Producers, Decision Support Systems, and GPFARM: Lessons Learned From a Decade of Development

In the Great Plains, there has been a recognized need for a systems modeling approach for sustainable agricultural research and development. Central to meeting the challenge of delivering viable decision support software, the USDA-ARS Great Plains Systems Research Unit (GPSRU), in a collaborative effort with Colorado State University (CSU), developed the Great Plains Framework for Agricultural Resource Management (GPFARM) DSS. The general purpose of GPFARM is to serve as a wholefarm/ranch DSS in strategic planning across the Great Plains. GPFARM runs on a field-by-field basis (with aggregation up to the whole-farm/ranch level), and provides production, economic and environmental impact analysis and site-specific database generation, from which alternative agricultural management systems can be tested and compared. Agricultural consultants and producers (both farmers and ranchers) were targeted as the primary users of GPFARM. User requirements were identified by an ARS customer focus group comprised of eastern Colorado farmers, ranchers, agricultural consultants, and NRCS and extension professionals. The GPFARM DSS is primarily composed of six major components: 1) a Microsoft Windows-based graphical user interface; 2) Microsoft Access databases containing soil, crop, weed, climate, equipment, chemical, and economic parameters; 3) an objectoriented modeling framework and science simulation model; 4) a stand-alone economic analysis tool; 5) a set of analysis tools including a multicriteria decision making module, an output visualization module, and summary report tables and graphs; and 6) a web-based information system. Thus, GPFARM is unique in that it brings together the above suite of decision support tools integrated across a whole-farm/ranch system.