research program were described in Chapters I, II and III.
From these, a prioritized list of problems and promising
new technology options will have been identified. The
on-farm research team will have participated in those
stages, and, in cooperation with commodity and discipline
program leaders and station directors, can develop a work
plan or research protocol in each research region. It may
be useful to include specialists from other institutions
in the analysis and planning sessions to broaden the
overall viewpoint. The protocol should spell out in as
much detail as possible the purpose and objectives of each
regional on-farm research subprogram; the number and kinds
of trials, experiments, or tests to be carried out; the
methods and analyses to be used; the equipment, materials,
and human and financial resources required; and the
persons, commodity and disciplinary teams, or other
services cooperating in the execution of the regional
program and their contribution.
 As a regional program continues over several years,
the size and composition of the core team and the mix of
needed back-stopping services will change. Initially, the
geographical area for which the team is responsible should
be kept small. The level of effort will be comparatively
greater in the first years, as data needed to understand
socioeconomic, biological, and technical problems are
collected and analyzed. However, as the initial on-farm
trials are completed and agro-climatic parameters and
recommendation domains are refined and described, it may
then be possible to increase the size of the area or
reduce the size of the core team.
 Each member of the team can be given responsibility
for all research trials and farm records for a given set
of farms even when these cut across several specialties.
As noted, support and guidance can be provided by station-
based specialists or more senior team members on a
periodic basis. This method provides a built-in mechanism
to improve the technical knowledge and research capability
of each team member and, most importantly, the
understanding of the farm as part of a complex biological
and management system. The feedback of information to
traditional research and academic institutions contributes
to the orientation of basic research as well.
Alternatively, depending on the size and complexity of the
region, work may be divided within the team in part along