When I first started consulting with some of the fertilizer dealerships in my area, they hired me to make them different from the dealership down the road. The best way to do this was to become a local expert on scientifically based best management practices for growing corn and soybeans in my territory. This included knowing how best to manage nutrients to grow productive and profitable crops. University and soil test laboratory recommendations provided a good starting point. However, these data were also available to the dealership down the road. To be different, I needed local data to help me understand if and how university and laboratory recommendations needed to be adjusted to fit local conditions. The best way to begin to identify best local management practices was to create a database of the management practices used by farmers in my area.