Introducing exceptional growth mining-Analyzing the impact of soil characteristics on on-farm crop growth and yield variability.

Sustainable intensification of agriculture requires understanding of the effect of soil characteristics and nutrient supply on crop growth. As farms are increasing in size by acquiring small fields from various farmers, the soil characteristics and nutrient supply might be very different from field to field, while at the same time specific soil properties might limit the nutrient uptake. As a result, there might be a large number of heterogeneous reasons why crop growth varies significantly.

Big data, small explanatory and predictive power: Lessons from random forest modeling of on-farm yield variability and implications for data-driven agronomy.

Context: Collection and analysis of large volumes of on-farm production data are widely seen as key to understanding yield variability among farmers and improving resource-use efficiency.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the performance of statistical and machine learning methods to explain and predict crop yield across thousands of farmers' fields in contrasting farming systems worldwide.

Methods: A large database of 10,940 field-year combinations from three countries in different stages of agricultural intensification was analyzed.

The immediate impact of the first waves of the global COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural systems worldwide: Reflections on the COVID-19 special issue for agricultural systems.

Context: In May 2020, approximately four months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the journal's editorial team realized there was an opportunity to collect information from a diverse range of agricultural systems on how the pandemic was playing out and affecting the functioning of agricultural systems worldwide.

Objective: The objective of the special issue was to rapidly collect information, analysis and perspectives from as many regions as possible on the initial impacts of the pandemic on global agricultural systems, The overall goal for the special issue was to develop a useful repository for this information as well as to use the journal's international reach to share this information with the agricultural systems research community and journal readership.

Methods: The editorial team put out a call for a special issue to capture the initial effects of the pandemic on the agricultural sector.

Impact of Covid-19 on farming systems in Europe through the lens of resilience thinking.

Context: Resilience is the ability to deal with shocks and stresses, including the unknown and previously unimaginable, such as the Covid-19 crisis.

Objective: This paper assesses (i) how different farming systems were exposed to the crisis, (ii) which resilience capacities were revealed and (iii) how resilience was enabled or constrained by the farming systems' social and institutional environment.

Methods: The 11 farming systems included have been analysed since 2017.