Hello OS GIS community, My name is Abe Collins. I am a grazier and farmer in St. Albans, VT.
I belong to a community of farmers and graziers around the world who are focused on improving soil health, reversing desertification, sequestering carbon in soils and enhancing provision of environmental services to communities through innovative grazing and agricultural management. I've been working on the beginnings of a free and open source farm and ranch mapping tool called New Soil Land Planner. http://newsoilnet.ning.com/page/farm-mapping-tool It is embedded within a social network, the purpose of which is to facilitate grazing and agricultural management that improves soil health. newsoilnet.ning.com Everything above is in very early phases, but as soon as we have basic functionality on the land planner tool, we will be releasing the bundle to a sizable group of agricultural innovators to see what the regenerative agriculture community can do with these tools and networking capacities. Our hopes are high. I've had some good help from Bill Morris of Geosprocket Spatial Solutions. http://www.geosprocket.com/portfolio/ He has written much of the existing code for the New Soil Land Planner and for the New Soil Analysis tool, a companion project. The New Soil Analysis tool draws from the soils and topographical datasets created by the Soil Information System (SIS). http://www.soilinfo.com/ The SIS offers unprecedented accuracy and precision in soil properties mapping. The SIS has mostly been used for precision agriculture so far. It has a lot of potential to reliably drive environmental modeling of watersheds. We eventually intend to use SIS data from regeneratively managed farms and ranches to conduct research and environmental modeling at the watershed level, generating alternate watershed function and environmental services provision scenarios. Bill has to turn to other projects now, so I am turning to the OS GIS community to ask for further help. I'm seeking advice, code ninja cognitive surplus and bids if necessary to finish the Phase I New Soil Land Planner punch list and achieve the basic level of functionality needed to engage beta agricultural users. Much of the work to be done requires experience in customizing OpenLayers. Feedback, advice, coding per the punchlist and bids are much appreciated. An outline of what we are seeking, a list of fixes and access to the code, data and websites can be found in this google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1est8q9fUldsY-d9jal97YeL6W_u2L84X8nL5j5N7bFk/edit?hl=en_US Thanks for your consideration, and I welcome communications. Abe -- Abe Collins Founder New Soil Matrix, Inc. (802) 782-1883 Skype: abe.collins "Do civilizations fall because the soil fails to produce - or does a soil fail only when the people living on it no longer know how to manage their civilization?"--*-Charles Kellog, Soils and Men, the 1938 United States Department of Agriculture Yearbook of Agriculture* * * *"Every era has been shaped by its response to the great water challenge of its time....those societies that find the most innovative responses to the crisis are most likely to come out as winners." * *-- Steven Solomon, Water - The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power and Civilization* "Man, despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication and his many accomplishments, owes his existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains."* ---Author Unknown* “Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals.” *---Aldo Leopold* * * * * -- Abe Collins Founder New Soil Matrix, Inc. (802) 782-1883 Skype: abe.collins "Do civilizations fall because the soil fails to produce - or does a soil fail only when the people living on it no longer know how to manage their civilization?"--*-Charles Kellog, Soils and Men, the 1938 United States Department of Agriculture Yearbook of Agriculture* * * *"Every era has been shaped by its response to the great water challenge of its time....those societies that find the most innovative responses to the crisis are most likely to come out as winners." * *-- Steven Solomon, Water - The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power and Civilization* "Man, despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication and his many accomplishments, owes his existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains."* ---Author Unknown* “Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals.” *---Aldo Leopold* * * * *
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