
New Software Could Help on Farm and Ranch DecisionsBy Hank Becker January
28, 1998A new computer program will give Great Plains farmers and ranchers new
insight into the economic and environmental effects of their management
decisions as much as 10 years into the future. The program, called a "decision support system," is named
GPFARM. That's
short for Great Plains Framework for Agricultural Resource Management. Agricultural Research Service scientists
in Fort Collins, Colo., developed GPFARM in collaboration with colleagues at
Colorado State University. The ARS scientists say GPFARM is the first agricultural decision support
software program of its kind designed to run under the Microsoft Windows 95
operating system. Scientists are beta-testing a prototype with about 30
farmers, agricultural consultants and USDA action agencies. They hope to
release Version 1.0 to users in September. The program will be available free of
charge on CD-ROM or via the Internet. GPFARM will let managers design and compare alternative farming and
ranching strategies on the computer before implementing them in the field. It
could lead to better decisions--economically as well as environmentally--on
applying water, fertilizers and pesticides to crop land. GPFARM works by simulating biological, chemical and physical interactions of
soils, crops, animals and climate, taking into account how customized management
decisions affect these interactions. It also simulates how management decisions
will affect soil productivity, animal production and wind and water erosion. Simulation results are displayed as narrative text, tables and two- and
three-dimensional graphics. Using GPFARM, a typical desktop personal computer
purchased in the past couple of years can produce an average farm or ranch
analysis in 30 minutes or less. GPFARM has built-in databases for soils, land use, climate, chemicals and
management. Users provide site-specific data for a particular farm or ranch
operation. Scientific contact: Lajpat R. Ahuja,
Great Plains Systems
Research Unit, Fort Collins, CO 80522, phone (970) 490-8315, fax (970)
490-8310, [email protected] U.S. Department of Agriculture | |