Building an on-farm research framework to rapidly respond to farmers’ needs

At its best, on-farm research enables timely fact gathering to facilitate improved farm- level decision-making. The Ohio State University eFields program was created in 2017 to create a community of researchers, farmers, and agriculture professionals who are driven to learn through applied research and share knowledge. The eFields team was approached by farmers with questions about the value of soil health testing. Thus, in 2020, an eFields soil health trial was initiated. It demonstrates the benefits of an on-farm research framework that can enable quick responses to emerging needs, mobilize a network of research partners, and deliver results that are useful and timely. Since 2020, the eFields team has collected soil health samples from 376 fields across Ohio and has shared knowledge about the value of soil health tests, the impact of management on soil health, and the connection between soil health and yield.