Layers of Field Data to Enable Better Crop Management

Improved management of crop systems will be necessary to meet the challenge of sustainably feeding the world. However, the complexity of biotic and abiotic factors and their interactions which may impact crop production on a field continues to be uncovered. That complexity is also dynamic adding to the challenge for the grower. Growers develop experience and assemble information on crop management but have had limited tools to bring the relevant information into context. The opportunity is before us to describe the phytobiome of the field more completely to both enable growers to make better decisions and enable the application of analytical tools. Complexity can be represented to a grower in a manner that enables direct intuitive management decisions. The richness of that complexity can also feed the analytical engines that will produce recommendations for improved management.