goCrop

Name: goCrop
Author: University of Vermont

University of Vermont

DOCUMENTED

Published in academic literature

For:Industry Professionals

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App Summary

goCrop is a farm management tool for crop and livestock farmers to simplify planning and record-keeping for activities like nutrient application and harvests. The associated research describes how the app, developed by the University of Vermont Extension, captures the data needed to calculate key ecosystem performance metrics like phosphorus runoff risk, forming the basis for a "pay-for-performance" environmental incentive program. The authors conclude that this integration of farm management and environmental reporting provides a flexible tool that can help farmers demonstrate stewardship and potentially diversify their revenue streams.

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Detailed Description

Functionality & Mechanism Developed by the University of Vermont Extension, goCrop is a nutrient management and farm record-keeping system. The platform integrates mobile and web applications to capture in-field operational data, including tillage, nutrient applications, planting, and harvest activities. This information synchronizes with a central database, enabling access to comprehensive nutrient management plans for operational decision-making. The interface is designed to streamline the documentation of complex agricultural practices and facilitate data reporting for regulatory or incentive programs.

Evidence & Research Context

The system was developed to assist farmers in creating and maintaining comprehensive nutrient management plans (NMPs) required for regulatory compliance.
Associated research describes the platform's capacity to capture data for calculating ecosystem performance metrics, including phosphorus balances and field-level nutrient loss risk.
The application is positioned as a foundational data collection tool for a proposed Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) program in Vermont.
Its infrastructure is designed to support pay-for-performance models that can reward verifiable environmental outcomes, such as reduced nutrient runoff.

Intended Use & Scope This system is intended for crop and livestock farm operators and agricultural managers. Its primary utility is to facilitate nutrient management planning, operational record-keeping, and data aggregation for environmental stewardship programs. The application serves as a data management tool and does not replace the need for professional agronomic consultation or conservation planning expertise.

Studies & Publications

1 publication

Peer-reviewed research associated with this app.

Development/Design Paper

Payment for Ecosystem Services for Vermont

Hammond Wagner et al. (2019)

Describes the research-driven development of this app

The goCrop™ application, developed by the University of Vermont (UVM) Extension, is an essential tool for farm management and nutrient planning that serves as a cornerstone for Vermont's proposed Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) program. Originally designed to assist farmers in completing comprehensive nutrient management plans (NMPs), the software holds much of the critical data required to calculate key ecosystem performance metrics, such as phosphorus (P) balances and field P loss risk. By leveraging this existing digital infrastructure, the goCrop platform streamlines the process of data collection and entry, making it an ideal interface for reporting the measurable environmental gains required for performance-based incentive payments. The app's role in the proposed PES model is to facilitate a "pay-for-performance" approach, which rewards farmers for quantifiable environmental outcomes—such as reduced nutrient runoff—rather than just the adoption of specific practices. Because goCrop is already non-proprietary and widely supported by the UVM Extension, it provides a trusted and accessible environment for farmers to manage their operations while simultaneously identifying opportunities to provide public benefits like water quality improvement and carbon sequestration. By integrating the app into the PES workflow, program administrators can more efficiently verify farm-level data, while farmers gain a flexible, innovative tool that helps diversify their revenue streams and demonstrates their role as stewards of the state's ecosystem

In the Media

Extension Professor Heather Darby Receives the 2023 Hubert W. Vogelmann Award

University of Vermont Extension Professor Heather Darby developed goCrop, an online nutrient management tool that helps dairy farmers with crop production decisions and soil management. Darby "gained national attention through her development of goCrop" as part of her pioneering work in sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship. She received the 2023 Hubert W. Vogelmann Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship, becoming the first Extension professor at UVM to receive this honor.

UvmRead article

Grant updates goCrop software tools

University of Vermont Extension developed goCrop to help dairy and livestock farmers create nutrient management plans that optimize fertilizer applications and improve soil health, using cloud-based mobile technology originally created in 2012. Thanks to a USDA-NRCS grant, the software will add a Whole Farm Nutrient Balance Calculator and Economic Cover Crop Calculator by 2018. More than 300 Vermont farmers have already used goCrop to track soil and nutrient data through the mobile app.

MorningagclipsRead article