GrowGood: Open-Source Farm Management for a Better Food Future on GrowGood

Rewilding the Field

Fri, 15 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

There are paddocks in Western Australia’s wheatbelt — tens of thousands of hectares — where the soil crusts white in summer. Salt. The farmers who cleared the mallee scrub for “improved” pasture in the mid-20th century didn’t intend disaster. The short-term arithmetic made sense: clear the deep-rooted native vegetation, plant shallow-rooted annual crops, harvest, repeat. For a generation, it worked.

Then the watertable rose. Without the native root systems drawing it down, the groundwater — laden with salt from ancient seabeds — climbed toward the surface. It poisoned paddocks. It killed trees. It sterilised soils that had grown native plants for millennia. Roughly two million hectares of Australian farmland carry this legacy. Not from malice. From simplification.

Logos & GrowGood: Community Owned Economies

Thu, 07 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

What does a post-capitalist economy look like, and where does value actually live? In this deep-dive session from the Logos Thursday X Space, heterodox economist and monetary theorist Leanne Ussher joins host Sterlin Lujan to explore the frontier of community-owned economies.

The conversation traces a fascinating lineage of economic experimentation—from the Wörgl “miracle” during the Great Depression and the Sardex network in Sardinia to modern-day implementations like Will Ruddick’s Sarafu currency in Nairobi’s Kibera slum. Moving beyond theoretical frameworks, this discussion focuses on practical applications: mapping material, ecological, and human flows to reclaim value that mainstream economics is built to ignore.

GrowGood Mycelium

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

GrowGood is an ambitious open-source digital platform built to empower farmers to reorient their practice towards regenerative agriculture. We are part of a movement and a broader shift toward planetary civics grounded in what Zehra Zaidi & Indy Johar (2024) describe as two defining realities:

Firstly, there is an awakening of planetary consciousness regarding the scale of planetary challenges. Groups of stakeholders have recognised that there is finite time to correct destructive pathways and have begun to experiment and generate new propositions.

Secondly, in computational advancements we may finally have the tools to match the scale of planetary challenges and build bold, ambitious models of care to repair and sustain our planet which can provide new insights and ways of thinking, being, learning and self-learning.¹

Funding Freedom: An Operating System for the People Growing

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Part 2: Building a Regenerative Economic Model for Open Source AgTech

In Part 1, we painted a picture of a different kind of Agricultural Operating System—one built on trust, transparency, and technological sovereignty. A system where growers own their data, connect their own hardware, and use “glass-box” AI to gain insights, not receive orders.

It’s a compelling vision. But it prompts the elephant in the paddock: if we reject the growth-at-all-costs venture capital model, how do we keep the lights on?

Breaking the Digital Fenceline: A Smarter Foundation for Farm Operations

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Part 1 - How Open Standards and Trust are Reshaping AgTech

There’s a buzz in the air, a hum of servers mingling with the smell of rain on dry earth. The conversation, happening everywhere from investment boardrooms to the local pub, is about the “Agricultural Operating System”—the Ag OS. It’s a slick vision, often painted by venture capital, of an AI-driven, seamlessly integrated technological revolution that will finally “solve” the farm.

Doughnut Economics and GrowGood

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Kate Raworth’s “Doughnut Economics” presents a compelling model for 21st-century prosperity, one that rejects the endless pursuit of GDP growth in favour of a more balanced goal. The “Doughnut” itself is a visual framework representing a safe and just space for humanity. It consists of two concentric rings:

The Social Foundation (Inner Ring): This outlines the basic standards of living—such as food, water, housing, and political voice—that no one should fall below.
The Ecological Ceiling (Outer Ring): This represents the nine planetary boundaries, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, that humanity must not overshoot to protect Earth’s life-support systems.

The goal is to operate within the Doughnut’s green ring: the space where we can meet the needs of all people within the means of the living planet.

A New Future for Farming: How GrowGood Measures What Matters

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The sun is rising over Barb’s market garden as she plans the day’s work. With a cup of coffee in hand, she knows today’s harvest is more than just fresh produce. It’s about getting good food to local families, improving the soil for next year’s crops, and building a business that will last. This isn’t just a romantic ideal; it’s the future GrowGood is being designed to help build, one where every action on the farm contributes to a verifiable, transparent, and fair economic and ecological story.

GrowGood's Greenprint - Our Technical Journey with Valueflows and REA Accounting

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

G’day! Ever wonder what it takes to build software that truly understands a farm? Not just the profits and losses, but the health of the soil, the value of shared work, and the intricate dance of a regenerative ecosystem?

That’s the challenge we’re tackling at GrowGood. Our journey to build a transparent, open-source AgTech platform has led us down a fascinating technical path, guided by the robust principles of Valueflows and Resource-Event-Agent (REA) accounting.

Test Page

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 12:00:00 +0000

This is a test page.

A System That Fits Your Farm

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Your Farm, Your Way

One size does not fit all in agriculture. A market garden has vastly different needs from a rotational grazing operation. That’s why we are building GrowGood around the concept of Blueprints.

Think of it like choosing a starter template for your farm. Whether you’re a market gardener, a regenerative grazier, or a flower farmer, there’s a Blueprint for you. When you choose a Blueprint, the entire platform—from the terminology and workflows to the data you track—will be tailored to your operational reality.

Attribution

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

This site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The following images are used on this site:

Building a Digital Commons for a New Food Economy

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Building the Digital Infrastructure for a New Food Economy

An investment in GrowGood is more than a contribution to a software project; it’s an investment in foundational, shared infrastructure for a more transparent, equitable, and regenerative food system. We are building a digital commons.

Think of it like the open-source roads and bridges for a new food economy. We’re creating the shared infrastructure that will allow a thousand other regenerative projects to flourish. Unlike proprietary software that locks data into private silos, GrowGood is designed to be a shared resource for the entire food movement. By building on open standards like Valueflows and JSON-LD, we are creating an interoperable data layer that can be used and built upon by everyone.

Contact Us

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Get in Touch

We are a community-driven project and we’d love to hear from you. Whether you are a farmer, a developer, a researcher, or just someone passionate about building a better food system, there are many ways to get involved.

Email

You can reach us at: contact at growgood dot org dot au

Discord

Join our community on Discord to chat with the team and other members of the GrowGood community:

Contribute

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Join Us in Cultivating a Better Food System

GrowGood is more than just a software project; it’s a community of people who are passionate about building a better food system. We believe in the power of open-source collaboration, and we welcome contributions from everyone.

Whether you are a developer, a farmer, a designer, or just someone who wants to make a difference, there are many ways to get involved.

For Developers

Our project is open source and hosted on GitLab. We have a growing list of issues that need help, from simple bug fixes to new features. Check out our repositories and our issue tracker to find something to work on.

For Farmers

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Spend Less Time on Paperwork and More Time in the Field

Farming is hard work. You’re a grower, a mechanic, a soil scientist, and an entrepreneur, all rolled into one. The last thing you need is to be bogged down by complicated, expensive software that doesn’t understand the way you work.

GrowGood is different. We’re a community-driven, open-source project building a free tool designed for you. Our vision is a digital farm journal that’s easy to use, even when you’re offline, and it’s designed to help you build a more resilient and profitable farm.

For Funders

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Investing in a Healthier Food System

The global food system is at a crossroads. We face the interconnected challenges of climate change, ecological degradation, and a growing demand for food that is healthy, transparent, and just.

GrowGood is more than just a software project; it’s a strategic intervention designed to accelerate the transition to a regenerative food system. We are building the open-source digital infrastructure that will empower a global network of farmers, food businesses, and communities to build a more resilient and equitable food future.

Get Credit for Your Good Work

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Less Paperwork, More Recognition

Navigating the world of certifications and sustainability reporting can be complex and time-consuming. GrowGood aims to simplify this process by turning your daily record-keeping into a powerful tool for compliance and market access.

With GrowGood, compliance is no longer a burden—it’s an opportunity.

Automate Your Organic Certification Reporting

Whether you’re certified organic, pursuing regenerative certification, or adhering to Global GAP standards, GrowGood’s planned meticulous audit trail will make compliance straightforward. The goal is to generate the reports you need for your certifier with the click of a button, saving you hours of paperwork.

Market Connections

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Tell Your Farm’s Story, Connect with Your Customers

We envision a future where stories like Sarah’s are common. Here’s how GrowGood aims to make it happen:

Sarah had been growing the most delicious carrots for years. She knew her soil was healthy, her practices were regenerative, and her carrots were packed with nutrients. But when she went to the local farmers market, she was just another farmer with a bunch of carrots.

Our Story

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

From Conversation to Creation: The GrowGood Story

GrowGood wasn’t born in a boardroom. It started in a conversation, a shared space of curiosity and a common desire for a better future. Our journey began within the Regenerative Currency Federation (RCF), a vibrant, global community of thinkers and doers dedicated to exploring how we can build a more regenerative and participatory economy.

This diverse group brought together a wealth of experience, from the intricate worlds of economics and accounting to the practical realities of technology and community organising. We were economists questioning old models, technologists building new systems, and activists working to empower communities from the ground up.

Our Team

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

The People Behind the Project

GrowGood is a community-driven project, brought to life by a diverse group of people who are passionate about building a better food system. Our core team brings together a unique blend of skills and experience, from the farm to the code.

Technology

Leo Gaggl - Project Initiator & Lead

With a background as an agricultural engineer and a lifelong passion for regenerative and local food systems, Leo brings a unique perspective to the project. He has spent years working in software development, building the kind of database-driven web applications that are now called “full-stack.”

Privacy & Terms

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Privacy Policy

We do not collect any personally identifiable information about you. We do not use cookies or any other tracking technologies.

Terms of Use

The content of this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. You are free to share and adapt the material as long as you give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

Leanne Ussher

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Leanne is an independent economist specializing in the design of local currencies and accounting systems that support place-based, regenerative economies. She holds a PhD in Economics from the New School for Social Research, known for its heterodox approach. Her publications span agent-based modeling, monetary design, token economics, and the history of economic thought.

Leanne spent two decades teaching and critiquing mainstream economics—connecting theory to praxis—at universities including Queens College CUNY, UMass Boston, and Bard College. Prior to academia she worked as Securities Analyst at the Reserve Bank of Australia. Since leaving academia, she transitioned to hands-on community practice, collaborating with a wide range of corporate, NGO and grassroots initiatives including Consensys, French Development Agency (AFD), Wolfram Blockchain Labs, Valueflows, Grassroots Economics, ThriveOn!, Hudson Valley Current, and the Economic Space Agency.

Leo Gaggl

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Leo Gaggl is an agricultural engineer and systems architect dedicated to the stewardship of the digital and physical commons. With over thirty years of experience building digital infrastructure, his work now focuses on creating resilient, independent systems that serve the land and the community, rather than the cloud.

His approach is defined by the “Full Circle Connection” — a cycle that connects soil sensors to schnaps glasses. It is a loop of sensing the land, growing food, fermenting abundance, and distilling to essence. This philosophy bridges the gap between high-tech digital sovereignty and the grounded reality of regenerative agriculture.