F.I.R.S.T. was started in 1997 by Kevin Coey. He planted 12 corn sites in Illinois, tested 64 hybrids and had 14 seed corn companies as sponsors.

Since that time the program has expanded to include corn and soybean testing. Sites are planted in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and the DelMarva region in Delaware and Maryland.

F.I.R.S.T. stands for Farmer's Independent Research of Seed Technologies.  It is an association of farmers organized to find newly developed and trait-added seed corn and soybean products that improve their grain operations.

Farmer members assist in the selection of the test site, coordinate field operations in the spring and provide all of the inputs except the seed.  Companies willing to sponsor the research decide which products to test and where to test them.

Only a select group of products are tested.  The same products are tested at 4 (soybean) to 6 (corn) locations within a region.  At each location, all products are tested (replicated) 3 times to allow statistically valid comparisons.