Why This Matters

Farmers barely know us – and aren’t sure they can trust us.

NASA Acres is working with farmers, ranchers, and foresters to make sure space-based science supports everyday decisions on the ground. But right now, most producers don’t know what NASA has to offer. A 2024 survey we conducted with Trust in Food (A Farm Journal Initiative) and Ag Data Transparent revealed that more than 2 in 3 farmers have little or no awareness of NASA’s agricultural support, and only.  

We want to close that gap, and we have a chance through NASA Acres.

Our Approach At a Glance:

Learn More about Our Trust Infrastructure:

Cultivating Relationships

Farming communities run on trust, and we can’t earn it if we don’t take the time to get to know know one another. Like much of America these days, many researchers have never set foot on a farm or ranch. We don’t know what we don’t know, and we can’t answer questions we haven’t been asked. 

All of our boots-on-the-ground engagement emphasizes experiential learning and listening. We bring NASA researchers face-to-face with farmers through our Farm Innovation Ambassador Team (FIAT), through our Space For Agriculture Tours, and through attending farming conventions where the most common question we get is, “what is NASA doing in agriculture?”

Deepening Understanding

Satellites can tell us a lot about agriculture - but they can’t tell us what farmers want, what they think about NASA, or why it is they do or do not collaborate with researchers.

Through in-person visits and surveys, we ask farmers about their operations, about what their pain points are, and about what their priorities are for the long-term stewardship of their land. We hear about their past experiences with research collaboration, and about what collaborations would need to look like for them to feel secure and in the driver’s seat. Some key things we learned through 2024 Survey of >1000 farmers that we conducted through Trust in Food (A Farm Journal Initiative). 

Some good news:

52% →  Agreed that “satellite data would be valuable to my farm”

70% → Are open to or enthusiastic about working with NASA

NASA Acres work addresses their top priorities (Figure)

Places to Improve

70% → Had little to no awareness of NASA’s work in agriculture
(only) 28% → Know how to use satellite data

(only) 27% → View the benefits of sharing their ag data as worth the risks 

Setting the Rules of Engagement

If only 27% of farmers who responded to that survey view sharing their data as worth the risk, we have to reduce the risk. 

Collaborating with Todd Janzen and Ag Data Transparent, and with the support of their board members, we co-developed our NASA Acres 13 Core Principles for Agricultural Data Use. These can be adapted into legal agreements for data use that the independent researchers who make up NASA Acres can put into action with the farmers they engage.

Protecting Data Privacy

We’ve built relationships and cultivated trust. We’ve deepened our understanding. We’ve set up legal agreements that set the rules for how we’ll work together. 

That’s often enough. But, sometimes it isn’t. For those circumstances, we’ve built privacy-protecting computational systems that safeguard privacy while unlocking innovation that comes when you combine satellite and farm data

Now, learn about the benefits of satellite data for agriculture