USDA Announces National Proving Grounds Network

In early April, the Department of Agriculture created the USDA National Proving Grounds Network for Ag-Tech (NPG-Ag) to evaluate agricultural technology in real-world farming and ranching conditions. This initiative is designed to coordinate the validation of emerging technologies, with the goal of sharing more information with producers and accelerating adoption of the latest innovations. “By establishing a coordinated national research network to objectively validate new and emerging technologies, especially digital and AI-driven technologies, we are helping ensure row crop, specialty crop, and livestock producers all have access to reliable performance data for their investment decisions with a goal to accelerate adoption of AgTech innovations,” said Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics Dr. Scott Hutchins. “Moreover, we fully expect that NPG-Ag will expand and facilitate the development and application of emerging technologies across the public and private sector to uniquely benefit U.S. agriculture.”

USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will lead the implementation of this initiative. Grand Farm, a North Dakota-headquartered AgTech ecosystem and innovation testbed, will serve as the USDA’s National Program Manager, while land-grant universities across the country will serve as primary research and testing partners.

Agricultural technology companies are invited to enroll their products with Grand Farm when the request portal is opened to the public. For more information, visit the USDA National Proving Grounds Network for AgTech website.