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Agroecosystem Management Program

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From the Ground Up

Farmer talks in field. Two other men and a grain silo are in the background
Farmer Scott Myers discusses the research that his project node is leading on their farms in northeast Ohio. Another local farmer and OSU Wooster researcher listen in the background.

Farmer-led, on-farm research 

What is FTGUp?

From The Ground Up (FTGUp) is a farmer-led research project working to improve the performance of conservation practices on Midwestern farms. For decades, agricultural research has been designed by researchers, tested in controlled settings, and results shared with farmers through extension networks.

This project turns that model on its head. Farmers have chosen research questions about conservation practices they want answered, and designed research protocols in collaboration with scientists to gather results on their own farms. They are measuring outcomes such as crop yield and pasture growth, forage quality, farm enterprise economics, soil health, and resilience in the face of extreme weather. Farmers have been put in the driving seat. They review agronomic, economic, and environmental research results and make decisions about research methods for each season.

FTGUp is led by 60+ farmers organized into ten farmer groups (called ‘nodes’) in Ohio and Missouri. They are supported by a Farmer Leadership Team, researchers and extension educators at The Ohio State University and Central State University in Ohio, the University of Missouri and Lincoln University in Missouri, and the non-profit Solutions from the Land.

FTGUp is lifting up the farmers' voices. When research starts with farmers, the results are more accurate and useful. You get real solutions.

Southwest Ohio Farmer, Donee Boykin

Farmer-led nodes are testing the impacts of...

  • using cover crops on weeds, soil health, and specialty crop quality 

  • different fungicide use patterns on agronomic, economic, and energy outcomes 

  • harvesting vs. plowing down legumes on soil health and yield in a complex, organic rotation 

  • harvesting triticale for forage vs. terminating a traditional cover crop on soil health and yield 

  • planting small-seeded diverse cover crops into standing soybeans and corn on soil health and yield 

  • seed treatments (green lightning or vermicompost tea) on growth of broadcast annual warm-season cover crops in pasture. 

  • alternative soil amendments (Texas Pasture Plus, worm castings, urea and a control) on soil health, pasture yield and forage quality 

  • wheat, rye or oats winter cover on soil health and yield in a corn/soybean rotation 

  • using daikon radish cover crop on water infiltration and soil compaction in specialty crops 

  • liming and alternative mid summer fescue management techniques (mow, roll/crimp, trample) on pasture yield, quality, and soil health 

We’ve got the neighbors coming by and wanting to know what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and why we’re doing that.

Southwest Missouri Rancher, Mike Kaiser
Garden boots, work boots, and Western boots, with the words From the Ground Up

Want to learn more? 

Project Director: Douglas Jackson-Smith | jackson-smith.1@osu.edu | 330-202-3540

Project Manager: Alex Jefferies | jefferies.37@osu.edu | 330-263-8066

Get Social with Us: Find us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, & YouTube @ftgupproject