Project Number: 5402-66000-006-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Aug 06, 2008
End Date: Sep 30, 2008

Objective:
1)Develop a national integrated Farm And Ranch Decision Support System (iFARM DSS)based on GPFARM (Great Plains Framework for Agricultural Resource Management) for both strategic and tactical management to maximize economic returns and minimize environmental impacts on farms and ranches. 2)Extend iFARM DSS to: a) include risk assessment and management for variable and extreme weather, production and marketing uncertainty, and insect, disease, and weed problems; and b) target global climate change issues in the areas of carbon sequestration/credits and greenhouse gas emissions. 3)Apply DSS on selected farms and ranches for whole-farm strategic and tactical management, risk assessment of alternative management practices, and global climate change issues such as carbon sequestration/credits and greenhouse gas emissions to demonstrate feasibility of approach. Transfer technology to potential users.

Approach:
The Great Plains Systems Research Unit team recently delivered the whole farm/ranch Great Plains Framework for Agricultural Resource Management (GPFARM) DSS for longterm strategic planning in the central Great Plains. GPFARM cooperators requested an enhanced DSS to allow seasonal tactical planning and management of their operations based on climatic and price fluctuations, and other risk factors. The new CRIS project will extend and expand GPFARM into a regional Integrated Farm and Ranch DSS (iFARM DSS) for both strategic and tactical planning/management that will include climate, market, and natural-hazard risks, as well as carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions. New science modules and technologies will be introduced into the DSS for this purpose (e.g., a crop module that responds better to water/N/heat stresses and a module to account for carbon and greenhouse gases). Other new modules will be developed for management effects on soil, economic and environmental risk assessment, and estimation of field-scale model parameters. New crops and managements will be added for expansion into the northern and southern Great Plains, and the Midwest. DSS components will be tested on experimental data and the whole DSS evaluated across selected farms and ranches. The outcome of this research will be a validated iFARM DSS for use by farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, and NRCS in strategic/tactical management and by scientists in research.