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Collaborative On-Farm Research

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Resources for On-Farm Research

Here are some useful resources to help you plan and work with on-farm research trials.

Useful Web Sites

Google maps
This Web site allows you to locate individual fields and, by virtue of its satellite view option, develop an initial impression of the suitability of the field for an on-farm research trial (uniformity or variability for field features). If you create your own Google account, you can create and store custom mapsets for your future reference that include field placemarkers, field boundaries, or line field features (e.g., gullies). You can also share your custom maps with other users. With Google Maps Labs features enabled (Distance Measurement Tool, LatLng Marker), you can also measure linear distances (how wide is the field?) and virtually "drop" a latitude/longitude marker over the field for future georeference.
USDA Web Soil Survey
This Web site allows you to locate individual fields and identify the mapped soil units for that field. From this site, you can create and print PDF-formatted versions of the soils map for a given field. You can also download the spatial dataset for the soils of the field for future use in GIS software programs (e.g., Farmworks, MapWindow, ArcView, etc).

Useful Written References

Anderson, Dan. On-Farm Research Guidebook. Univ of Illinois. [on-line] http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/pdf_pubs/GUIDEBK.PDF [URL accessed Sept 2014].

Ketterings, Quirine, Karl Czymmek, and Aaron Gabriel. 2012. On-Farm Research. Cornell University Extension Factsheet 68. On-line at http://nmsp.cals.cornell.edu/publications/factsheets/factsheet68.pdf [URL accessed Sept 2014].

Lauer, Joe. 2012. On-Farm Testing. Univ of Wisconsin, on-line at http://corn.agronomy.wisc.edu/Management/L016.aspx [URL accessed Sept 2014].

Luck, Joe and John Fulton. 2014. Best Management Practices for Collecting Accurate Yield Data and Avoiding Errors During Harvest. Univ of Nebraska Extension Pub. EC2004. http://goo.gl/ttufk1 [URL accessed Sept 2014].

Mullen, Robert, Ed Lentz, Greg Labarge, and Keith Diedrick. 2008. Statistics and Agricultural Research. Ohio State Univ. Fact Sheet. [on-line] http://ohioline.osu.edu/anr-fact/pdf/Statistics_ag_research.pdf [URL accessed Sept 2014].

Nielsen, RL (Bob). 2010. A Practical Guide to On-Farm Research. Purdue Univ Extension. [online] http://www.kingcorn.org/news/timeless/OnFarmResearch.pdf [URL accessed Sept 2014].

Useful Presentations Get Adobe Flashplayer

Nielsen, RL (Bob). 2011. Thoughts About On-Farm Research. Adobe Flash formatAn Adobe Flash version of a Powerpoint presentation. Purdue University.

Nielsen, RL (Bob) and Shaun Casteel. 2010. Purdue's Collaborative On-Farm Research Program. Purdue University. A handout of a presentation at the 2010 Indiana CCA Conference, Indianapolis, 14 Dec 2010. [on-line] http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/ofr/Purdue_OFR_2010.pdf [URL accessed Dec 2010].

Nielsen, RL (Bob). 2012. Nuts and Bolts of On-Farm Research. A handout of a presentation at the 2012 Kentuckiana Crops Conference, French Lick, IN, 4 Dec 2012. [on-line]. http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/ofr/OFR_NutsBolts_v2013.pdf [URL accessed Dec 2012].

Other On-Farm Research Programs

Iowa Soybean Association On-Farm Network. A program of the Iowa Soybean Association. [URL accessed Feb 2013].

Kansas Ag Research & Technology Association. A producer, industry, and university association. [URL accessed Feb 2013].

Nebraska On-Farm Research. Univ of Nebraska Extension. [URL accessed Feb 2013].

Ohio On-Farm Research. Ohio State University Extension. [URL accessed Feb 2013].

Pacific Northwest Conservation Tillage Systems Information Source. A consortium between Oregon State Univ, Washington State Univ, and the Univ of Idaho. [URL accessed Feb 2013].

Penn State On-Farm Research Program. Penn State University Extension. [URL accessed Feb 2013].

Practical Farmers of Iowa. [URL accessed Feb 2013].