Progress report for ENC23-226
Project Information
The Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC) fosters cover crop adoption through educational materials and networking. The target audience for this project is agriculture educators. Specifically, we will target Extension educators, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) staff, and Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) staff across the North Central Region who are interested in learning more about cover crops. A few activities will be targeted specifically to experts with the goal producing high quality recommendations and materials as well as networking, consensus-building, and learning through shared experience.
The outcomes for this project include a ten-week cover crop curriculum for educators, forty North Central educators with in-depth knowledge of cover crop management, strong cover crop teams with consensus recommendations in the states of Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota, strengthened knowledge for approximately 300 educators by webinar, and improved cover crop management resources for the 12 Midwestern states.
The first activity of this project is to adapt a web-based college course into a cover crop curriculum specific for educators. The course will be piloted twice and evaluated as a long term, self-sustaining cover crop certificate program. The cover crop decision tool will be updated for three states by in-depth discussions with experts and will be made more user friendly which will support educators in reaching new audiences. Specific cover crop management webpages on the MCCC website will be updated with the latest information. MCCC will hold a minimum of six webinars on updated resources as a form of outreach to educators.
A comprehensive cover crop curriculum including ten recorded lectures partnered with virtual learning sessions will be adapted for educators. Two iterations of a pilot course will utilize this curriculum to determine the demand and effectiveness of the program. The target participants for this pilot course are educators (Extension, NRCS, SWCD) in the North Central Region. Each pilot session will be open to 20 participants for a total of 40 participants over the course of the project.
MCCC will update the data in three state cover crop decision tools. The outputs of this activity are twofold. The updates to the decision tool itself serve as educational material freely available to farmers, educators, and advisors. The process of updating the material serves as professional development for the cover crop experts of that state. Decision tool update meeting invitations will be extended to cover crop experts across the state including Extension specialists, educators, NRCS, SWCD, seedsmen, and farmers with strong cover crop experience. The number of experts in these meetings is variable by state, but we plan for 12-15 per state. With this estimate we will provide professional development to approximately 40 cover crop specialists across three states. The discussion that takes place in these sessions allows experts to share their experience and deepen knowledge.
Three MCCC webpages will be revised with specific cover crop management information with direct expert input. This information will be available to the 17,000 MCCC website users and growing. With the increasing interest in cover crops it is critically important that new adopters have a reliable place to learn the recommended management practices for cover crops.
Six recorded webinars will be held to cover updates to each of three webpages on cover crop management and three webinars will cover updates to each of three state decision tool updates. MCCC will target educators for these webinars, but they will be open to the public. We anticipate 50 people in attendance at each webinar for a total of 300 participants, and the ability of anyone to watch the recordings from the MCCC website.
The current version of the cover crop decision tool is an excellent resource for educators and farmers to learn about cover crop options. However, there are many small improvements that MCCC would like to implement to make the tool more user friendly. One challenge that educators have with the decision tool is sharing the information with underserved audiences who do not have internet access. Adjusting the layout of the tool in a way that it would print in a useful and aesthetically pleasing way would allow educators to deliver this key information to audiences such as the Amish community. There are also opportunities to communicate “beginner friendly” cover crop species within the tool. These simple recommendations have already been developed with the MCCC cover crop recipe series. The recommendations would only need to be programmed into the tool in a user-friendly way.
Cooperators
Education
The Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC) strives to improve basic cover crop knowledge for both farmers and farm advisors. Most the work of the MCCC as a regional organization is to provide basic cover crop educational materials and offer networking opportunities for Midwest cover crop specialists to improve their skills. The activities in this project will support these overall goals of the organization by creating and revising cover crop resources while strengthening the network of cover crop professionals in the Midwest.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
The objective is to develop a pilot virtual cover crop curriculum for educators to deepen their knowledge on cover crops and establish a standard level of understanding verified through the certificate.
Educators will be invited to apply for each of the two pilot courses. The free pilot course will be limited in size to better encourage networking and collaboration. Several virtual networking sessions will be offered throughout the course. The goal of the program is not only to increase knowledge, but also to build a network of professionals who can support each other in their outreach to farmers. Recorded college lectures are used as curriculum available through an education portal. The lectures are self-paced and coordinate with activities focused on cover crop demo plots. The plots and activities encourage hands-on learning within the virtual curriculum. The curriculum includes 31 recorded lectures, 5 virtual networking/discussion sessions, and 5 hands-on lab activities with cover crop plots.
Much of the beginning of the grant period was spent planning and gathering feedback from partners to determine best practices for the course. Input was gathered from extension educators and NRCS staff in order to schedule the course for a time period that would be reasonable for their work schedule. Participants were recruited through MCCC, extension, SWCS, NRCS, and a few industry contacts.
There were 88 applicants for the first pilot course. There were 60 applicant invited to the program, with 54 accepting. These were divided into two cohorts. Applications were ranked based on their ability to participate in virtual networking sessions, ability to plant a demo plot, and limited cover crop knowledge. There were 37 educators who completed the course and earned a certificate. This exceeded our goal of 25 for the first pilot year. Only 20 of the participants completed the final survey, which is reflected in the outcomes of this report.
Revise the content of the MCCC website to reflect the most recent research and common practices.
MCCC will coordinate regional experts to update the management, planting, and equipment sections of the website. Many of these topics were addressed in the revision of the MCCC Cover Crops Pocket Field Guide and so these updates will build upon MCCC’s existing work. The website is mobile friendly, and this information is freely available to the public. Webinars on all the updated information will be held as the webpages are released. These webinars will be targeted to educators, but open for all audiences. The webinars will be recorded and posted to the MCCC website for additional viewing.
The planting, equipment, and nutrient management (formerly management) webpages have been drafted and are under review by respective experts.
Data revision of the decision tool will ensure information available to the public is current and closely follows Natural Resource Conservation Service cost share recommendations.
The process for updating the decision tool also serves as a very targeted professional development opportunity for experts. The decision tool update will begin with an in-person networking and brainstorming session. These meetings are a great way for MCCC to gain input on what educational resources are needed, as well as a time for expert level experience sharing. The decision tool update will require one in-person meeting and approximately five 3-hour conference calls to review all decision tool material for each state. Past participants in this process agree that it is an effective way to share knowledge and build consensus recommendations between partners. These updates will be reviewed in recorded webinars, so users are aware of changes to cover crop practices in their state.
The state of Iowa has convened a group of cover crop experts who have revised the decision tool data for the state. These changes will be released after the team has reviewed the proposed changes.
The MCCC will work to enhance the most useful decision tool features to make them more user friendly.
The MCCC is continually striving to upgrade the cover crop decision tool not only with the latest experience and research data, but also in improving its usability. The MCCC will work to enhance the most useful decision tool features to make them more user friendly.
After evaluation, it was determined that the most necessary update to the decision tool was a revised administration portal. The admin portal has been converted from a custom online portal to Django (Python web framework). This has increased security and will allow computer developers to quickly build and maintenance the tool. MCCC now has the ability to change goals and make other adjustments in the tool.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
There were 54 participants in the Cover Crop Essentials course, with 37 meeting all course requirements in 2024. Each of the 54 participants received seed for demonstration plots, access to all educational materials, and networking opportunities. The 37 who completed the course improved their knowledge and most report an intent to use the knowledge they gained. The aspects of this course that set it apart from other virtual education courses are the focus on networking through a cohort that meets regularly virtually, and a hands-on component of seeding, growing, and assessing a variety of cover crop species. The participants have more confidence and hands on experience to better advise farmers.
Quotes from Cover Crop Essentials participants:
"I am glad to have more foundational knowledge of cover crops that I have already been able to use while writing conservation plans."
"I have generated interest with local farmers of my organized inquiry (class) into cover crops."