JMP was created by the SAS institute in 1989 to capitalize on the emerging graphic user interface (GUI) technology. Over the years JMP, available for Windows and Mac operating systems,  has become the software of choice (now availbale as version 12) in many different fields. It could also be the software of choice in agricultural research. It is an excellent tool for experimental design and data analysis. Just like its big sibling SAS, it can interact with spreadsheets, both reading and writing. It can also read and write SAS datsets and be used as the interface to the SAS Metadata server and to SAS installed on the same computer (Windows only). Using JMP as your primary tool doesn't mean you have to give up on SAS, just that in many cases JMP will make it easier for you. It has various tools (called platforms) that can handle most of your data analysis needs, be they uni-, bi, or multi-variate. JMP also has a very larger user community able and willing to assist in solving problems. This introductory hands-on session will deal with creating and manipulating data tables, merging and concatenating data tables, import and export, basic graphing, and basic scripting to automate processes. Along the way we will analyze a few simple data sets. JMP offers a 30-day trial version if you don't have access to JMP through your company/institution.