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AgroCycle

NASA Space Apps 2026 · Field Shift

Should this field stay in corn and soybeans?

AgroCycle compares your corn-and-soybean rotation with two longer rotations using NASA satellite and weather data, USDA soil and crop maps, and a nine-year Iowa field trial, and says plainly what the evidence cannot tell you.

Start with the demo fieldUse my own field
  • No account needed
  • Every number shows its source
  • Iowa pilot: Story and Boone counties
Your field
IllustrationMaizeSoybeanOatAlfalfa

The decision we support

One question, answered with evidence and its limits

Given a field under a maize–soybean rotation in Story or Boone County, Iowa, what does the evidence say about keeping it, versus two longer rotations?

  1. What each option could offer

    Potential benefits for soil cover, weather risk and input use, each labelled as measured, published or only possible.

  2. What it would cost you to try

    Trade-offs and practical needs: equipment, manure, storage, labour and somewhere to sell oats or hay.

  3. What we don't know

    Evidence gaps, shown plainly. Missing information is never treated as good news.

Three options, side by side

Your rotation, and two longer ones

Each option is a comparison scenario drawn from a real Iowa field trial. None of them is a recommendation.

  • AExisting system

    Keep it as it is

    The two-year maize–soybean rotation you already grow.

    1. Year 1Maize
    2. Year 2Soybean

    Repeats every 2 years

  • BDiversified option

    Three-year rotation

    Adds a year of oat with red clover sown underneath.

    1. Year 1Maize
    2. Year 2Soybean
    3. Year 3Oat + red clover

    Repeats every 3 years

  • CDiversified option

    Four-year rotation

    Adds oat with alfalfa, then a full year of alfalfa.

    1. Year 1Maize
    2. Year 2Soybean
    3. Year 3Oat + alfalfa
    4. Year 4Alfalfa

    Repeats every 4 years

Anchored to the rotations in the Marsden Farm experiment (Davis et al., 2012, PLOS ONE). Results from one research farm are not predictions for your field, and AgroCycle checks how well they apply to yours before using them.

How it works

Five steps from your field to a plan you can discuss

  1. 1

    Choose a field

    Start with the demo field, or draw or upload a boundary inside Story or Boone County.

  2. 2

    Read its profile

    What was grown, the soil, the weather, and when the ground sits bare, each with where the number came from.

  3. 3

    Say what matters

    Soil, dry years, input costs, and what is possible on your farm: manure, machinery, buyers.

  4. 4

    Compare the options

    Side by side, with benefits, trade-offs and an honest answer, including “not enough evidence”.

  5. 5

    Plan the switch

    A year-by-year outline to talk through with an adviser. A starting point, not a final plan.

Honest by design

An answer you can trust, even when it is “we're not sure”

AgroCycle can say “worth a closer look”, “no clear winner” or “not enough evidence”. It never has to pick a winner, and it never treats missing data as good news.

  • Worth a closer look

    The evidence and your answers make an option a reasonable candidate to explore with an adviser. It is not a prescription.

  • No clear winner

    The options trade off against each other, or the evidence cannot separate them. We show the trade-offs rather than force a ranking.

  • Not enough evidence

    Data is missing or conflicting, or your field sits outside what the research covers. We say so instead of guessing.

What AgroCycle will not do

  • Predict your yield or profit
  • Boil the options down to one score
  • Treat satellite images as a soil test
  • Promise soil-carbon, erosion or nitrate results
  • Assume trial results apply to every field

Data behind every result

Real data, labelled for what it is

Satellite images, weather models, crop maps, soil surveys and field trials are different kinds of evidence. Every number in AgroCycle says which kind it is, how coarse it is, and where it came from.

  • NASA

    Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2

    How green the field is through the year, and when the soil is bare.

    Derived indicator

    30 m, cloud-screened

  • NASA

    POWER

    Temperature, rain and dry spells for your area.

    Model estimate

    Grid of about 50 km, not your field

  • USDA

    Cropland Data Layer

    What was grown on the field each year.

    Classified output

    30 m, 10 m from 2024

  • USDA

    SSURGO soil survey

    Soil type and drainage from soil survey maps.

    Survey information

    Mapped units, not a test of this field

  • Iowa State University

    Marsden Farm trial

    Nine years of fertiliser and weed-killer records from an Iowa research farm (2003–2011).

    Experimental record

    One research site, not a promise for your field

See it on a real example, in a few minutes

The demo field is a demonstration polygon in Story County. No sign-up, and every result has a link you can share.

Start with the demo field