We need to try a lot of approaches quickly. Small plots are the best way to do that. After gathering ideas from farmers, we’ll test those ideas in small plots, then work to take the best performers to the farm.
1. Use of a farmer board to choose treatments for small-plot experiments. This collects the ideas from people who are thinking about the problem and who know which solutions could be practical and which could not.
2. Testing 20 to 30 approaches. Most cover crop experiments have used no more than 6 to 10 approaches.
3. Opening the door to a range of both cover crop species and management approaches (for the cover crop and for the following corn).
4. Evaluating soil protection level.