Crop planning software for small diversified farms

View the project final report

Commodities

• Agronomic: barley, canola, corn, millet, oats, potatoes, rapeseed, rye, spelt, soybeans, sugarbeets, wheat
• Fruits: melons
• Vegetables: sweet potatoes, artichokes, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucurbits, eggplant, garlic, greens (leafy), onions, parsnips, peas (culinary), peppers, rutabagas, sweet corn, tomatoes, turnips, brussel sprouts
• Additional Plants: herbs, ornamentals

Practices

• Crop Production: continuous cropping, cover crops, double cropping, intercropping, multiple cropping
• Education and Training: demonstration, display, extension, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research, workshop
• Production Systems: general crop production
• Soil Management: green manures
• Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures

Current crop planning software is based on computer spreadsheets that lack flexibility for small-scale diversified farms. The lack of a flexible plan, on a spreadsheet that is cumbersome to maintain, can cause growers to have plantings slip off schedule, leading to gaps and erratic supplies of produce for marketing. This project will create an interactive software package that will allow growers to manipulate complex, involved crop plans. Outreach will be through articles, a web site, and several workshops throughout the Northeast.