Training professionals on sustainable agriculture for enhanced ecosystem service from the ground up

We are confident that the materials, information and tools provided and/or delivered in 14 workshops (ten more than originally planned) were valuable to the attendees and participants based on the turnout and follow-up responses from attendees. Our workshops and speakers attracted more than just state and regional educators, professionals and farmers, which suggests both the demand for, and the interest in, topics presented at the workshops.

Our SARE Project-related web traffic was quantified by Google Analytics to verify broader outreach of project materials. Our website is frequently visited for information on soil health, SOM calculator and agricultural sustainability (http://southcenters.osu.edu/soil-water-bioenergy/extention/som-soil-organic-matter-calculator).

 We have organized 14 multi-state train-the trainers workshop field day in U.S. Midwest and Canada from 2011 to 2013 (Fig 1): two in Minnesota in 2011; one in Texas and four in Ohio in 2012 to 2013; and three in Illinois in 2013, four in Michigan, and one in Canada in 2013. We have trained 1142 educators, professionals and farmers in AR, CA, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MO, MN, MT, NE, OH, PA, TN, TX, WI, Washington DC, and Canada attended the workshops (Fig. 2). About 123 participants attended 2 workshops in Minnesota in 2011. In Ohio, 437 participants attended 4 separate workshops/field days in 2012 and 2013. Overall, 123 participants attended our training in 2011, 212 in 2012, and 807 participants in 2013 (Fig. 3). A diverse group of professionals have attended our workshops. Among the participants, more than 36 percent with +10 percent were personnel from state- and federal agencies (Fig. 4) followed by farmers (17 percent), educators (15 percent) and crop consultants (12 percent). A few dealers and agribusiness personnel also attended. Participants from age groups have attended the workshops (Fig. 5). The most dominant age group of participants (27 percent) attended the workshop are 40 to 50-year old followed by 30 to 40-year old. About 15 percent of the participants were younger than 20, which suggests new and young farmers in the Midwest are interested to acquire knowledge or information on sustainable agricultural management practices.   

Participants have shown a great interest to our workshop, speakers and the supporting materials. About 82 percent of the participants evaluated our workshops as well prepared, organized, and easy to follow, and provide new and useful information compared to 5 percent of the participants who disagreed (Fig. 6). About 82 percent of the participants agreed (including strongly agreed) that the free distribution of the USB flash drive with workshop support materials and Powerpoint presentations and soil quality field test kits were highly appropriate and ready to be used for teaching farmers workshop (Fig. 7). Only 4 percent disagreed, and 10 percent were neutral. Averaged across all sites, workshops, meetings and field days, about 69 to 89 percent of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that the workshop speakers were knowledgeable, well prepared, and informative. Less than 5 percent disagreed. About 62 to 82 percent of the participants reported that our program (workshop materials, tools, presentations and speakers) was one of the best or above average when compared with their previous educational workshops (Fig. 8). Less than 25 percent of the participants reported our workshop as average compared to previous educational opportunities. About 4 percent of the participants reported our workshop below average or one of the worst.

On average, participants stated a 21 to 25 percent increase in knowledge gain on the topics covered: (1) Climate change and agricultural sustainability in the 21^st Century, (2) Tillage management practices impact on carbon sequestration, soil health and water quality, (3) Conservation tillage systems approach, (4) Soil organic matter and ecosystem services calculator, (5) Ecofarming and soil health, (6) Soil quality/health tests and demonstrations, and (7) Management systems and crop production (Fig. 9). Highest knowledge gain (29 percent) by participants was reported on Conservation tillage systems approach - Ecofarming and soil health followed by 27 percent on Soil organic matter calculator and ecosystem services and 20 percent on Tillage management practices impact on carbon sequestration, soil health and water quality. About 15 to 23 percent of knowledge gain was on Soil health/quality field test and demonstration. Eighteen percent of the participants reported positively about climate change effects and reported about 18 percent increase in knowledge gain on Climate change and agricultural sustainability in the 21^st Century. Results also showed a variation in participants knowledge gain among the states (Fig. 10). Among the states, Illinois participants had the highest average knowledge gain (32 percent) followed by Ohio (24 percent) and Minnesota (21 percent). Michigan (19 percent) and Canadian (17 percent) participants had the lowest average knowledge gain. In Illinois, the highest increase in knowledge gain was reported on conservation tillage systems approach - Ecofarming and soil health (54 percent) followed by Soil organic matter calculator and ecosystem services (50 percent) and lowest knowledge gain on soil quality/health test demonstration (13 percent). In Michigan, the highest knowledge gain reported by participants on conservation tillage systems approach - Ecofarming and soil health (37 percent) and the lowest increase in knowledge gain was reported on soil quality/health test demonstration (10 percent). In Minnesota, the highest knowledge gain was reported by participants on tillage management practices impact on carbon sequestration, soil health and water quality (22 percent) followed by soil quality test kit/demonstration (21 percent) and the lowest increase in knowledge gain was reported on climate change and agricultural sustainability in the 21^st century (17 percent). Averaged across Ohio, the highest increase in knowledge gain was reported on conservation tillage systems approach - Ecofarming and soil health (40 percent) followed by soil quality/health test demonstration (32 percent) and Soil organic matter calculator and ecosystem services (23 percent). In contrast, lowest knowledge gain was reported on tillage management practices impact on carbon sequestration, soil health and water quality (18 percent) and climate change and agricultural sustainability in the 21^st century (18 percent). Combined over other states, the highest knowledge gain by participants was reported on Soil organic matter calculator and ecosystem services (20 percent) and tillage management practices impact on carbon sequestration, soil health and water quality (20 percent). The lowest knowledge gain by participants was reported on climate change and agricultural sustainability in the 21^st century (15 percent). In Canada, the highest knowledge gain by participants was reported on Soil organic matter calculator and ecosystem services (38 percent) and the lowest was reported on conservation tillage systems approach - Ecofarming and soil health (16 percent).

About 69 to 85 of the participants reported learning of new topic/ information and tools of soil quality after attended the workshop (Fig. 11). Thirteen percent of the participants reported they did not learn anything new from the workshop. About 9 percent of the participants were neutral. Averaged across workshops conducted, about 74 percent of the participants reportedly liked the OSU instant soil quality test kit and soil organic matter (SOM) calculator to measure variations in soil quality and soil organic matter content in response to management practices (Fig. 12). Four percent of the participants reported negatively. About 22 percent were neutral. When asked to rank the importance of the soil properties (Fig.13) to evaluate soil quality/health, about 42 to 53 percent of the participants ranked soil biological properties as 1^st followed by soil physical properties (27 percent) as 2^nd and the soil chemical properties as 3^rd (23 percent). Similarly, when asked to identify the single most important property of soil associated with soil quality/ health evaluation, soil organic matter (SOM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), earthworms, microbes, compaction and color were identified as the important properties (Fig. 14). Soil organic matter (organic carbon) was identified as the most critical soil property to sustain soil quality and improve ecosystem services by 22 percent of the participants Earthworm population ranked as 2^nd most important (19 percent), microbes ranked as 3^rd most important (16 percent), and CEC, compaction and color ranked as last (14 percent).

Several barriers were identified by the participants to improve soil quality and agricultural sustainability (Fig. 15). Among them tradition was rated the most important barrier to improving soil quality by 44 to 48 percent of the participants. A lack of knowledge/education was identified as the2^nd major barrier to improve soil quality 21 to 47 percent of the participants. Finance/risk associated with transitional conservation practices was rated as the 3^rd most important barrier to improve soil health by 12 percent of the participants. About 1 to 11 percent of the participants identified land leasing/land ownership as one of the barriers to improve soil health and agricultural sustainability. Cover crops, crop rotation and conservation tillage (especially no-till), together were identified as the core management components (90 percent) of the sustainable agriculture by the participants (Fig. 16). About 35 to 43 percent of the participants identified cover crops integration into the production is the most important to sustain soil quality followed by crop rotation. About 23 percent of the participants considered conservation tillage the important practice.

 Long-Term Post-Workshop Evaluation

Six months after the workshop attendance, participants were asked about their activity to organize local meetings for farmers on sustainable agriculture and ecosystem services (Fig. 17 to 22). Only 13 percent of the workshop participants responded to answer the post-evaluation survey questions (Fig. 17).

Among the respondents, about 92 percent of the participants were educators (28 percent University Extension) and private companies (48 percent crop consultant) and state- and federal agencies (16 percent SWCD technicians and NRCS district specialists). About 4 percent of the respondents were innovative farmers and farm leaders (Fig. 18). About 64 percent responded positively and 30 percent responded negatively, and 6 percent were neutral (Fig. 19). Sixty four percent of the post-workshop respondents actively involved to train or educate up to 25 farmers in their local meetings and field days (Fig. 20). About 18 percent of the respondents trained more than 100 farmers in their local events. About 87 percent of the respondents reported positively (Fig. 21), with 52 percent satisfied with the educational materials and tools to organize local farmers meeting and field days, and 32 percent very satisfied. Only 13 percent were somewhat satisfied. No respondents answered negatively. About 62 percent of the respondents answered positively that they will be active to organize local meetings and field days to train and educate farmers (Fig. 22). In contrast, 17 percent of the participants responded negatively. About 21 percent of the participants were not sure.

• Outcomes and Impacts