Dr. Dorn Cox
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Open Technology Ecosystem for Agricultural Management (OpenTEAM)
Generating Soil Health Solutions
Program Contact
Dr. LaKisha Odom
lodom@foundationfar.org
FFAR award amount $5,000,000
Year Awarded 2021
Total award amount $10,000,000
Location Freeport, Maine
Matching Funders The Stonyfield Foundation and Stonyfield Organic
- Soil Health
Current decision-making software does not transfer across platforms
Currently, farmers are faced with an ever-expanding assortment of decision-making software; however, these tools often do not “communicate” with each other, making it difficult to transfer, share or use by farmers and scientists or in supply chains. With OpenTEAM, farmers are not only in control of their own data, but also able to enter data once to access all available tools in the OpenTEAM collaborative.
Why this research is important
OpenTEAM offers field-level carbon measurement, digital management records, remote sensing, predictive analytics and input and economic management decision support in a connected platform that reduces the need for farmer data entry while improving access to a wide array of tools. The platform will support adaptive soil health management for farms of all scales, geographies and production systems. OpenTEAM will also accelerate scientific understanding of soil health by providing more high-quality data to researchers collaborating on the project.
Details About this Research
Wolfe’s Neck Center will coordinate OpenTEAM from its headquarters on more than 600 acres of conserved landscape and farmland on the coast of Maine. Implementation and demonstration will begin in fall 2019. Field testing will continue in the 2020 growing season across the U.S. and international hub farm networks.
This Research Combats Climate Change
Optimizing soil management practices not only improves soil health, but also protects the environment. At scale, OpenTEAM can improve soil management practices for farmers around the globe and mitigate the effects of climate change.
How This Research Contributes To FFAR’s Mission
Over half of greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. We need to pair researchers and farmers together to create effective conservation tools that help farms reduce their emissions and sequester more carbon. OpenTEAM enables farmers to make data-driven decisions and track their progress.
