USDA-ARS pyfao56 project named 2025 IA Vanguard Award recipient
FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA (August 5, 2025)— The Irrigation Association is excited to announce that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service pyfao56 Open-Source Evapotranspiration and Water Balance Tool has been named the recipient of the 2025 Vanguard Award. The IA’s Vanguard Award honors an innovative project in the irrigation industry executed by a team of individuals, companies, organizations or other group entities. Projects chosen for this award exemplify the IA’s mission of promoting innovation in efficient irrigation and supporting industry growth and sustainability.
pyfao56 is an open-source, community-driven software tool designed to improve the way evapotranspiration and crop water use are calculated and applied in irrigation management. Led by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the project is built on the globally recognized FAO-56 guidelines and overcomes the limitations of earlier tools. By applying modern software principles, including a modular, object-oriented design, pyfao56 allows ET modeling to be more transparent, customizable and accessible. Its open-source structure, hosted on GitHub, promotes collaboration, customization and scientific transparency, making it a widely adaptable resource for research, education and practical irrigation decision-making.
“Our industry continues to evolve through collaboration, transparency and forward-thinking solutions,” said IA CEO Natasha Rankin. “The pyfao56 project exemplifies how innovation and community engagement can modernize essential tools and lead to more efficient, science-based water management. This open-source platform is not only expanding global access to reliable ET modeling, but it is also setting a new standard for how our industry approaches sustainable irrigation.”
In just a few years, pyfao56 has gained significant global reach and impact, with more than 15,000 downloads and known users in the U.S., Brazil, China, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It has been adopted in university curricula, state Mesonet systems, commercial decision tools and major research initiatives. A $700,000 USDA grant is supporting its integration into hydrologic models and smartphone apps, while its collaborative structure continues to attract new contributors and drive innovation. By modernizing and democratizing ET modeling, pyfao56 is helping to advance more efficient, data-driven irrigation practices on a global scale.
“The USDA Agricultural Research Service is thrilled to see pyfao56 recognized with the prestigious Vanguard Award from the Irrigation Association. This open-source, community-driven tool is already transforming how producers, researchers, and water managers estimate evapotranspiration and manage irrigation to enhance water resources,” said Daren Harmel, USDA-ARS Director of the Center for Agricultural Resources Research. “By making the standardized FAO-56 methodology freely available and customizable, the pyfao56 tool empowers a wide range of stakeholders—from university classrooms to commercial farms and public agencies—to make smarter, data-driven irrigation decisions. We encourage anyone involved in water management, agricultural research, or irrigation technology to explore pyfao56 and join the growing user community and contribute to its continued innovation and expanding impact.”
The 2025 IA Award recipients will be honored at the 2025 Irrigation Show and Education Week in New Orleans, Dec. 8-11. More information about this and other IA awards and past recipients can be found at irrigation.org/awards.