Workshop
I-FARM (Internet-Based, Farm Level Decision Making Tool) Demonstration and Tutorial
An Interactive Aerial Map on the I-Farm Web site
Workshop participants will be able to learn more about this free Internet-based simulation farm planning tool that helps users make decisions that are both environmentally responsible and financially sound. Up to 50 people can use I-Farm at one time to zoom in on land in 12 Midwestern states using interactive aerial maps. They can find out about soil quality, crop rotation, tillage, fertilization, planting, weed control, harvesting and residue removal. Users can also enter information about cattle, swine and dairy production including feed intake, growth rate, grazing or confinement operations, and manure management systems. This demonstration will be facilitated by Iowa state professor Rob Anex, former Iowa State professor Tom Richard, who is now at Pennsylvania State University and Iowa State I-Farm developer Ed Van Ouwerkerk.
Tom Richard 
Tom Richard started developing I-FARM at Iowa State several years ago as part of a tri-state, USDA funded collaboration with researchers at the University of Maine and Michigan State University. Richard is now continuing his work on the computerized model at Pennsylvania State University.
Richard incorporates the tools of industrial ecology to analyze systems and identify new applications for bioconversion processes. By examining mass and energy flows, he and his research group can identify critical bottlenecks and leaks and then transform them into economic and environmental opportunities for more sustainable agricultural and industrial development.
Rob Anex 
Rob Anex is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State. He combines methods from a variety of disciplines including engineering, industrial ecology, operations research, political science and economics in the analysis of coupled human-environmental systems. In broad terms, his research involves gaining an understanding of how trends in policy, production, consumption, and technology translate into environmental quality changes; and how we can guide such trends toward a sustainable future.
Ed Van Ouwerkerk 
Ed Van Ouwerkerk is an integrated agricultural systems specialist at Iowa State’s Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department. Before working on I-FARM, Van Ouwerkerk worked on climate and energy simulation software for animal husbandry and aquaculture. To view the I-FARM Web site, click here.