Dorn Cox

Dorn Cox is a farmer who has long been in the vanguard of regenerative agriculture and open-source technologies — two ideas rarely spoken in the same sentence. He’s also a big champion of participatory science and knowledge commons to help improve agricultural practices.

Cox is the author of The Great Regeneration: Ecological Agriculture, Open Source Technology, and a Radical Vision of Hope, a highly readable book that synthesizes all of these topics.

With a deep background in earth system sciences and a PhD in natural resources, Cox is a man of the soil, the computer and science. He farms with his family on 250 acres in Lee, New Hampshire, and serves as research director for the Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment in Freeport, Maine. Cox is also a founder of the Farm OS software platform and Farm Hack, an open-source hardware project that designs and builds agricultural equipment. He’s helped develop the open technology ecosystem for agricultural management, called Open Team, which is a farmer driven, collaborative community dedicated to improving soil health and addressing climate change.

regenerated farm land

“Hacking” the Farming Industry: Open-Source Agriculture

 It was clear that there was power in the idea that together we can improve the productivity and viability of sustainable farming and local manufacturing, especially when we share the goals of healthy land, abundant food, successful farm businesses, and invigorated local economies.

April 18, 2023

Farm in Pennsylvania

The Great Regeneration: Excerpt

By taking a longer view, we can see the arc of the horizon of our agricultural past, which gives us the ability to put our endeavors in context and to see what’s possible for the future just over the horizon.

March 30, 2023

Farm Hack: A Commons for Agricultural Innovation

In 2011, a community of farmers, designers, developers, engineers, architects, roboticists and open source thinkers came together in Boston, Massachusetts, to explore a simple yet radical idea – that great improvements in agriculture could be achieved by reducing barriers to knowledge exchange.

August 5, 2016

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