Testing Ag Performance Solutions Helps Farmers Master Precision Agriculture, Boost Profitability, and Accelerate Technology Adoption
Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) or TAPS programs offer a unique blend of research, education, competition, and riskfree experimentation.
TAPS competitions can transform how participants think about irrigation, nitrogen, risk, and profitability. If you are considering adopting new technology or precision agriculture techniques, TAPS could be a good option for you.
Here is a look at some of their advantages.
1. RealWorld, HighFidelity Testing Without Financial Risk
Farmers design management strategies while university research farms execute operations—a lowrisk environment that allows participants to try new tools, technologies, and crop management strategies without risking their own acres or capital.
2. HandsOn Precision Agriculture Experience
Participants gain exposure to:
This exposure builds comfort with technology adoption, which CSUTAPS participants describe as a major benefit.
3. DataDriven DecisionMaking Skill Development
TAPS participants receive realtime field data and endofseason datasets that help them refine their irrigation, fertility, and marketing strategies. Programs explicitly reward:
These metrics push participants toward smarter, more sustainable production decisions.
4. Unique Collaborative Learning Environment
TAPS brings together:
This multistakeholder model forms a collaborative ecosystem aimed at improving water use, nutrient management, and sustainable profitability.
5. Accelerated Research-to-Field Transfer
Because TAPS competitions operate on actual working fields, they serve as a bridge between university research and operational agriculture. MSU describes TAPS as a “powerful bridge between research and practice.”
6. Supports ClimateSmart, WaterEfficient Agriculture
NRCS-backed TAPS initiatives specifically target irrigation efficiency, water conservation, and climatesmart agricultural practices across multiple states.
7. Builds Confidence in Emerging Technologies
Producers repeatedly report increased comfort with new technologies after TAPS participation, making TAPS an effective vehicle for technology adoption.
Michigan State University (MSU) recently launched its own Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) program—an innovative, realworld, interactive farm management competition that puts producers in the driver’s seat to test management decisions, technologies, and strategies under authentic production conditions. According to MSU Extension, the program is modeled after successful TAPS programs at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), Colorado State University (CSU), and Kansas State University (KSU).
The MSUTAPS program allows participants to manage real plots at the Kellogg Biological Station, making decisions on irrigation scheduling, nitrogen applications, fungicides, and more—all while MSU implements their decisions on the research farm using precision equipment such as variablerate irrigation with fertigation and chemigation capability.
Several Universities offer TAPS programs. Below is an overview of where TAPS programs currently operate and what advantages they offer.
1. University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNLTAPS)
UNL is one of the original founders of the TAPS concept. It runs multiple farmmanagement competitions, including sprinkler corn, sorghum, winter wheat, and SDI (subsurface drip irrigation) contests.
2. Kansas State University (KSUTAPS)
KSU has expanded the TAPS model in western Kansas, focusing strongly on irrigation and inputuse efficiency. Participants make decisions on seed, seeding rate, insurance, irrigation timing/amounts, nitrogen management, and marketing.
3. Colorado State University (CSUTAPS)
Hosted at CSU’s ARDEC research farm, the program engages teams who make six core production decisions (hybrid, seeding rate, insurance, irrigation, nitrogen, marketing) implemented on randomized replicated plots with variablerate irrigation.
4. Michigan State University (MSUTAPS)
MSU launched its TAPS program in 2026, providing Michigan farmers handson access to advanced precisionag technologies and fieldscale decisionmaking opportunities. It is built on the Nebraska/Colorado/Kansas model.
5. TAPS Network Partners (MultiState Expansion)
According to the Irrigation Innovation Consortium and TAPS Network, additional development or support for TAPS is underway or active in:
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