It’s funny that we are even discussing “farmer innovation” as somewhat of a novelty at an agricultural research conference. Agriculture took root over 10,000 years ago, as humanity shifted away from its hunter-gatherer origins. In fact, one could argue that farmers were really the first “scientists”, domesticating plants and animals through observation, trial, error, and repetition. While mention of scientists (or natural philosophers as called in antiquity) began to appear close to 3,000 years ago, the earliest research institutions (which were largely observatories) did not arise until early medieval times. So what is the commotion over new knowledge and technologies generated by the producer his/herself? (Continue...)