Goanna Ag in University Programs: TAPs (Testing Ag Performance Solutions)

TAPs is a farm management competition. Teams compete to be the most profitable, the most efficient, and the highest-yielding. Each team makes every decision of the season, from choosing a hybrid or variety through marketing, including which irrigation scheduling tool to use.

TAPs started in 2017 at UNL's West Central Research, Extension and Education Center in North Platte. More than seven universities now run TAPs programs. K-State, which runs TAPs competitions in Colby and Garden City, hosted the first National TAPs Competition in Colby in 2026.

15 teams chose GoField as their irrigation scheduling tool, which put 15 GoField stations in the competition. Each week, Goanna Ag sent every team a recommended irrigation amount based on its GoField data, and the team made the final call.

One UNL corn team stood out by applying only 2” of irrigation all season, while 4–6 in is typical for the region. That's 2–4 in less water, or about 7–15 million gallons on a 135-ac pivot.

The team was one person: the general manager of a Natural Resources District in Nebraska. He held off on irrigating mainly because GoField wasn't calling for water. Its canopy temperature sensor never showed the crop under water-deficit stress.

TAPs hasn't published its final yield, profit and efficiency results yet. When it does, we'll share how the GoField teams performed, including the 2-inch team.