (1) economics of autonomous machinery and (2) pulling together adoption data and research from the global perspective. Jordan Shockley (University of ...

OFE Community Announcement

Dear OFE Community,   As part of the Virtual International Conference on Precision Agriculture (VICPA) we are hosting a webinar on On-Farm Experimentation on 15 October at 1.30 pm Central Daylight Time (UTC -5) (7.30pm BST).    The VICPA and OFE-Community is for ISPA members, but for this meeting it will be open to all, and we are pleased to invite members from the Consortium for On-Farm Experimentation which runs in parallel to OFE-C.   The meeting will hear from 5 submitted papers below, chaired by Nicolas Tremblay, followed by a business meeting for the ISPA OFE community Daniel Kindred - ...

OFE Data and Analytics Guidelines

The On-Farm Experimentation Data and Analytics Guidelines spin-off from the May 17, 2021, Data and Analytics webinar of the #OFE2021 Webinar Series. They have been put together by the OFE-C leadership with the help of the webinar presenters and the related working group. Their goal is to propose state-of-the art data, metadata and statistical analysis practices in the on-farm experimentation context.

OFE Data Webinar Content

OFE in the news: Supporting farmers in their change process

With new digital technologies, scientists and farmers can work together to advance agronomy. By coupling formal agronomic research done by research institutes with change on the ground driven by farmers, the field as a whole can improve. Farmers around the world already experiment on their farms. Not only to support product development for a commercial provider or to accommodate a scientist’s experiment, but to acquire pragmatic knowledge to help manage their farms. This is called farmer-led on-farm experimentation. Read more here.

OFE keynotes at the AfPCA

Tune in for talks and discussions on OFE at the African Conference On Precision Agriculture Thursday, December 8th. It is not too late to register and attend the conference virtually. Louis Longchamps will be talking about Decentralized Research: an Opportunity to Accelerate the Transition Towards Sustainable Food Production; Myrtille Lacoste will be talking about Global Renewal and Future of On-farm Experimentation, and there will be an On-Farm Experimentation Panel with Louis Longchamps, Ivan Adolwa, and James Taylor. See details here. 

OFE People Webinar Content

OFE People Webinar Content 2

OFE Policy Webinar Content

OFE principles can help address the complexity of UN Sustainable Development Goals

New approaches to generating knowledge are needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participatory action research (PAR) builds on and expands the scientific process through engagement of scientists (ecological, agricultural, and social) with stakeholders in a systematic manner. To illustrate iterative co-learning cycles, we report on two decades of PAR in rural communities in Malawi. Read the full paper by Snapp et al. (2023) here.

OFE Value Creation Webinar Content

OFE Webinar Series

The On-Farm Experimentation Community makes available here the recordings of the #OFE2021 Webinar Series. These four online sessions took place in May 2021 to discuss a range of key topics prepared by the conference committee together with dedicated working groups. Learn more about #OFE2021.

OFE-C Survey on Social Media Usage

Please fill out the survey if you haven't done so yet We are interested to learn how you use social media platforms, in order to plan our outreach strategy beyond the OFE-C Newsletters. To learn more, we have prepared a very short survey (2 multiple-choice questions) that can be completed in a few seconds. Please take a moment now to complete the survey below; we would appreciate it. https://forms.gle/b7sG4yNDCwxojVn98  Thank you for your support.

OFE-C Survey on Social Media Usage

Dear OFE-C members, We are interested to learn how you use social media platforms, in order to plan our outreach strategy beyond the OFE-C Newsletters. To learn more, we have prepared a very short survey (2 multiple-choice questions) that can be completed in a few seconds. Please take a moment now to complete the survey below; we would appreciate it.  https://forms.gle/b7sG4yNDCwxojVn98 Thank you for your support.

OFE2021 banner

OFE2021 Banner V2

OFE2023 registration is open

If you haven’t registered yet for the Second International Conference on farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation (#OFE2023), you can do so here. We have already received over 70 abstracts from 25 countries and authors are currently preparing their presentations for the Dec. 5-7 2023 virtual conference. You can find more information on the event here.

OFE: Experimental Approaches, Analytical Frameworks, Case Studies, and Impact

This open access 2019 special issue of Agronomy Journal 111(6): 2633–2768 is a must read. It contains papers that show how to improve data analyses and summarization of a large number of experiments containing similar treatments across years and locations.  

On-Farm Experimentation Community Webinar - STARTS IN 90 MINUTES

October 15, 2020 - On-Farm Experimentation Community Optimizing farming systems will probably require some planned experimentation. It is unlikely that simply observing function systems will provide data for crop and livestock responses over all the relevant inputs and range of rates. This webinar will focus on research by the ISPA On-farm Experimentation Community to make on-farm testing more relevant to farmers and agribusiness.   Join us on October 15th, 2020 at 13:30 Central Daylight Time (UTC -5).     Register now!     Welcome and Housekeeping - Nicolas Tremblay Learnings from Conducting Co-Ordinated Farm-Centric Field Scale Experiments - Daniel Kindred This presentation will ...

On-Farm Experimentation Webinars: Mark your calendar

We are putting together the #OFE2021, the First Conference on Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation—Digital Tools for a Scalable Transformative Pathway. The conference will be preceded by four preparatory webinars: Value creation: Monday, May 10, 2021 People and processes: Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Data and analytics: Monday, May 17, 2021 Policy linkages: Wednesday, May 19, 2021 The times will correspond to 8 to 10 a.m. in Chicago (Central Daylight Time), 3 to 5 p.m. in Paris and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in India. Check the calendar on the ISPA home page for updates.  

On-Farm Replicated Strip Trials (Book Chapter)

This 2018 book chapter by Kyveryga et al. is about On-Farm Replicated Strip Trials. It provides a brief overview of how to plan, design, and conduct on-farm replicated strip trials. Practical considerations are listed when using different types of equipment. Examples are presented on how to summarize data from individual locations, as well as how to interpret experiments conducted. Applicable keywords are data analyses, economic analysis, environmental conditions, modern precision agriculture equipment, on‐farm replicated strip trials, research hypothesis, result interpretations, sustainable farming, within‐field management history, within‐field variability.  

On-Farm Research Guide from the Organic Farming Research Foundation

This guide from the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) is available to farmers for planning, carrying out, and analyzing experiments.  

On-farm Research on Canola from Brandon, Manitoba

Two papers on canola featuring on-farm research: Khakbazan, M., Moulin, A. & Huang, J. Economic evaluation of variable rate nitrogen management of canola for zones based on historical yield maps and soil test recommendations. Sci Rep 11, 4439 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83917-3 Aaron J. Glenn, Alan P. Moulin, Amal K. Roy, Henry F. Wilson. Soil nitrous oxide emissions from no-till canola production under variable rate nitrogen fertilizer management. Geoderma 385, 114857 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114857  

Once Upon a Time, the History of PA and OFE

Dr. David Charles, retired from Nottingham University in the UK is passionate with the history of agriculture. Here are two excerpts of what you can find in Dr. Charles short paper on the ISPA website. Early Precision Agriculture: In the 6th century A.D. Pope Gregory and Archbishop Augustine organised England on a system of parishes. Within these parishes there were usually three large communal fields divided into strips. Village families held randomised replicated strips in the three fields with the intention of giving them all fair shares of good and bad land. Early On-Farm Experimentations: Thomas Coke of ...

One Question Survey

What aspect(s) of on-farm experimentation are of interest to you? Let us know by filling this one-question survey.  

Online Registration is Open

Online registration for the 14th ICPA is open.   Payment Options Online registration for ICPA accepts Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, and Discover. If you need to pay by wire transfer, please contact registration@ispag.org and the wire transfer information will be emailed to you. All transactions are processed in U.S. Dollars.   Registrants  If you are currently an ISPA Member, please log in to check your Membership Status. If you do not wish to become a member, or renew your membership, you may continue to the online registration.   Late Fees  Late fees ...

Open Ag Data Alliance

The Open Ag Data Alliance is an open project designed to bring interoperability, security, and privacy to agricultural data. The purpose of the Open Ag Data Alliance is to develop a standard API framework for automated data exchange. If a person has data stored in one place, and would like an app or service to be able to access it, they need only know the top-level domain where their data sits in order for the app or service to use it, providing permission when setting up the connection.  

Open OFE position

This is a reminder that the OFE position at INRAE is still open. Details here.

Open Position in OFE

One PhD research assistantship is available immediately in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. The project focuses on evaluating variable rate fertilizer management strategies using on-farm precision experiment, cutting-edge digital agricultural technologies, and data analytics. The applicants must have a B.S. degree (M.S. preferred) in Precision Agriculture, Mathematics, Computer Science, Soil Science, Agronomy, Environmental Science, or closely related fields. Please contact Dr. Haiying Tao (haiying.tao@uconn.edu) for additional information.

Open position in On-Farm Experimentation

  The ITAP Research unit (Technologies for the Agriculture of Tomorrow) has an early career research position open at the moment to research and support the use of on-farm experimentation in the agroecological transition. The post details are available on the INRAE website (in French). See the position's description here. The candidate will work with a dynamic group of researchers in Precision and Digital Agriculture based in Montpellier, France. The successful candidate does not necessarily need to be proficient in French, but does need to commit to learning and working in French. As this is an OFE position, interaction ...

Open Rank Faculty - Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture - Director, University of Georgia

Since our founding in 1785, the University of Georgia has operated as Georgia’s oldest, most comprehensive, and most diversified institution of higher education (https://www.uga.edu/). The proof is in our more than 235 years of academic and professional achievements and our continual commitment to higher education. UGA is currently ranked among the top 20 public universities in U.S. News & World Report. The University’s main campus is located in Athens, approximately 65 miles northeast of Atlanta, with extended campuses in Atlanta, Griffin, Gwinnett, and Tifton. UGA employs approximately 3,000 faculty and more than 7,700 full-time ...

Opportunities for Exhibitors and Sponsors

As an elite vendor in the precision agriculture industry it's important to connect to clients, prospects, and their centers of influence. Trade shows and conferences offer a unique opportunity to meet your clients and prospects and show off your latest offerings.    The 14th ICPA will be held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada June 24-27th, 2018. This marks the first time ICPA will be held outside the United States. With precision agriculture growing steadily across Canada this will be an excellent opportunity to expand interest in your company with centers of influence from across North America and the rest ...

Opportunity to Showcase your OFE Work

The 15th ICPA in June 2022 is an opportunity to virtually present your work in dedicated OFE sessions. Let’s continue the conversation initiated with the spring 2021 webinar series and the #OFE2021 Conference! Submit an abstract here.  

Oral and Poster Programs Finalized

The final Oral and Poster programs are posted on the 14th ICPA website. We have over 250 oral presentations including over 200 scientific talks, 30 industry talks, and 20 plenary session talks including keynote presentations from Chris Paterson and Yoshua Benjio, plus a special appearance of The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada during the closing session.  Oral Program Poster Program Printed Program (pdf)

Oral Program / Presentations

The oral program for the 14th ICPA is now available online at https://www.ispag.org/Oral_Program. This is a tentative program. The program will be finalized next week.    Authors and presenters, please check the program for your paper. We have tried to accommodate some late submissions and late registrations. Please verify that your paper is in the program. If you do not see your paper listed and you are planning to attend the conference, please contact abstracts@ispag.org and alert us about this.    If you see your paper listed and do not ...

Organization

The ISPA is legally registered and is an “official” entity. The ISPA is a non-profit professional scientific organization with the mission to advance the science and practice of precision agriculture globally.

PA Publications and materials from the PA Lab, Un. of Sao Paulo

PA Publications and materials from the PA Lab, Un. of Sao Paulo: http://www.agriculturadeprecisao.org.br/publicacoes

Paper highlights

Snapp, S.S., DeDecker, J. and Davis, A.S., 2019. Farmer participatory research advances sustainable agriculture: Lessons from Michigan and Malawi. Agronomy Journal, 111(6), pp.2681-2691. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2018.12.0769 Utter, A., White, A., Méndez, V.E. and Morris, K., 2021. Co-creation of knowledge in agroecology. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 9(1), p.00026. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.00026

Participation

The OFE2021 conference “Farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation—Digital Tools for a Scalable Transformative Pathway” was conducted in a hybrid format from October 13th to 15th in Montpellier. It was organized by INRAE- DigitAg and the ISPA OFE-C (International Society of Precision Agriculture, On-Farm Experimentation Community). The conference was structured around invited speakers (plenary and short presentations) addressing the 4 themes presented in the pre-conference webinars: Value creation, People and processes, Data analytics, and Policy linkages. The use of e-presentations (short videos), instead of posters, was an innovation proposed as a means of engaging in a hybrid conference environment. The ...

Personal Reflection on ACPA and PA17

by Ian Yule   The (Asia Australasia Conference on Precision Agriculture) ACPA was an interesting barometer in how things are changing and how different parts of the world have different problems to deal with. From a personal point-of-view I felt the New Zealand held ACPA conference was quite different to many of those I had attended over the years. The world-wide participants were mainly from Asia, Australasia, but there were numbers from the USA and Europe. The audience was actually younger than most conferences I had been to, there were more women, more women demonstrating leadership through presentations and invited ...

Pierre C. Robert Award Symposium 2020

13:30 Central Daylight Time, Thursday, August 13, 2020 Dr. Jim Schepers, Senior Scientist Award, speaking on “Filling the Gaps with Producers in Mind.” Dr. Joe Luck, Young Scientist Award, speaking on “Moving Forward with Precision Ag Data Use.”   Register for the webinar here! Free to ISPA members. Please login to the website with your membership details to access.    Become a member.

Pierre C. Robert Award Symposium 2020 - STARTS IN 90 MINUTES

Virtual ICPA Webinar Instructions You will be asked for your name and email to register for the webinar.    Pierre C. Robert Award Symposium 2020 Join us for a webinar on August 13th, 2020 at 1:30 PM CDT.   Register now!   PROGRAM: Welcome and Housekeeping - Dr. Jess Lowenberg-DeBoer, President ISPA Filling the Gaps with Producers in Mind. - Dr. Jim Schepers, Senior Scientist Award Moving Forward with Precision Ag Data Use. - Dr. Joe Luck, Young Scientist Award After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. View System Requirements

Post-doc Opportunity in OFE at Cornell University

Digital technologies offer a possibility for farmers to accelerate their progress towards sustainable production systems. The mission of the Transdisciplinary Innovation Lab on Digital Agronomy at Cornell is to co-create solutions with farmers and their advisors that will enable a better collection, organization, curation, and usage of data on the farm. The position holder will conduct research to improve data usage for decision-making in field crops production. This involves using remote sensing, organizing, and curating databases, deploying soil and crop sensors, and programming in R or Python to collect, organize, curate, and use farm data for better decision-making in terms ...

Postdoc Opportunity on OFE at University of Connecticut

The Soil Fertility and Soil Health Program in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT seeks a highly motivated Post Doctorial Associate. The Postdoc will work with the PIs from multiple institutions (e.g., University of Illinois, Montana State University, Louisiana State University, University of Nebraska, USDA-ARS, etc.) to support projects focus on studying variable rate strategies using on-farm precision experiments, cutting-edge digital agricultural technologies, big data, and data analytics. The selected applicant will conduct on-farm experiment, analyze data, publish peer-reviewed journal articles, contribute to the development of decision-support tools, and participate ...

Postdoctoral Fellow – Precision Livestock Farming, University of Missouri

Job description: Conduct research and extension activities in precision livestock farming to advance management strategies in swine production using robotics and artificial intelligence. The position is located in the Agricultural Systems Technology (AST) program of the Division of Plant Science and Technology at University of Missouri (MU), in collaboration with the research team from animal science and agricultural economics.   Duties: The candidate will work with a multidisciplinary team consisting of research and extension faculty, graduate and undergraduate students in developing the AI-enabled animal monitoring and decision-making system. Responsibilities of the position include development, evaluation and deployment of a robotic ...

Poster Presentations

All posters will be on display both Monday and Tuesday from 5:00pm to 6:30pm in the 4th Floor Foyer. The posters we have for display are listed here, https://www.ispag.org/Poster_Program. If you do not see your poster listed, or you see your poster listed but do not plan to attend, please contact us by Tuesday, June 12th at abstracts@ispag.org.   Please note: poster format must be no larger than 44.5 inches high by 44.5 inches wide (1.15 meters by 1.15 meters). Be sure your posters are designed to fit in this format. Posters ...

Pre-Conference Workshops

The R workshop is sold out but two additional workshops remain available. These run on Sunday, June 24th from 9:30am to 1:00pm. Contact us if you would like to get a seat for On-Farm Experimentation and Decision-Support Workshop or UAV Operation and Data Analysis for Precision Agriculture Applications.

Precision Agriculture Cohort Hiring Initiative, including the Position of Endowed Chair

Please visit the link for more information.

Precision Agriculture in Action for Africa

A lot of agricultural experimentation in Africa is conducted on farms. What can the rest of the word learn from OFE with an African flavour? A good place to start was the 1st African Conference on Precision Agriculture held just last week from 8 to 10 December. The African Plant Nutrition Institute, the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and the International Society of Precision Agriculture were behind this successful inaugural event. even hundred participants at 14 sites representing 51 countries were put together on this occasion. On-demand content will soon be made available on the conference website for participants.  

Precision Agriculture in Bulgaria

Precision Agriculture in Bulgaria Rositsa Beluhova-Uzunova, Dobri Dunchev Agricultural University-Plovdiv, Bulgaria   In Bulgaria the government statistics office does not collect official information on the adoption of precision agriculture (PA). The implementation of the first PA technologies in Bulgaria can be traced back to 2002-2003 with the use of lightbar displays for spreading fertilizer. A few years later with the advent of automatic steering systems it is possible for the displays to be used for sowing and mechanical weed control. After 2009 these technologies are common in the Bulgarian fields.   Now most of farm machines are equipped not only ...

Precision Agriculture in Denmark

Denmark is one of the few countries where the government statistics office collects information on the adoption of precision agriculture (PA). In 2017 and 2018 a stratified sample was drawn from all farms with cultivated area registered with the government for administrative and regulatory purposes. The results are based on 6281respondents in 2017 and 5708 in 2018. Some key results: In 2018 23% of Danish crop farmers used some kind of precision agriculture. The Danish survey asked about Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), sprayer section control, software for planning nitrogen applications, satellite & drone images and crop sensors. PA is adopted more commonly on larger farms, so ...

Precision Agriculture in France

France's agriculture benefits from a large agricultural area (292 800 km² about 1/2 ha per inhabitant) and a favourable geographical and climatic situation. France has become the leading agricultural country in the European Union with 18% of European agricultural and agri-food products. The main productions are crops (wheat, 1st in Europe and 5th in the world; corn, 8th in the world) and sugar (7th in the world), wine (2nd in the world), milk (3rd in the world) and dairy products, fruit and vegetables, livestock and meat products (5th in the world for beef). Agriculture occupies 53.2% of the surface area of France. It ...

Precision Agriculture in Israel

Israel has a history of high tech agriculture innovation. Drip irrigation was invented in Israel in the 1970s. It is a hot spot for ag tech start-ups and PA research. But overall adoption of PA technology, except for soil moisture sensors for irrigation management, seems similar to that of Europe. Global Satellite System Navigation (GNSS) guidance is popular and a standard feature on newer & larger equipment. A few farmers are trying out variable rate input application. Use of plant and soil sensing, except soil moisture sensors, is rare. This note highlights some information gathered from researchers and extension staff ...

Precision Agriculture in Latin America

Special issue (in English): “Precision Agriculture in Latin America” Journal Computers and Electronics in Agriculture COMPAG (Elsevier B.V). ISSN 0168-1699. doi:10.1016/j.compag.2007.03.001. Volume 58, issue 1, August 2007

Precision Agriculture in Malaysia

Malaysia has an active precision agriculture (PA) research community, but little commercial use.   “PA has been only implemented in research scale. I do not think there is any report of PA being implemented in commercial scale. I also do not think there is anyone out there that has any report or statistics about this. There is actually no report, even for major oil palm plantations,“ said Prof. Siva Kumar Balasundram, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Department of Agriculture Technology. Prof. Siva is the Malaysia country representative for the ISPA.   This is confirmed by Dr. Hari Krishna of ...

Precision Agriculture in Poland

Stanislaw Samborski, Warsaw University of Life Sciences   The total agricultural land area in Poland in 2017 was 14.6 million ha, while the total sown area was 10.8 million ha. Cereals consisted of 70.7% of the sown area. The total number of farms, 1.4 million, is decreasing but is still one of the highest in Europe. Farms of 50 and more hectares account for of only 2.5% of the total number of farms, but cover about 31% of the agricultural land area. The average agricultural land area per farm is varies greatly depending on the region of Poland, the smallest in the southeastern part reaching only 4.1 ha in ...

Precision Agriculture in Sweden

Mats Söderström, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Anna Rydberg, Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE)   The 2013 May issue of the ISPA Newsletter contained a country report of precision agriculture (PA) in Sweden at that time. This text focuses on new developments of PA in Sweden during the last six years. In this time, PA has become a more generally accepted concept, and it is now regarded as an important part of the solution to many of the challenges that we are facing concerning e.g. need for increased and sustainable food production. In the National ...

Precision Agriculture in the Ukraine

Precision agriculture technology is readily available in the Ukraine. Many of the major PA companies from Europe and North America are represented. There are many Ukrainian start up companies providing PA services, such as drone images, soil testing and soil mapping. The large farming companies, like Kernel (www.kernel.ua), have experimented with a range of PA technologies including: use of satellite images, yield mapping, intensive soil sampling and variable rate technology for fertilizer and seed. There are no official statistics on PA adoption in Ukraine, but all indications are that other than Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), adoption of ...

Precision Agriculture in United Kingdom

British farmers using map based variable rate fertilizer By Simon Thelwell, Eric Siqueiros and Trisha Toop, Harper Adams University A 2018 internet survey of UK farmers by Harper Adams University (HAU) provides additional evidence that British farmers are among the leading users of map based variable rate technology (VRT) fertilizer. In that survey 48% of respondents indicated that they used VRT for fertilizer. Adoption data from elsewhere around the world shows that use of VRT fertilizer rarely exceeds 20% of farmers in a country or region.    Other statistics from the survey include: 63% of respondents use GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) autosteer 53% ...

Precision Nitrogen Community Leader Elections

As a member of the Precision Nitrogen Community of ISPA, you are invited to vote for a candidate for the Vice-Leader of the community.    If you wish to learn more about the candidates, you can read about each of the candidates here.    Follow this link, Precision Nitrogen Community Elections, to access the ballot. You may be prompted to login to the site.    Your vote must be cast by 8 October 2020. The election will close at noon (UTC -5) 8 October 2020.  

Precision Nitrogen Management Community Elections - SUBMIT A CANDIDATE

Dear Member of the Precision Nitrogen Management Community:   It is time to submit nominations for the next Vice-Leader of the Precision Nitrogen Community of the ISPA. You may nominate a colleague or self-nominate with a short CV/Resume AND a short write-up (1-page max) sharing your interest and expertise to fill this position. Please submit your nomination via email by Sunday, October 4th, 2020 to  Athyna.Cambouris@canada.ca and Raj.Khosla@colostate.edu   Elections will be held online on the ISPA’s website once candidates have been determined. We may announce the next ...

Prediction Intervals for On-farm Network Trials

This Laurent et al. paper shows how to prevent farmers from overoptimistic expectations that a significant effect at the overall population level will lead with high certainty to a yield gain on their own farms. [Laurent, A., Kyveryga, P., Makowski, D. & Miguez, F. A Framework for Visualization and Analysis of Agronomic Field Trials from On‐Farm Research Networks. Agron. J. 111, 2712-2723, doi:10.2134/agronj2019.02.0135 (2019).]  

Preparatory workshop-webinars

The Conference will be preceded by four thematic workshop webinars in May. These webinars will each be prepared by a dedicated working group.  Value creation: through co-producing and sharing knowledge People and processes: avoiding the tech fallacy, building ecosystem innovation platforms Data and analytics: large-scale agronomy, experimental designs, aggregation, metadata Policy linkages: to support innovation, and for data governance  

Principles of OFE

We invite you to revisit the 2021 OFE Manifesto for Agricultural Innovation.

Proceedings from the 1st African Conference on Precision Agriculture

The proceedings from the 1st African Conference on Precision Agriculture (AfCPA) are now available for download as a PDF (29 MB). The 1st AfCPA was held from 8-10 December 2020 under the hospices of the African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI) in partnership with Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA).  

Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Farmer-Centric OFE

We are glad to announce the open access publication of the Proceedings of the First International Conference on Farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation - Digital tools for a Scalable Transformative Pathway. This conference was organized by INRAE-#DigitAg and the ISPA OFE-C (International Society of Precision Agriculture, On-Farm Experimentation Community). #OFE2021 was conducted in a hybrid format from October 13th to 15th in Montpellier (including one day dedicated to a workshop to develop policy propositions) and was preceded by a round of four webinars in May 2021. Find the proceedings here.

Proposed Method for Statistical Analysis of On-Farm Single Strip Treatment Trials

This paper explores statistical frameworks to quantify the effect of a single treatment strip using georeferenced yield monitor data and yield stability-based management zones. Cho, Jason B., Joseph Guinness, Tulsi Kharel, Ángel Maresma, Karl J. Czymmek, Jan van Aardt, and Quirine M. Ketterings. 2021. "Proposed Method for Statistical Analysis of On-Farm Single Strip Treatment Trials" Agronomy 11, no. 10: 2042. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11102042  

Purpose

To share global experience of farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation (OFE) To explain the innovation process that OFE represents, as an alternative to the top-down, researcher-directed process that currently predominates How OFE creates value to sustain itself; The alternative innovation pathways of the OFE bottom-up processes; How OFE offers a pathway for valorising digital technologies in agriculture; and The interplay between OFE practice on the ground and supporting policy and investment.

Recent papers on OFE

Koehler-Cole, K., Basche, A., Thompson, L., Rees, J. (2023). Comparing cover crop research in farmer-led and researcher-led experiments in the Western Corn Belt. Front. Sustain. Food Sys. 7:1064251. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1064251 Laurent, A., Heaton, E., Kyveryga, P. Makowski, D., Puntel, L., Robertson, A., Thompson, L., Miguez, F. (2022). A yield comparison between small-plot and on-farm foliar fungicide trials in soybean and maize. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 42, 86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-022-00822-3 Tanaka, T.S.T., Mieno, T., Tanabe, R., Matsui, T., and Bullock, D.S., 2023. Toward an effective approach for on-farm experimentation: lessons learned from ...

Recognizing the mutual dependence of stakeholders to change agriculture

[...] "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 ...

Recording of the Workshop on Agricultural Data Codes of Conduct

The Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) conducted a virtual Workshop on December 11, 2020, to offer an opportunity to find out more about the Agricultural Data Codes of Conduct Toolkit and GODAN’s work on Data Ethics. The toolkit provides a guide to data management best practice for any individuals or organizations (farmers, agri-businesses, associations, regional or national governments…) who collect, manage or share agricultural data. The recording of the 90-minute workshop which gathered about 300 participants can be found here.    

Recordings of the #OFE2021 May Webinar Series are Available

The four #OFE2021 webinars recordings are now available at https://www.ispag.org/Events/OFE both in full-length and in individual presentations formats.   Value Creation. OFE creates value for varied stakeholders, value is shared, and scientific disciplines can contribute.   People and Processes. People are the real key to digital transformation. Transformation occurs when individual changes scale up through their networks and their organizations.   Data and Analytics. Appropriate procedures and well-targeted analytics can be deployed to exploit the valuable data and metadata collected on the farm.   Policy Linkages. Currently, initiatives around OFE are happening ...

Recordings of the #OFE2021 Webinar Series are Available

The four OFE2021 webinars recordings are now available at https://www.ispag.org/Events/OFE Value Creation. OFE creates value for varied stakeholders, value is shared, and scientific disciplines can contribute. May 10, 2021. People and Processes. People are the real key to digital transformation. Transformation occurs when individual changes scale up through their networks and their organizations. May 12, 2021. Data and Analytics. Appropriate procedures and well-targeted analytics can be deployed to exploit the valuable data and metadata collected on the farm. May 17, 2021. Policy Linkages. Currently, initiatives around OFE are happening in spite of funding mechanisms, career paths and norms favoring traditional ...

Register here

Register now to #OFE2021

Register now for a virtual attendance and no later than October 8. Discounts are available for ISPA members, students, attendees from low and middle-income countries, non-profit organizations, farmers, and farmer organizations.  

Relevant papers

Catalogna, M., Dunilac Dubois, M. and Navarrete, M., 2022. Multi-annual experimental itinerary: an analytical framework to better understand how farmers experiment agroecological practices. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 42(2), p.20. Read the paper here.    Farhangi, H., Mozafari, V., Roosta, H.R., Shirani, H. and Farhangi, M., 2023. Optimizing growth conditions in vertical farming: enhancing lettuce and basil cultivation through the application of the Taguchi method. Scientific Reports, 13(1), p.6717. Read the paper here.    Van Rooyen, A.F., Bjornlund, H. and Pittock, J., 2021. Beyond fertilizer for closing yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa. Nature Food, 2(10), ...

Repeated designs not sufficient to evaluate treatment effects accurately in OFE

The outcomes of on-farm experiments can support farmers’ decision-making processes, while inappropriate procedures would result in incorrect interpretations. Conventional statistical approaches (e.g., ordinary least squares regression) may not be appropriate for on-farm experiments because they are not capable of accurately accounting for the underlying spatial variations in a particular response variable (e.g., yield data). A combination of a repeated design and an anisotropic model is required to improve the precision of the experiments. [Tanaka,T.S.T. 2020. Assessment of research frameworks for on-farm experimentation through a simulation study of wheat yield in Japan . Preprint 12741.]  

Report on ACPA PA17 Conference

by Ian Yule   The 7th Asian-Australian Conference for Precision Agriculture was held in Hamilton New Zealand between the 16th and 19th of October 2017. This event was a Tri-Conference (PA17) which included the 7th Asian-Australasian Conference on Precision Agriculture, the 1st Asian-Australian Conference on Precision Pasture and Livestock Farming and the Digital-Farmer 2017. Over 500 delegates attended the overall event. The organisation of the conference was organised under the auspices of the Precision Agriculture Association New Zealand, (PAANZ). Conference chairman was Armin Werner, chair of the conference organising committee was Jim Grennell, delegates were welcomed by the chairman of PAANZ, Craige ...

Report on the 8th ACPA (Ludhiana, India)

Submitted by Dr. Nicolas Tremblay    The 8th Asian-Australasian Conference on Precision Agriculture (ACPA) was successfully held in Ludhiana, India from October 14 to 17th, 2019. A large number of ISPA members were present and many ISPA Board members delivered keynote presentations (including founding ISPA President, Raj Khosla, President-Elect Jess Lowenberg-Deboer, Past-President Nicolas Tremblay and former Secretary Viacheslav Adamchuk).   High-level presentations, at the edge of precision agriculture science were offered. The setting was perfect for networking and interactions. The 8th ACPA was a place to realize how much precision agriculture is a dynamic sector, but also how much it has ...

Research Assistantship Position for Master's Student in Spring 2025: LSU Department of Entomology

Job Title:  Research Assistantship Position for Master's Student in Spring 2025: LSU Department of Entomology   Job Description:  We're seeking a graduate student for an innovative project on Roseau Cane and Scale monitoring using high-resolution drone imagery and machine learning.   Web link information: Additional information can be found in the "opportunities" section of the following website: https://iglab.ghost.io/   End date for applications:  September 17, 2024

Results of the OFE-C Survey on Social Media Usage

Based on the results below, it seems like LinkedIn is, by a small margin, the preferred social media platform of our group. Due to the spread of use across multiple platforms, it may be good to consider a multi-platform communication strategy, broadcasting content on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn simultaneously. Another outcome of this survey is noticing that there seem to be few students in our group. We encourage you to inform your students about the OFE-C and tell them that they can sign up for free here.  

Rewards

The 20 best e-presentations will also be shown during the conference plenary sessions, and 4 will be selected for the “Best Scientific Committee Award” and “Best Audience Award.” The best three papers will be selected by the Scientific Committee for “Best Conference Paper Award,” with prizes in the form of financial support to publish open access into a Special Issue associated with the Conference. Full details available on the website.

Save the date for #OFE2023

Science and Technology Backyard

Science and Technology Backyards (STBs) were introduced by China Agricultural University in 2009. It is a farming service model designed to reinforce relational embeddedness between education, research, and extension at the community level to provide agricultural extension and advisory services to smallholder farmers. STB can be considered a hybrid model that combines a top-down approach with bottom-up measures to promote innovation among smallholder farmers. In STBs, technological innovation is supposed to derive from location-specific problem diagnosis and is re-fitted based on local context and farmer demand. To learn more read the Li et al. 2022 paper here.  

Seeking Great Photos: “Doing” On-Farm Experimentation

We are seeking free-of-right photos illustrating co-learning by scientists, farmers and professionals around on-farm experimentation and digital opportunities in a broad range of systems and contexts. If you have pictures that eloquently illustrate this idea that you are willing to share, please drop us an email. It will be greatly appreciated!  

Session Chairs Note

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SharedIt link for Nature Food paper: OFE to Transform Global Agriculture

Our apologies for not having offered the opportunity to consult the full Nature Food paper in our last communication. The publisher does not allow open access for that kind of paper but it does provide an alternative in the form of this SharedIt link.   On-Farm Experimentation Community (OFE-C) co-leads, Simon Cook and Nicolas Tremblay are among the authors of a newly released and highly collaborative Nature Food paper on OFE. This timely work acknowledges and celebrates the diversity of approaches and views on farmer-centric OFE internationally. As the visionary Professor Simon Cook put it, “OFE is ...

Smartphone App Designed for, and With, Farmers

As the use of smartphone technology is becoming increasingly popular in the agricultural context, there is a need to consider how farmers have adapted to this form of technology. The current study examined the factors which influence Irish farmers’ engagement with smartphone use and new smartphone apps and explored the supports required by farmers to successfully engage with smartphone apps for agriculture use. Kenny, U. and Regan, Á., 2021. Co-designing a smartphone app for and with farmers: Empathising with end-users’ values and needs. Journal of Rural Studies, 82, pp.148-160.  

Some Thoughts Around Robotics and Automation

by Ian Yule   I have been to two conferences recently where ideas around robotics and automation have been discussed and very different solutions offered. Ideas around robotics and automation are continuing and there are a number of schools of thought as to how agriculture will respond. Will we go for smaller robots and robot swarms to complete tasks or will we see our major ag companies produce driverless versions of their present equipment. While attending the Agricultural Engineering 2017 conference just before the Agritechnica exhibition held in Hannover in November 2017 I was reminder about some of the fundamentals of the ...

Special Issue on OFE in Agronomy for Sustainable Development

Back in August 2021, guest editors Myrtille Lacoste, Isabelle Piot-Lepetit, Nicolas Tremblay and Simon Cook sent a call for papers for a virtual issue on OFE, which ended in March 2022. The virtual issue is titled “Farmer-Centric On-Farm Experimentation (OFE): digital tools for a scalable transformative pathway” Papers are starting to be published online and we want to highlight them here as they are coming out: ► Laurent et al. (2022) A yield comparison between small-plot and on-farm foliar fungicide trials in soybean and maize. ► Song et al. (2022) Factors influencing intention to apply spatial approaches to on-farm experimentation: insights ...

Specific Treatment Responses in On-Farm Precision Experimentation

Site-specific information about crop responses to agronomic treatments is needed. Geographically weighted regression was applied to generate local regression coefficients, which were used to delineate response zones in fields. This is a way to reevaluate expectations on variable rate prescriptions guided largely by soil and variability. Trevisan, R.G., Bullock, D.S., Martin, N.F. Site-Specific Treatment Responses in On-Farm Precision Experimentation. Preprints 2019, 2019020007 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201902.0007.v1).  

Sponsor Spotlight - Minnesota Corn Growers Association

Silver Sponsor Spotlight - Minnesota Corn Growers Association   Thank you Minnesota Corn Growers Association for becoming a Silver Sponsor at the 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture.   With more than 6,500 members, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association is one of the largest grassroots farm organizations in the United States. Working in close partnership with the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council, MCGA identifies and promotes opportunities for Minnesota’s 24,000 corn farmers while building connections with the non-farming public. We accomplish this by investing in third-party research that focuses on water quality and soil health, targeted consumer outreach, developing ...

Sponsored registration available here

Successful approaches for on-farm experimentation

On-farm experiments are used increasingly in agronomic research because they are commercially relevant, but they can carry greater risks of failure than traditional small plot experiments conducted by scientists. Experimental failures can result from farmer withdrawal, errors in treatment application or harvest, or non-provision of yield data by farmers. This paper describes the development and testing of approaches for on-farm experimentation and concludes which approaches should be adopted to maximise success. The programme of work included the largest on-farm research network in the UK, with farmers conducting around 50 on-farm experiments per year from 2017 to 2019 to compare fungicide programmes in winter ...

Supported by

The conference is supported by the OECD Co-operative Research Program (CRP) “Biological resource management for sustainable agricultural systems,” under Theme 3 — Transformational technologies and innovation. It is organised by INRAE Montpellier and the On-Farm Experimentation Community (OFE-C) of the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA).   Support is also provided by Agropolis Foundation, Occitanie Region, MUSE (Montpellier University of Excellence), Agreenium, #Digitag, RMT NAEXUS, RMT Modelia and Occitanum.

Survey of the use of apps and/or digital platforms for data management in agriculture. Survey 2022.

Precision Agriculture has two major strategic partners that enhance the degree of adoption by users, on the one hand, Agricultural Machinery, which is no longer just an articulated set of parts for the purpose of optimizing energy use through of the application of power in agricultural tasks, but today it needs technologies that improve its efficiency with care for the productive environment. On the other hand, the second strategic partner is Digital Agriculture (AD), which has developed and incorporated applications and/or digital platforms for managing agricultural data, based mainly on the use of satellite images that, with advanced computational ...

Take the Survey

We had a good number of surveys completed during the closing session. Thank you.    If you would like to include your feedback on the conference, its organization, its future, please go to https://ispag.org/icpa/conference_survey and complete the evaluation.    Your feedback helps us keep our conference strong and organized to your interests. Please take a moment to fill out the survey and add specific comments for improvement. 

Technical Tour

There are just a few seats left for the post-conference technical tour.  Contact us now if you have already registered for the conference, but would like to add the tour. 

Technology and Science Innovation Investment in Our Primary Industry Sector

by Ian Yule   There are clearly a number of sources of funding for innovation investment in the AgriFood Tech space. Historically we used to consider the primary sector as being agriculture, horticulture, livestock and forestry, but we are now much more integrated in our thinking of farm to fork, or producer to consumer. Supply Chain and retail attracts over 3 times the level of investment compared to on-farm activities. Various mechanisms are at work at any point in time with a number of different funding sources, either private or public. A very good starting point to build an understanding of ...

Tenure-track Assistant Professor - Artificial Intelligence in Agricultural and Forestry Informatics University of Tennessee

Please view the pdf or website for more information.

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Thank You for Attending!

Thank you for attending the 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture!   Thank you for your participation. It was great to see everyoneengaging in the conversation, asking and answering questions, and building the relationships that make the ISPA.    Please be sure to visit the conference website for the PROCEEDINGS, and a pdf of the PROGRAM, and PHOTOS from the conference. 

Thank you Sponsors

Thank You Silver Sponsors Thank you to our Silver Sponsors for their support of the 15th International Conference on Precision Agriculture!

Thanks to my monthly co-editor Bruce Maxwell, Prof. of Agroecology, Montana State University

Thanks to my monthly co-editor Bruce Maxwell, Prof. of Agroecology, Montana State University

Thanks to my monthly co-editor Christian Huyghe, Scientific Director Agriculture INRAE

Thanks to my monthly co-editor Christian Huyghe, Scientific Director Agriculture INRAE

Thanks to my monthly co-editor Christian Huyghe, Scientific Director Agriculture INRAE

The #OFE2021 Conference

Following the webinars, the First Conference on Farmer-Centric On-farm Experimentation — Digital Tools for a Scalable Transformative Pathway is scheduled for October 13th-15th 2021 in Montpellier, France (or virtually if need be).

The #OFE2021 Webinar Series - Two more to go!

The On-Farm Experimentation Community is pleased to announce that the first two #OFE2021 webinars (1. Value creation; 2. People and processes) were great successes with a total of 200+ participants from all over the world. Next week, two more webinars will be presented (3. Data and analytics; 4. Policy linkages). Don’t miss them! View the session details below and be sure to register for the last two webinars! Free and open to all.  

The Analysis of Agricultural Experiments: A brief History

From Fisher in 1926 to nowadays much needs to change in the analysis of agricultural experimentations. Charles (2021) guest editorial in The Journal of Agricultural Science focuses on the 20th century. Even before the digital age, experiments intended to resolve difference questions were replaced by experiments designed to answer questions about the magnitude of differences and responses to treatments. The review raises a question: namely is it time to revisit Bayesian statistics on the grounds that visionaries and innovators are prone to subjectivity? [Charles D. (2020). Guest Editorial: The analysis of agricultural experiments: a brief history of the techniques of the 20th century. ...

The CHACRAS system: an OFE project led by AAPRESID in Argentina

The Argentine No-Till Farmers Association (AAPRESID) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization born out of a strong desire to protect farmers’ most valuable resource - the soil. The association is made up of a network of farmers who have adopted and promoted a new agricultural paradigm based on no-till practices. CHACRAS SYSTEM is a program created by AAPRESID to meet the technological needs of farmers and technician groups in their work environments, based on an integrated analysis of their production systems. Through its two spaces, CHACRAS and Thematic Networks, it serves as a platform for knowledge generation and transfer, in ...

The Data Streams Podcast

Data Streams is a collection of conversations among members in the Research Data Alliance (RDA) community about challenges they face as researchers and data experts in managing the massive quantities of research data and how together, they are finding solutions and proving the value of open research data sharing and reuse.  

The Farmers’ Perspective on Data Governance

Fragmented and unclear data governance arrangements may weaken farmers’ willingness to adopt digital solutions. This, in turn, may reduce the availability and accessibility of agricultural data for policymaking, for the agricultural innovation system, and for developing services for farmers. This OECD report focuses on farmers’ concerns around access, sharing and use of agricultural data and explores whether and how existing policy frameworks and other sectoral initiatives can help to foster greater trust. [Jouanjean, M., et al. (2020), “Issues around data governance in the digital transformation of agriculture: The farmers’ perspective,” OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers, ...

The first Agroecosystem Living Labs symposium in October 2023

  The first Agroecosystem Living Labs symposium will be organized as a side event of the international Adaptation Futures 2023 to be held in Montreal in October (2-6 October 2023 in Montréal, Canada). The Agroecosystem Living Labs, jointly organized by Agriculture and AgriFood Canada and INRAE-France, will be in a hybrid format and will offer the possibility to share experiences across the world. On-farm experiments are one form of such participatory approaches. Thanks to the work of the scientific committee, the most valuable papers will be published in a special issue of an international scientific journal. To visit the COnference ...

The Future of Farming: Precision Agriculture Takes Root in Canada

Asim Biswas, Professor and OAC Research Chair in Soils and Precision Agriculture, University of Guelph; Country Representative (Canada) of ISPA   In the vast, diverse landscapes of Canada, a revolution is quietly unfolding, promising to transform the future of farming. Precision agriculture, a term that might sound futuristic to some, is increasingly becoming a present reality, reshaping how crops are grown across the country. This innovative approach to farming leverages technology to make agriculture more efficient, sustainable, and productive. It's about using data and advanced technologies to make informed decisions, optimizing every aspect of farm management from soil health ...

The Future of ISPA Survey

The Future Of ISPA The Future of the International Society of Precision Agriculture Survey: ISPA would like to hear from you.  "The Future of ISPA" survey is your opportunity to make a suggestion to the board on how to improve the society and to let the board know of services you have enjoyed as a member of ISPA.   Click here to complete the survey.  

The Global Soil Organic Carbon Map (GSOCmap)

The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) and the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) launched a global endeavor to develop the Global Soil Organic Carbon map (GSOCmap) using a country-driven approach as part of the Global Soil Information System (GLOSIS). GSP provided technical support and on-the-job training to most countries to produce national SOC maps according to standardized specifications. The Global Soil Organic Carbon map V1.0 is an important stepping stone to better know the current Soil Organic Carbon stock stored beneath our feet and soils’ potential for further sequestration. The data are also available as Geotiff.

The International Data Week 2021

The International Data Week (IDW 2021) is scheduled for 8–11 November 2021 in Seoul, South Korea, in a hybrid form, under the theme “Data to Improve our World.” Open Science and the FAIR Principles are important enablers of discovery and innovation, particularly the use of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. The IDW 2021 is supported by the International Science Council’s Committee on Data (CODATA) and World Data System (WDS), and the Research Data Alliance (RDA).  

The IPMWorks European project

  IPMWorks is a European-wide farm network demonstrating and promoting integrated pest management strategies. Coordinated by Nicolas Munier-Jolain (INRAE, France). This network gathers 31 partners from 16 countries across Europe. These partners cover the following roles: Farmers' organizations; Applied research, advisory and extension services; Academic research on social sciences; Academic research on agronomy (sensu lato) and environmental science; and Training organizations. Beyond the very rich on-farm resource, the project builds an extensive toolbox, that is continuously enriched, thanks to the diversity of partners. To learn more about the IPMWorks project, follow this link.

The IPMWorks European project-Feb

IPMWorks is a European-wide farm network demonstrating and promoting integrated pest management strategies. Coordinated by Nicolas Munier-Jolain (INRAE, France). This network gathers 31 partners from 16 countries across Europe. These partners cover the following roles: Farmers' organizations; Applied research, advisory and extension services; Academic research on social sciences; Academic research on agronomy (sensu lato) and environmental science; and Training organizations. Beyond the very rich on-farm resource, the project builds an extensive toolbox, that is continuously enriched, thanks to the diversity of partners. To learn more about the IPMWorks project, follow this link.   a;kjsdfhkkjsan     'loirjg[oi45 b;oinn[...

The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network (LTAR)

The LTAR network integrates question-driven research projects with common measurements on multiple agroecosystems (croplands, rangelands, and pasturelands) and develops new technologies to address agricultural challenges and opportunities. The LTAR network provides common measurements and data streams that complement other federally funded national networks. Their data management working group strives to make LTAR data aligned with the FAIR guiding principles, to be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. The LTAR network fosters data sharing principles and guidelines with the intent that all LTAR data will be available for research collaboration and the development of agroecosystem management recommendations and education.  

The OFE-C seeks On-Farm Research Guides

The OFE-C is collecting and centralizing on-farm research guides in a repository. Do you have any to suggest? Please send the document or its path in an email. You will find a few examples of what we are looking for in the following articles.  

The Research Data Alliance and Agriculture

With over 10,000 members from 145 countries, the Research Data Alliance (RDA) provides a neutral space to develop and adopt infrastructure that promotes data-sharing and data-driven research to enable the open sharing and re-use of data. RDA has a grass roots, inclusive approach covering all data lifecycle stages, engaging data producers, users and stewards, addressing data exchange, processing, and storage. Generic topics of its interest are social hurdles on data sharing, education and training challenges, data management plans and certification of data repositories, disciplinary and interdisciplinary interoperability, as well as technological aspects.   The RDA is constituted of different elements, ...

The science of OFE is gaining traction

According to the Web of Science, the number of publications with the keyword “on-farm experimentation” has drastically been increasing since 2020. From the records between 1996 and 2020, the average number of publications per year was about 2. Since then, this number rose to about 12 a year – and not all publications are captured. We are clearly witnessing the work of pioneers establishing the science of OFE.

The Way Farmers Learn

Acknowledging how farmers learn is a forced passage to the impact of knowledge generation and the way to link extension to research. This Janvry et al. (2016) paper presents an interesting perspective. It presents a few concepts such as “private learning” (learning-by-doing) by Bayesian updating. This consists of direct learning from own individual actions over time. There is also “social learning” (learning from others) with Bayesian updating and aggregation of observations collected from others according to a chosen pattern of weights.  

Thirty-nine Hints for FAIR Data in Agriculture and Nutrition

All data scientists know the importance of good and unambiguous definitions of data dimensions, crucial to all phases of data analysis. However, semantics is often left implicit in the data, the semantic resources used to create the data are not easily accessible, or available in non-standard formats, non (easily) machine-readable – all factors hampering the possibility of reusing data in information systems or integrating it with other datasets and ultimately limiting the interoperability of data. This paper presents recommendations to engage agrifood sciences in a necessary transition to leverage data production, sharing and reuse and the adoption of the « ...

Time to Submit Abstracts - DEADLINE APPROACHING

Online abstract submission for the 15th ICPA is open at https://www.ispag.org/abstracts. We invite you to submit an abstract for the various conference topics. Abstracts will be reviewed for suitability based on scientific content and clarity. Abstracts meeting these criteria will be accepted for presentation as either oral or poster presentations at the conference. Abstract length must be in the range 300-500 words with no figures, references or tables. Authors of accepted abstracts will be entitled to present their research at the Conference after payment of registration fees. They will also be entitled to submit full ...

Tools for OFE

“On-farm research helps farmers make more informed management decisions in their operations for increased productivity and sustainability. […] major barriers to adoption of on-farm research have been the space (larger fields) and the time required to conduct trials during planting and harvest. As these logistical and potentially economic challenges might discourage farmers from engaging in on-farm research and be part of on-farm research networks, a new way to conduct trials was developed that makes use of yield monitor technology and advances in spatial statistics.” Read more about the single-strip evaluation approach (SSEA) here.

Tools for OFE: GeoPard

GeoPard is an independent FMIS platform that allows for easier yield data cleaning, analytics, data sharing, and profit map generation among others. One interesting feature of this platform for the OFE community is that it allows for field trials analytics. Farmers who are equipped with precision machinery allowing for variable rate application and yield mapping can use this tool to rapidly analyze the effect of their treatments on yield and on profitability. Learn more about GeoPard here.

Towards Farmer-led Research: A Guidebook

What is farmer-led research? What are some examples and the benefits? The Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) has experience and share its learned lessons in this guidebook.  

Transforming Agricultural Innovation for People, Nature and Climate

The UK has launched the Transforming Agricultural Innovation for People, Nature and Climate campaign to catalyze a step change in agricultural innovation. The series of webinars will present the findings of five evidence reviews commissioned under the Research, Development and Deployment (RD&D) strand of the Sustainable Agriculture component of the COP26 Nature Campaign. The second webinar in the series focuses on agroecology and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Agroecology is increasingly promoted as a means to transform food systems globally, yet the evidence for generating large-scale impacts on climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries has been ...

Transition to data-driven decisions on the farm

The hard part of transitioning to data-driven decisions isn’t when the data supports what you already believe to be true. The difficult part is when the data analysis challenges what we think we already know.

Turing Prize

Fourteenth ICPA keynote speaker Dr. Yoshua Bengio was recently awarded the Turing Award often known as the “Nobel Prize of computing.” Dr. Bengio shares this honour with his colleagues Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun together known as the “Godfathers of Artificial Intelligence.” In Montreal, last June, Dr. Bengio entitled his speech “From data to decisions with artificial intelligence .” His presentation was a highlight of the conference. The ISPA Board wants to congratulate Dr. Bengio for this great achievement.

Two More Promising OFE Webinars

The first two OFE webinars (1. Value Creation; 2. People and Processes) were great successes with a total of 200+ participants from all over the world. Next week, two more webinars will be presented (3. Data and Analytics; 4. Policy Linkages). Don’t miss them!  

UK universities support OFE principles: First joint agricultural universities research strategy in the UK

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.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln - Extension Instructor or Open Rank Extension Educator - Water & Cropping Systems NOFRN (Statewide)

Department Cooperative Ext Division-0788 Requisition Number F_240070 Posting Open Date 05/03/2024 Application Review Date: (To ensure consideration, please submit all application materials before review date) 06/05/2024 Posting Close Date   Open Until Filled Yes Description of Work Overview This position is based in Lincoln, NE, with a statewide accountability region. The incumbent’s primary responsibility is to lead and grow the Nebraska On-Farm Research Network (NOFRN) using contemporary technologies to encourage the adoption of research-based decision making. NOFRN is a long-standing signature program that is transformational in helping farmers and agribusiness partners adopt best agronomic practices through technology transfer ...

Unlocking Value by Analyzing Commercial Data

Data from commercial oil palm operations were analyzed for a whole plantation to rank individual blocks according to their ability to respond to applied fertilizer. The ranking was used to guide fertilizer management by diverting fertilizer from unresponsive blocks to those that are more responsive. Although the inferences lack statistical validity, they appear robust from a practical viewpoint. They are easy to evaluate in the field, since they require no upscaling from or interpretation of experimental data. [Oberthür, T. et al. Plantation Intelligence applied Oil Palm operations: unlocking value by analyzing commercial data. The Planter 93, 339–351 (2017)]  

Upcoming OFE-C Newsletter

The OFE-C will release in January a newsletter with information about on-farm experimentation. Should you have something to communicate to our readership, please submit to this email.  

Update on the #OFE2023

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.

Updated #OFE2021 Program

By registering to #OFE2021, you will have access to the full program including keynote and invited speakers. There will also be 19 E-presentations selected for the plenaries on top of 67 e-presentations out of 86 submissions (48 video recordings, 9 slide sets, 29 papers).  

Using the DIFM OFE tool in Argentina to manage within-field variability.

Since 2017, a group of producers and agricultural companies in the Pampas Region of Argentina gradually started adopting technologies developed by the Data Intensive Farm Management (DIFM) project to conduct on-farm experiments and obtain a deeper learning about within-field spatial and temporal variability of crop response to ag inputs, such as nitrogen and plant population. This region-wide network, coordinated by Dr. Agustin Pagani, independent researcher and president of Clarion, Inc., has rapidly expanded to other regions of the country where less science-based information to support fertilizer recommendations is available. The “checkerboard design” is the base of this effort, ...

Virtual ICPA 2020

Thank you for all those who attended the Virtual ICPA 2020 webinar. This was ISPA's first-ever online webinar, and we hope the success of the presentations will encourage even more members to join us in any future online collaboration events.   We would like to again thank our keynote speaker, Dr. David Lamb, for his presentation and participation at such a late hour. The presentation provided ample engagement from our participants during the Q&A session. Our congratulations go out to the winners of the Pierre C. Robert Scientist Awards, Dr. Joe Luck receiving the 2020 Young Scientist Award, and ...

Virtual ICPA 2020 Launching June 30

ISPA will be launching Virtual ICPA 2020 on June 30th.   The first session is slated to begin at 1:30pm U.S. CDT (UTC -5).    The session is scheduled to be approximately 90 minutes.   ISPA President, Dr. Ian Yule will open the webinar with a welcome message and introduce our keynote speaker, Dr. David Lamb, Chief Scientist at Food Agility CRC and McClymont Distinguished Professor at the University of New England in Australia. Dr. Lamb’s talk is titled, "Precision in the Food Chain". After the presentation we will have time for select questions from the ...

Virtual ICPA Webinar Instructions

Virtual ICPA Webinar Instructions You will be asked for your name and email to register for the webinar.    Pierre C. Robert Award Symposium 2020 Join us for a webinar on August 13th, 2020 at 1:30 PM CDT.   Register now!   PROGRAM: Welcome and Housekeeping - Dr. Jess Lowenberg-DeBoer, President ISPA Filling the Gaps with Producers in Mind. - Dr. Jim Schepers, Senior Scientist Award Moving Forward with Precision Ag Data Use. - Dr. Joe Luck, Young Scientist Award After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. View System Requirements

Virtual ICPA Webinar Series

Starting Thursday, August 13th, through November 5, the ICPA weekly webinar series will feature a number of different presentations. All webinars will take place on Thursdays from 13:30-15:00 Central Standard Time (UTC -6).  All webinars are free to active ISPA members. When you login to the ispag.org website, the link to the webinars will be under the Members tab (https://www.ispag.org/Virtual_ICPA_Webinar). If you have any issues with registering to view a webinar, please contact, info@ispag.org   If you are not able to view the webinars live, they ...

Virtual Poster Presentation

Virtual Poster Presentations Begin Customizing Your Virtual Poster:  Authors presenting their poster at the 15th ICPA virtually can begin customizing their virtual posters here (please log in to view your abstract).     Authors presenting their poster in-person at the 15th ICPA can create a virtual poster but they are not required to do so.  The addition of the virtual poster would allow you to showcase your research to the virtual attendees as well as the in-person conference attendees.    Instructions on how to customize your poster can be found on ...

Webcast Maximize Value On-Farm Research

A Precision Ag Insight webcast on Maximizing the Value of On-Farm Research was presented on December 8th 2016 by Godsey Precision Ag. You can find the slides and the recording here.

Webinar: Responsible Digital Agroecology, from Farm to Fork

The “Responsible Digital Agroecology, from farm to fork” webinar will be held on Thursday, October 13, 4–6 p.m. (Paris time). It is organized by #DigitAg (INRAE-CIRAD) and CGIAR. How can innovations in digital agriculture ensure inclusion and equity for all actors in the value chain? Today, new digital tools and services make digitalization more suitable to smallholders and could boost transition towards agroecology, climate-smart agriculture and inclusiveness. Research efforts must now concentrate both on technological development and on the organizational and policy evolution necessary to maximize the benefits while avoiding risks. More, original ways to carry out research, ...

Website for Further Details

All presentations will be available on the website (https://ofe2021.com/videos-papers) as soon as the post-production phase is completed. A one-year embargo will be maintained for registrants after which the content will be open to all.  

Welcome Exhibitors and Sponsors!

ICPA is pleased to welcome Waypoint Analytical and Agrian as exhibitors to ICPA.    Please pass this message along to any companies or organizations who may want to participate in the conference. With over 400 attendees expected from over 30 countries it is a terrific opportunity to spread awareness about precision ag services and technologies. Each attendee is a center of influence in the country where they are from. They are coming to the conference to learn and share information about the latest, greatest precision ag offerings and will undoubtedly be reporting back to their constituents upon their return.    ...

What the Conference Was About

Traditional agricultural research means much to scientists but little to farmers. Statistical significance criteria much beloved by researchers are not related to the scope, practical meaning or usefulness of experimental results to farmers. Scientists and farmers deal differently with uncertainties. The spatial and temporal variations that farmers manage in crop and livestock production are typically far greater than any trial treatment effect. Farmers are then unable to scale up recommendations within their farm management system. The widespread application of Fisher’s statistical methodology (dating back to the 1920s) has allowed for a simplified evaluation of papers to be published ...

Where in the World are Farmer-Centric OFEs?

The OFE-C is consolidating occurrences of farmer-led research, farmer-centric on-farm experimentation, living labs, or the like. Our goal is to map and feature these initiatives all around the world. Drop us a short notice about what and whom you know!   

Which of These Aspects of On-farm Experimentation are of Interest to you? Survey Results

Thanks to the many who have answered our quick survey posted in the On-Farm Experimentation Community Info No. 1. We asked you to select any combination among the following themes: Creation/sharing of value and intellectual property Farmer-centric, co-learning and social aspects Data, metadata, analytics, modelling, artificial intelligence Transformation through policy, legislation and investment All aspects generated interest, but primarily the data and analytics, and the farmer-centric ones. We will soon come back to you with more about how we intend to make progress along those lines.  

Why are you getting this email?

This message has been sent to you because you are a member of, or have shown interest in OFE. If you know a colleague who would like to be kept in the loop, please transfer this link to fill the OFE-C Expression of Interest Signup. You will find the past Info editions at the same place. If you want to access to the full opportunities of the OFE-C and the ISPA please join.    

YEN Awards

The Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) in the UK supports arable crops innovators since 2012. Learn about the impressive achievements of YEN growers in the though 2020 season. Awards were given for best yields or best % or potential yield. See the recording here.  

‘A Decade of Data’: Celebrating 10 Years of the Research Data Alliance

In 2023 the Research Data Alliance will celebrate its 10th anniversary and will commemorate this important milestone by organizing a series of international and regional events and activities. Each month of 2023, from February to November, will be dedicated to a specific theme related to research data management of relevance to the RDA community. The RDA Secretariat and regional bodies are organizing various thematic events and activities (e.g., webinars, workshops and podcasts). February: FAIR data, software and hardware March: A Decade of Data: The RDA’s 20th Plenary meeting April: Health and medical data  May:&...

“Houston, we have a (data) problem.”

Farmers struggle to use data for decision-making. A survey of over 1500 farmers demonstrated high rates of data collection but low rates of data usage. Participants to the conference “Identifying Obstacles to Applying Big Data in Agriculture” defined scenarios in which on-farm decisions could benefit from the application of Big Data. Common obstacles identified included errors in the data, inaccessibility of the data, unusability of the data, incompatibility of data generation and processing systems, the inconvenience of handling the data, the lack of a clear return on investment (ROI) and unclear ownership. One solution: Standards or guidelines for farmers ...