Progress report for ENE16-143

Milestone 1. The project team will develop Extension materials and curriculum to share with farmers and farm advisors. The materials will cover the process of deriving a whole farm NMB, interpretation of results, and benefits of conducting NMBs for adaptive management over time. (Completion date: December 1, 2016)

In the winter of 2016 we developed two 45 min training sessions, one to explain the concept of the whole farm mass balance, and one to explain how to use the calculator for the assessment. The first training sessions with these powerpoint slides were held with farmers in the Caring Dairies program of Ben and Jerry’s in January and in March. The training reached about 30 farmers from the coop. Very similar training sessions were done throughout 2017 with consultant audiences. In New York itself (outside of the Ben and Jerry program), we were able to complete 18 whole farm nutrient mass balances for 2016, working with farmers directly and with farm advisors. The Caring Dairy initiative added 39 farms. In collaboration with Agricultural Consulting Service (ACS), we evaluated integration of mass balance assessment with record keeping, which resulted in ACS incorporating the assessment into their fields and crops record keeping system. This evaluation was published in a journal article: 

1. Van Almelo, J., Q.M. Ketterings, and S. Cela (2016) Integrating record keeping with whole farm nutrient mass balance: A case study. Journal of Agricultural Science 8: 22-32. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jas.v8n6p22.

An additional extension article and impact statement were generated on this project:

1. Impacts of Cornell’s Nutrient Mass Balance Diagnostic Tool:An Industry Perspective. http://blogs.cornell.edu/whatscroppingup/2016/05/19/integrating-record-keeping-with-whole-farm-nutrient-mass-balance-a-case-study/
2. Integrating Record Keeping with Whole Farm Nutrient Mass Balance; A Case Study. http://nmsp.cals.cornell.edu/publications/impactstatements/ACSmassbalance.pdf

In addition, in 2017, we added two publications on trends in mass balances in New York and the Upper Susquehanna Watershed that was in part funded by NESARE (incorporates many mass balances):

1. Cela, S., Q.M. Ketterings, M., Soberon, C. Rasmussen, and K.J. Czymmek (2016). Upper Susquehanna watershed and New York State improvements in nitrogen and phosphorus mass balances of dairy farms. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 27:1-11. doi: 10.2489/jswc.72.1.1.
2. What’s Cropping Up? Series: Phosphorus and the Environment Article 4: Greatly Improved Nutrient Efficiency Demonstrates New York Dairy Farmers’ Environmental Stewardship.

Milestone 2. Forty interested farm advisors and eighty farmers receive the educational materials electronically through the NMB website (http://nmsp.cals.cornell.edu/NYOnFarmResearchPartnership/MassBalances.html) and listservs. (Completion date: January 31, 2017)

We used the materials developed for the training with the Caring Dairy Program for meetings with consulting firms. Meetings were held with several individual farms, with consulting firms of WNYCMA and ACS, with Northern New York consultants, with the extension office of Delaware County, and with the Soil and Water Conservation Districts united in the Upper Susquehanna Coalition. This resulted in an audience of 69 farm advisors, with 18 mass balances completed in 2017 (excluding the Caring Dairy initiative). Talks were given at the Northeastern Plant, Pest, and Soils Conference (about 25 people), in Philadelphia, PA, at the Agronomy, Soil and Crop Science Society of America meetings in both 2016 and 2017 (about 100 people total), at the Northern New York crop meetings (about 70 people), and as part of the Center for Dairy Excellence Seminar Series (about 30 people) to reach a multi-state audience. These presentations resulting a new grants with nutrient mass balance assessments included by counter parts in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire. 

Milestone 3. Twenty dairy farm advisors learn how to conduct whole farm NMB assessments and interpret the results through four on-location group meetings (two meetings/year in different locations) and webinars, which can be used for reference and self-study after workshops. (Completion date: June 31, 2017)

Six New York meetings were held with several individual farms, with consulting firms of WNYCMA and ACS, with Northern New York consultants, with the extension office of Delaware County, and with the Soil and Water Conservation Districts united in the Upper Susquehanna Coalition in March through May of 2017. This resulted in an audience of 69 farm advisors, with 18 mass balances completed in 2017 (excluding the Caring Dairy initiative). This is in addition to the two Caring Dairy meetings that were held in January and early March 2017. Mass balance counts here exclude 39 Caring Dairy farms that participated so far.

Milestone 4. Eight farm advisors who agree to complete NMBs and discuss the results with two farmers each will receive follow-up farm visits from the project team to support their work. Mass balances will be completed for sixteen farms for two years (2016 and 2017 calendar years). (Completion date: April 30, 2018)

Eighteen NMBs were completed in 2017 (2016 calendar year). Of these 18 farms, already 15 have committed to complete the balance for the 2017 balance year and expressed interest in using the NMB over a longer term. In addition, the Ben and Jerry Caring Dairy initiative is currently collecting an addition year of balances for their farms (approximately 40 farms). Discussions are ongoing with other states and industry groups for inclusion of additional NMBs.

Milestone 5. The eight farm advisors working with two farmers each will identify two areas of possible investigation/improvement on the farms as a result of the NMB assessments and discussions with farmers. (Completion date: April 30, 2018)

The calendar year 2016 was a challenging year for many farmers (drought). Each farm received a list with farm indicators that could be used to determine opportunities for improvement over time. Such indicators should be evaluated for at least two years in a row and will be continued in 2018 (for 2017 data). The year 2017 was a very different year (extreme rainfall in many areas in the state) and this will likely impact the balances as well. Results for 2017 are expected to support the necessity to conduct NMBs for multiple years.

Milestone 6. Eight farm advisors and sixteen farmers will respond to project verification surveys and report on their experiences conducting NMBs, farm management practices investigated and/or changed as a result of NMBs, and intention to continue conducting NMBs (as advisors and as farmers). (Completion date: July 30, 2018)

Too early to report on progress. Two year evaluation is needed.