Historic Management:
COMET-Farm requires users to enter historic management (pre-baseline) management before moving on to the baseline management pane. Gaps in historical management records are expected; however, users should select the option that is most representative of their field. Extension offices and resource conservation districts may be able to provide insight into management typical of the area and time.
Baseline:
COMET-Farm requires a minimum 5 year baseline for all cropland projects, but we recommend COMET-Farm users populate as much baseline management as possible for the best results. Even when using the Crop Rotation Builder, there is still an understanding that the user has some idea of crop type and general management occurring on the field during the baseline period.
When users do not have the necessary management for COMET-Farm, we typically recommend using COMET-Planner, which provides regional estimates of emission reductions based on conservation practices applied. For more information on how the data set for COMET-Planner was created, please refer to pages 7-10 in the report.
If a user does not have the necessary management for COMET-Farm, but still wants the farm-to-field level analysis/estimates this tool provides, we would recommend referring to the USDA-NASS Cropland Dataset to construct the crop rotation, and enlist the help of local resource conservation groups, extension and/or NRCS offices for any historic management records.