Built at FarmHack — IFA Hackathon 2026, Cork, Ireland This prototype was developed as a hackathon submission for the FarmHack IFA Hackathon 2026, held in Cork, Ireland. It addresses Challenge D — NUE in the Wild — and was conceived, designed, and built within the hackathon timeframe by the following team:
Name Affiliation Inder Kumar Wageningen University & Research (WUR) Emily Durrant Cool Farm Justin Steenhuis Justintocoding
A research prototype built on the Cool Farm Platform API that transforms nitrogen-flow data into actionable insights. It visualises Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE), GHG emission intensity, farm-gate N balance, and benchmarks farms against national FAOSTAT data.
- Node.js v18 or higher
- npm (comes with Node.js)
npm installnpm run devThe app will be available at http://localhost:5173.
npm run buildnpm run previewWhen you open the app for the first time, a Settings screen will appear before you can access any data. You need to enter your API credentials here. They are stored in your browser's localStorage and never sent anywhere except directly to the respective APIs.
You need two sets of credentials:
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Cool Farm API Token | Bearer token for the Cool Farm Platform API |
| FAOSTAT Username | Your FAOSTAT account username |
| FAOSTAT Password | Your FAOSTAT account password |
You can update these at any time via the Settings link in the navigation bar.
- Log in to the Cool Farm Platform at app.coolfarm.org
- Go to your account / profile settings
- Navigate to API Access or Developer Settings
- Generate a new API token
- Copy the token and paste it into the Settings screen in this app
The token is sent as a Bearer header to https://api.cfp.coolfarm.org.
If you do not have a Cool Farm account, contact Cool Farm Tool at coolfarmtool.org to request access.
FAOSTAT requires a registered account to access certain data domains (including ESB — the nitrogen balance dataset used for national NUE benchmarking).
- Go to https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data
- Click Login / Register in the top right
- Create a free FAO account
- Use your FAO account email as the username and your password in the Settings screen
The credentials are used to authenticate requests to https://faostatservices.fao.org/api/v1.
The home page explains the project — its problem statement, platform context, research question, and methodology. It also embeds the design mockup and links to all project context pages.
Browse all farms accessible via your Cool Farm API token. Each farm shows its name, country, IPCC climate zone, soil classification, and SoilGrids soil property data.
Lists all GHG assessments. Click any row to open the Assessment Detail view, which shows:
- Field context — crop type, field area, yield, country
- Emission summary — total emissions, removals, and net balance
- Emission intensity — kg CO₂eq per hectare and per tonne of crop, benchmarked against Poore & Nemecek (2018) typical ranges
- NUE score — calculated from synthetic fertiliser inputs and estimated crop N removal (IPCC 2006 crop N content values)
- NUE Sweetspot gauge — shows whether NUE falls in the optimal range for the crop type and IPCC climate zone
- Farm-gate N balance — full nitrogen budget including synthetic fertiliser, biological fixation, and atmospheric deposition
- FLAG category breakdown — N₂O, CO₂, and CH₄ by emission source
A chatbot link at the bottom of each assessment connects to the Cool Farm Nitrogen Navigator for AI-assisted interpretation.
Select any country to view FAOSTAT national-level data:
- Cropland NUE from the ESB (Nitrogen Balance) domain
- Reactive nitrogen fertiliser use from the RFN domain
Useful for benchmarking an individual farm's NUE against the national average.
Enter any latitude/longitude coordinate to:
- Identify the IPCC climate zone and WRB soil classification
- Retrieve SoilGrids data (bulk density, clay content, SOC, pH, etc.)
Strategic goal, mission, and vision behind the tool, plus a competitive analysis showing how Cool Farm compares to other agri-tech platforms on NUE capability.
Explains how a single NUE number creates value simultaneously for farmers (margin), sustainability sourcing teams (evidence), and processors (business case).
The theory of change: if farmers and processors have access to clear NUE tools, then they adopt better practices, leading to improved NUE and lower GHG emissions.
The key assumptions underlying the prototype's design, theory of change, adoption pathway, and implementation plan.
A 12-month phased plan from TRL 4 prototype development through to TRL 6 validation in the real environment.
The Cool Farm Nitrogen Navigator is an AI assistant trained on the Cool Farm methodology, FAOSTAT datasets, and NUE literature. Access it via the Chatbot ↗ link in the navigation bar.
A static design mockup of the platform. Accessible via Mockup ↗ in the navigation bar or embedded on the About page.
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Framework | React 18 + Vite |
| Routing | React Router v6 |
| Data fetching | TanStack Query v5 |
| Styling | CSS Modules |
| Deployment | Vercel |
The app is deployed on Vercel. The vercel.json uses a filesystem-first routing strategy so static files (e.g. mockup.html) are served correctly alongside the React SPA:
{
"routes": [
{ "handle": "filesystem" },
{ "src": "/(.*)", "dest": "/index.html" }
]
}Any file placed in the public/ folder will be available at the root path after deployment.