Educational Resources

The OpenTEAM community views agriculture as a shared human endeavor with the goal of providing everyone with the best possible, site-specific, and data-driven agricultural knowledge to improve soil health. Increasing carbon sequestration, water infiltration, and ultimately creating a more resilient agriculture starts with improving soil health.

• NRCS: Soil Health 
• Soil Health Institute
• Soil Carbon Coalition
• NACD Soil Health Champions Network
• OATS
• NE Cover Crops Council

Research

• Gold Standard for the Global Goals – Land Use Forests Activity Requirements
• Gold Standard for the Global Goals – Soil Organic Carbon Framework Methodolgy.pdf
• Gold Standard for the Global Goals – Guidelines for the Development of SOC Activity ModulesA component or module is a discrete portion of a tool that has a particular function. Components can be assembled in different combinations to create hacks or tools. The larger the library of components, the more “genetic” diversity to choose from when creating new tools or h….pdf
• Methodology Webinar

Field Methods and Protocols

• Introducing the North American project to evaluate soil health measurements

OpenTEAM utilizes a suite of open sourceOpen source is a publicly accessible software design that can be modified and shared by multiple users. This allows the source code to be inspected and enhanced by anyone. Because open source utilizes multiple collaborators, it allows for more control, increased security and stab… technologies that offers digital management records, field-level carbon measurement, remote sensing, predictive analytics, as well as input and economic management decision support in a connected platform.

• Tech Preview recording – A 45 minute webinar highlighting how LandPKS, SurveyStack, and FarmOS is integrated into OpenTEAM’s platform.
• LandPKSThe 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 … – A planning and management tool to collect, share, and interpret soil, vegetation cover, and management data. 
• Our-Sci –  A collaborative research platform that utilizes open source tools to create customizable surveys, collect data, and report and share results.
• FarmOSA free and open-source web-based farm management and record keeping system that also provides a platform for the creation of custom modules and integration across decision tools, observation tools and agricultural internet of things devices. – A free and open-source web-based farm management, planning, and record keeping system.
• Quick CarbonQuick 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 u… – A growing academic research initiative and protocol for rapidly assessing soil carbon contents across landscapes. 
• COMET Farm –  A tool to support conservation scenario analysis and greenhouse gas inventories at the farm level for cropland, grazing lands, livestock, forestry, and agroforestry.
• Cool Farm ToolThe 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 f… – An online calculator that enables farmers to measure their greenhouse gas emissions, and understand mitigation options for agricultural production.
• Dagan – Utilizes satellite data and soil process models to deliver accurate, low-cost, and accessible soil health insights to agricultural stakeholders to support sustainable farming practices worldwide.
• Heartland – A science and technology group devoted to solving technical challenges by engaging in scientific research and engineering development.
• In-Depth Web Series – Hosted by Gathering for Open Agriculture Technology (GOAT), this web series of 29 videos, and counting, highlights organizations working on open ag software and hardware.

Open source software development is centered around transparency, collaboration, inclusivity, and community. OpenTEAM collaborates with a number of open source communities.

• Gathering for Open Science HardwareThe Global Open Science Hardware (GOSH) movement seeks to reduce barriers between diverse creators and users of scientific tools to support the pursuit and growth of knowledge.  GOSH principles are: be accessible, make science better, be ethical, change the culture of science, d… (GOSH)
• Gathering for Open Agricultural Technology (GOAT)
• Farm HackFarm Hack is a community of collaborators interested in developing and sharing open-source tools for resilient agriculture. Individuals and organizations, nonprofits and businesses alike are invited to participate in the platform for community-based sharing and collaborative rese… More

Building upon participatory action research, OpenTEAM utilizes a human centered designHuman-centered design is a design and management framework that develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process. Human-centered design builds upon participatory action research by moving beyond participants’ involvemen… approach to receive and implement feedback and support improvements to our suite of technologies.

IDEO’s What is Human Centered Design

The OpenTEAM community is made up of a diversity of global farms and ranches that includes hubOpenTEAM Hubs will serve as a primary testing ground for the OpenTEAM platform, and their experience and feedback will inform OpenTEAM’s user interface design and calibration of the tools that are part of the OpenTEAM platform. Hubs are a center for a representative group of fa… farms and supply chain stakeholders.

• Stonyfield
• Caney Fork Farm
• Paicines Ranch
• General Mills
• Michigan State University’s Global Change Learning Lab
• University of British Columbia’s Center for Sustainable Food Systems 
• Quivira Coalition
• Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture
• ALUS Canada
• Million Acre Challenge
• Mad Agriculture
• Soil Health Partnership
• Organic Valley

The OpenTEAM Community connects participants within its network to ecosystem service market initiatives to offer interested community members with direct access to the carbon marketplace and the organizations that have grown the knowledge-base surrounding emissions trading.

• Regen Network
• Nori
• Ecosystem Service Market Consortium

OpenTEAM is committed to providing the open source community with access to timely agricultural data and strives to cultivate an equitable and safe online space for data sharing. OpenTEAM provides guidelines for data ownership and use to ensure the privacy of everyone in our community.

• Conference webinar: Big Data Promises and Obstacles: Agricultural Data and Privacy
• Webinar: Cultivating Trust in Technology-Mediated Sustainable Agricultural Research by Ankita Raturi, Purdue University

OpenTEAM is a collaborative network supporting the emergence and continued viability of a global food system that is a resilient driver of  healthy soil, healthy food for all, and racial equity to support thriving communities.

• 2017 Census of Agriculture, USDA
• Black Farmers in America, 1865 – 2000, The Pursuit of Independent Farming and the Role of Cooperatives
• Who Owns the Land? Agricultural Land Ownership by Race/Ethnicity. Jess Gilbert, Spencer Wood, Gwen Sharp
• Spatial Supermarket Redlining by Mengyao Zhang and Gohosh Debarchana
• Business Case for Racial Equity W.K. Kellogg Foundation
• Food Solutions New England Racial Equity Challenge
• Facts: Racial Economic Inequality
• Open Rivers Podcast on diversity and barriers in agriculture with Dr. LakIsha Odom