Researchers at University of Illinois, led by Kaiyu Guan (Chief Scientist at NASA Acres) have developed a tool to help Illinois corn farmers optimize nitrogen (N) fertilizer use. The Maximum Return To Nitrogen (MRTN) Tool uses data on N fertilizer response and prices to help farmers apply only what’s needed, improving returns and reducing environmental impact.

NASA Harvest and NASA Acres, two pioneering NASA Consortia focused on food security and agriculture at global and domestic scales, respectively, recently showcased their groundbreaking contributions at the Joint NASA and USDA Seeds to Satellites exposition. The event held at the Rayburn Building in Washington, DC, served as a platform for highlighting how remotely-sensed Earth observations play a pivotal role in agriculture monitoring and in supporting food security initiatives and policies.

Earlier this spring, 8 early-career professionals with the NASA DEVELOP Program joined the NASA Acres team at Colorado State University (CSU) to complete 10-week feasibility studies focused on developing use cases for the application of satellite Earth observations (EO) for rangeland and ranch management. Tony Vorster, a research scientist in Warner College’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL), is the primary investigator for the NASA Acres work at CSU that the studies contributed to.

On Tuesday, April 23, NASA Acres and NASA Earth Science leadership traveled to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus, a top agricultural research institution, as a part of NASA’s annual Space for Agriculture Listening Tour. The Illinois tour included an Earth Science and Agricultural Research Symposium, a two-hour roundtable discussion, and a visit to UIUC’s 320-acre Energy Farm.

Over the last decade, the potential of satellite-based Earth observation (EO) data for farmers is growing with the rich information it can reveal - frequently, and over large areas - about the conditions of vegetation, water, and soil that the naked eye cannot see. However, the direct value that it brings to farmers within their own operations is mediated by the degree to which farmers share their on-farm data with EO innovators and analysts. At the same time, collecting and sharing farmer data for research projects raises concerns about privacy and security for farmers, as they may worry about how their personal and operational information will be used and protected, and whether it might be vulnerable to breaches or misuse. This is why Ag Data Transparent (ADT) has partnered with NASA Acres to develop a set of guiding principles to be used for managing farm data in their research. These principles aim to promote beneficial and safe data collection, sharing, and use that prioritize farmers' well-being while unlocking the value of satellite data for farmers.