Our research into field testing networks and their role in driving innovation revealed wide alignment around the importance of closely involving farmers in the innovation process, with on-farm field trial data in real-world production settings carrying significant weight with farmers as they evaluate new technologies and practices and adopt them in their operations. We conducted a detailed survey of existing on-farm field testing programs, from which we extracted several key insights about what is working well and where opportunities lie to improve and expand access. Expanded access to high-quality, affordable, on-farm field testing with farmers has the potential to greatly accelerate the pace of new technology development and adoption, and we present several concrete opportunities for how the industry could foster the creation of these opportunities. We also uncovered strong interest from farmers in engaging with new technology startups early, potentially as investors in, and/or advisors to, startups to help them tackle the right problems and gain access to valuable farmer insights and field testing environments, as well as to reward farmers financially. We present several specific opportunities to create this connectivity between farmers and the venture capital/innovation ecosystem along with details on how these models could be structured.

This project generated concrete options for how the industry can expand farmers' role in supporting startup innovation to tackle key problems that farmers face. If implemented, these options can accelerate the pace at which new technologies come to market, technologies that stand to improve farmer efficiency and profitability, and in some cases grow the demand for US soybean products.