Learning Takes Center Stage as CSU-TAPS Kicks Off its 4th Farm Management Competition
The CSU-TAPS Partner Preview gave competitors a chance to talk to ag industry partners providing ag tech, seed hybrid, or services for the competition. (Photo by Christine Hamilton)
The kickoff event for CSU-TAPS featured a new ag industry Partner Preview and the competition’s first high-school FFA teams.
The 2026 Colorado State University Testing Ag Performance Solutions (CSU-TAPS) farm management competition held its official Kickoff on March 27 with a packed house. Hosted at the CSU Agricultural Research, Development, and Education Center (ARDEC), in Fort Collins, Colorado, the event drew 67 people—competitors, producers, industry partners, and researchers—representing a cross-section of Colorado’s strong agricultural community.
This year’s launch featured a “Partner Preview” that put competitors face-to-face with 12 ag industry partners that provide the soil moisture sensors, seed options, and insurance and marketing services used in the competition. At table displays showcasing information and technologies participants could browse and ask company representatives questions to inform their early season farm management competition decisions. CSU-TAPS program staff provided a presentation to brief everyone on 2025 competition rules and updates and this year’s field layout.
CSU-TAPS staff presented an overview of the 2026 farm management competition and answered questions. (Photo by Wub Yilma)
“One of our TAPS competition goals is to create cooperation and collaboration within the ag community, and this year’s Partner Preview provided an opportunity for that,” said Omer Izrael, CSU-TAPS project manager. “With our ag tech and seed partners on hand, ready to talk to competitors, we hoped that it would help teams with decision-making and encourage people to feel more comfortable reaching out to tech providers during the season, if they want to.”
CSU-TAPS is a sprinkler corn farming competition in which competitors make six management decisions across the full growing season—choosing a corn hybrid, seeding rate, crop insurance, grain marketing, and irrigation and nitrogen amounts and timing. The goal: produce a profitable, input use efficient crop while outperforming the competition.
Participants compete on “mini farms” located on the same field hosted at the CSU ARDEC South research farm. They access field data and log management decisions through an online portal that CSU staff implement in the TAPS field, making the competition accessible to anyone, anywhere with an internet connection.
"TAPS’ unique format supports producers in trying different strategies and technologies without risk to their own operations through the growing season,” said Amy Kremen, associate director of the Irrigation Innovation Consortium in the CSU Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, which manages CSU-TAPS. “Overall, the goal with this program is to help producers find ways to be profitable while using a conservation-oriented approach to water and nitrogen management.”
The 2026 roster of CSU-TAPS teams features an exciting addition of two National FFA Organization high school teams from Hotchkiss, CO, and Holyoke, CO, representing an excellent opportunity to engage the next generation of farmers. This year also marks the program’s second year with a university student team, with participants from CSU and University of Colorado, Boulder, giving collegiate competitors the chance to put classroom learning to test in a real-world environment. Last year, the student-led team finished among the top three teams for input use efficiency.
CSU-TAPS staff are currently wrapping up soil sample analysis used to establish management zones and equitably assign three plots to each team in a randomized plot layout. Before planting in early May, teams will submit their decisions for corn hybrid, seeding rate, and crop insurance. Teams can also choose to participate in a full-irrigation track or a limited-irrigation track, an option introduced by the competition in 2024 to simulate the realities of farming with limited water constraints and water leasing for alternative revenue.
Kickoff attendees also enjoyed refreshments and lunch from Ghost Dog Deli and Owl Canyon Coffee, both based in Wellington, Colorado.
Now in its fourth year, CSU-TAPS has engaged more than 130 individual participants since 2023, with a growing core of returning competitors each year. CSU-TAPS program evolution continues in 2026 with staff working to offer new technologies, support smooth competition function, and conduct research.
“We are excited about our program’s momentum, which is driven by active engagement of people from across the agricultural sector,” Izrael said. “The kickoff was a great chance for everyone to get energized for the learning to come in this year’s competition.”
CSU-TAPS is managed by the Irrigation Innovation Consortium (IIC) within the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences in the Colorado State University College of Agricultural Sciences. It is part of a growing network of TAPS programs across the High Plains and beyond. Major funding support is provided by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Colorado Water Conservation Board. For more information, visit www.irrigationinnovation.org/csu taps.