Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Education and Training: decision support system, workshop
- Production Systems: holistic management
Proposal summary:
Producers in the Eastern Sierra operate in one of the most remote and input-limited agricultural regions in California. Farms here sit on alluvial fans above the valley floor, where shallow, variable, and often rocky soils change dramatically within just a few yards. Access to commercial-scale amendments, technical support, and specialized consultants is extremely limited due to geographic isolation, high transportation costs, and long distances to suppliers. These conditions make it essential for farmers to rely on precise, site-specific data-not generalized recommendations-to guide decisions about soil health, fertility, irrigation efficiency, and long-term orchard management. By developing and demonstrating a tree-level GIS data system, this project directly supports producers' ability to understand their own land and adapt regenerative practices to real conditions.
The central research question is: Can a low-cost GIS-linked data platform enable farmers to collect, visualize, and interpret regenerative orchard data in a way that improves decision-making and on-farm sustainability?
The project will install durable unique-ID tags on approximately 1,000 orchard trees linking them to a digital database that stores soil, tree, and management information. Regenerative practices-compost/mulch, cover crops, and organic foliar sprays-will be used as test scenarios demonstrating how the system captures differences in soil organic matter, infiltration, leaf nutrients, fruit set, and tree vigor across management zones.
The significance of this work lies in providing producers with a replicable, practical, and intuitive data system that strengthens their capacity for farmer-led research and adaptive management. Expected outcomes include improved soil and plant health literacy, adoption of low-cost data-collection methods, and enhanced understanding of how regenerative practices function in diverse orchard environments.
Results will be shared through three on-farm field days and a Farmer Toolkit that includes GIS setup instructions, data templates, sampling guides, and example spatial summaries. All materials will be freely available online to support regional adoption.
Project objectives from proposal:
Research Objectives
Objective 1 - By implementing a GIS tracking system across the orchard using QGIS, determine time and human resources needed to manage and maintain data tracking on a per tree and management block basis to inform adoption by other growers via the creation of a Farm Toolkit.
Objective 2 - Use QGIS symbology, static maps, and attribute tables to visualize soil and tree responses to regenerative ag practices. Make the non-sensitive version of the GIS database publicly accessible so other growers can learn from the system.
Educational Objectives
Objective 1 - Demonstrate how to build a farmer-led GIS orchard map (April 2027)
Specific: Teach producers how to assign tree IDs, map trees in QGIS, and set up attribute tables.
Measurable: At least 25 participants attend the first field day; 100 Toolkit downloads.
Achievable: All methods use free tools and simple workflows.
Relevant: GIS mapping is the backbone of spatial regenerative management.
Time-bound: Completed during the first project season.
Objective 2 - Train producers to track regenerative practices using GIS layers (April 2028)
Specific: Show producers how to create GIS layers for compost, mulch, cover crops, foliar zones, and soil sampling points.
Measurable: Participants complete Western SARE surveys documenting increased confidence in applying GIS mapping to regenerative management.
Time-bound: Delivered during mid-project field day (Summer 2027).
Objective 3 - Share project results and spatial trend maps with growers and the community (May 2029)
Specific: Present annual maps showing spatial changes in soil and tree metrics and make the public GIS database accessible online.
Measurable: Three field days held; final Toolkit published; at least 150 online engagements.
Time-bound: Final field day and materials produced by end of 2028.