Since local farmers are the back-bone of I/O’s
organization, the project is actively recruiting farmers who have Land Trusts to join our co-creative and
distributed research park. Interested local farmers who don’t have a Land Trust
are also encouraged to join. Our methodology is simple. In partnership with I/O,
local farmers lend their field to us for a period of two triennial growing seasons
and three consecutive winter seasons. We provide the seed, and local farmers
grow the oats. The oats are winter-killed with a cover crop of red clover in
the first winter season, then grown to harvest the following spring. A second
planting can occur in the fall, field permitting. I/O provides the market for
the oats through our own branding via FarmLead. Local farmers are compensated
for any lost or unsaleable crop. The current corn/soy rotation is still permissible
in the following two seasons. Farmers are asked to record and submit data on
these growing seasons as well. During the oat growing seasons, I/O monitors the
field conditions remotely in order effectively to retrieve data about in situ
climatic variations and growing irregularities. Local farmers, if they desire,
contribute to the I/O’s work throughout the enterprise: at the Danforth Plant
Science in genetic sequencing workshops and job training, through product
development, and in the development of management strategies. We want the
farmers of today, and future farmers, equipped to handle the crops and climate
of tomorrow.