Dagan, a spin-off of Applied GeoSolutions, has developed a system for operational mapping of tillage practices and cover crops over wide areas. The Operational Tillage Information System, or OpTIS, produces spatially comprehensive maps of crop residue cover and cover crops annually using information integrated from multiple earth-observing satellites. Accurate, timely, and spatially comprehensive information about the dynamic state of tillage practices and cover crops across large regions is valuable for several purposes.

The Cool Farm Tool is an online calculator that enables farmers to measure their greenhouse gas emissions, and understand mitigation options for agricultural production. Originally initiated by Unilever. The CFT greenhouse gas emissions calculator is based on empirical research from a broad range of published data sets and IPCC methods. The tool calculates emissions estimates from: • N2O emissions based on an empirical model built from an analysis of over 800 global datasets. These datasets refine IPCC Tier 1 estimates of N2O emission by factoring in the guiding drivers of N2O emissions such as rate of N applied, soil texture, soil carbon, moisture and soil pH.

COMET is the official greenhouse gas quantification tool of USDA. COMET-Farm, and earlier versions of COMET, was developed through a partnership between NRCS and Colorado State University. COMET-Farm uses information on management practices on an operation together with spatially-explicit information on climate and soil conditions from USDA databases (which are provided automatically in the tool) to run a series of models that evaluate sources of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration. By integrating NRCS SSURGO database and site-specific climate data, locality-specific results are presented to COMET-Farm users.

Quick Carbon is a growing academic research initiative and protocol for rapidly assessing soil carbon contents across landscapes. Quick carbon creates an accessible measurement system that empowers individuals to generate reliable soils carbon data for the purpose of ecological understanding, decision making, and markets. By providing an inexpensive avenue for measuring soil carbon contents, Quick Carbon allows for researchers to collect hundreds of measurements across landscapes.

Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) is a simple free and open source software tool and mobile application developed by USDA/ARS that supports land use planning and management. It includes modules that allow non-soil scientists to (a) determine the sustainable potential of their land (LandInfo), (b) monitor the health of their land (LandCover and SoilHealth), and (c) record management activities (LandManagement). The land potential assessments will be updated based on new evidence regarding the success or failure of new management systems on different soils. The knowledge engine, together with mobile phone applications and cloud computing technologies, facilitate more rapid and complete integration of local and scientific knowledge into land management.

Our-Sci is a collaborative research platform that utilizes open source tools to create customizable surveys, collect data, and report and share results. Our-Sci’s expertise and knowledge on agricultural systems is vital to OpenTEAM’s operating systems. OpenTEAM is utilizing Our-Sci’s SurveyStack application as a customizable data collection tool to create surveys that can be directly integrated into FarmOS. 

FarmOS is a web-based application for farm management, planning, and record keeping. It is developed by a community of farmers, developers, researchers, and organizations with the aim of providing a standard, open source platform for agricultural data collection and management. OpenTEAM hubs will be using FarmOS to manage production records and agricultural research data.

An in depth look into our field methods can be found here.

OpenTEAM employs a number of in-field measurement tools, as well as economic and decision support tools. Specifically, OpenTEAM utilizes FarmOS, Our-Sci’s Survey Stack, the Land Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS), Quick Carbon, and OpTIS to enable location specific data on soil, climate, vegetation cover, and topography alongside observational and management records. COMET-Farm and Cool Farm Tool are used to quantify on-farm greenhouse gas emissions.