An On-Farm experimental philosophy for farmer-centric digital innovation

In this paper, we review learnings gained from early On-Farm Experiments (OFE) conducted in the broad acre Australian grain industry from the 1990s to the present day. Although the initiative was originally centered around the possibilities of new data and analytics in precision agriculture, we discovered that OFEs could represent a platform for engaging farmers around digital technologies and innovation. Insight from interacting closely with farmers and advisors leads us to argue for a change in the ways we approach OFE research. Acknowledging that conditions have changed and drawing from business and social sciences, we suggest that OFE approaches today should develop aspects related to skill development, value generation and value sharing, the social dimension of change, and a renewed focus on farmer-centric research to better bridge industry requirements and scientist inputs.