DAWN Project Launches First Phase of an Innovative, Web-based Decision-support Tool

The DAWN tools will enable producers and specialists to improve water use and nutrient management in agricultural operations

March 8, 2023 – The team coordinating the Dashboard for Agricultural Water Use and Nutrient Management (DAWN) Project is seeking farmers and agricultural advisors to provide feedback on newly-launched decision support tools. During Phase 1, the DAWN team wants to work closely with corn and soybean producers. The DAWN website can be accessed at dawn.umd.edu. Agricultural producers can explore the DAWN web tools and also, sign up for the newsletter which provides opportunities for surveys and focus groups in the coming months.

DAWN offers farmers more precise, field-scale outlooks – up to nine months in the future – that are linked to web-based, decision support tools. The first round of tools available on the project website include tracking growing degree days and predicting corn growth over the course of the current season.

“DAWN will help farmers plan their annual crop cycle with more precise information,” said project lead Dr. Xin-Zhong Liang, a professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the University of Maryland with a joint appointment in the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC). “We are providing tools through DAWN to optimize decision-making based on local and regional information.”

For more information, visit https://news.essic.umd.edu/dawn/