Cover Crop and Soil Health Training for Agriculture Service Providers in Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland

It was decided that this training would be better as a focused group of service providers so the morning session was not advertised to farmers. Invitations for the November workshop were sent to Conservation District, NRCS and Extension staff. The training was described to include beginner level soil training, how to better serve farmers, and time to plan and discuss.

11 core participants plus 2 additional participants (including staff from NRCS, Conservation District, and Cooperative Extension) participated in a meeting/conference call to guide the November workshop to meet the needs of all parties. The three year SARE program was also described and participants agreed to attend trainings.

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This training was attended by UD and DSU extension, NRCS, and Conservation District staff, including 15 core service providers. This workshop taught participants about soil health 101 concepts in the morning, including topics such as nutrient management, effects of tillage and compaction and practices to improve soil quality. It also included a farmer panel with very different operations to give a wide range of cover crop experiences. The afternoon sessions taught participants how to conduct successful farmer education programing with the help of farmer participants. This included strategies to attracting farmers, using farmer input to guide programs, and teaching methods to encourage adoption. The farmers from the panel joined groups to offer advise about addressing farmer needs. It also included time for program planning and discussion. A focus was placed on the core participants from Kent and New Castle County staff during the afternoon sessions.

This program was planned and implemented by the Delaware Soil Health Partnership which includes DSU’s SARE state program, UD, CD, and NRCS.

12 core participants have met on 2/21/18 and 3/28/18 8/14/18 and 9/12/18. Conference calls have been held throughout the year with core participants and NRCS and Conservation Disitrict program leaders. Additionally, 2 core participants and the SARE project leader participated on the Delmarva Soil Summit planning committee, which is also impacting future educational activities. The participants discussed current educational activities, demonstrations, research, and farmer trends. The needs and goals of future training were also discussed and preliminary planning was done. The group also discussed how groups were collaborating, such as with demonstration plots. Winter and spring photos of demonstration plots from DSU, UD, and on farms. Plots contained various species, mixes, planting dates, and planting methods.

11 core participants have received resource packets including educational resources, such as SARE publications, specialist lists, and current research projects, to date in year 1. Participants have shared recent experiences and upcoming plans at Delaware Soil Health Partnership events and at state program workshops. Bulleted lists of available resources were distributed to 83 farmers and service providers at this year's Delaware Ag week in January, via a vendor booth and at a soil health workshop. A newsletter and Fact sheets summarizing research in Delaware and recommended planting dates/seeding rates for different cover crop species were distributed at various events to 65 farmers.

47 Service providers and 435 farmers received electronic promotional materials prior to workshops plus the University of Delaware's Weekly Crop Update's 868 recipients.

Additional farmer-based trainings were held and those results have been added to this milestone.

3 sessions were held at DSU's small farm conference on 3/6/18. 9 service providers and 21 farmers learned about soil health 101 for livestock producers session, 14 service providers and 32 farmers learned about soil health 101 for crop producers session, and 8 service providers and 29 farmers attended a cover crop/cash crop rotation session.

An additional stand alone soil health 101 workshop was held on 3/28/18. 12 service providers and 13 farmers learned from soil infiltration demonstrations, soil health 101 and compaction presentations and a farmer panel.

A professional presentation was given at the NJ Ag Convention on 2/6/18 where 7 Ag service providers and 89 farmers learned about cover crop research in Delaware and soil health principles.

Additionally 7 service providers and 8 farmers met at a field day on 5/3/18 to discuss current cover crop research and recommendations.

9-12-18-Workshop-Agenda-PDF Participants learned about Soil Health in Field and Forage crop productions, herbicide considerations for cover crop establishment and termination, the influence of cover crop management on final biomass, and the integration of no-tillage, cover crops, and grazing. The workshop also featured a presentation from a farmer who has become passionate about his successes with switching to no-till. The workshop also featured small group discussions about farmer case studies. The groups debated about opportunities and challenges, made recommendations, and then a discussion was held among the whole group. This helped the service providers develop a process for how to advise farmers in the future, regardless of their situation.

Quotes from participants:

• So much amazing information. Lots of great research and ideas to incorporate into local operations
• Taking this info back to my department and leadership
• I will use info when making recommendations to customers
• I will Inform my growers on the benefits of CC’s and no-till

This workshop has been delayed and amended for two reasons. First the workload requirement for the SARE Educator to plan the 2018 Fall SARE Fellows Tour made it much more difficult to manage on-farm demonstrations and coordinate the workshop. Second, a similar workshop was held in Dover on September 12 and it was determined that a more useful workshop would be aimed at a different audience in northern Delaware. A workshop is being planned in New Castle County in February.

12 Service Providers including 7 core participants and 15 farmers learned about the intersections of cover crops and weed and slug management. Participants also learned about soil health and compaction principles and management. Discussions on planting green were also held. Surveys found that slug management and herbicide carryover issues were the biggest takeaways with plans to implement changes in operations.

Feb 28 Soil Workshop Agenda Feb 28 2019

9 Ag service providers and 29 farmers learned how to manage cover crops at a session at UMES' small farms conference on 11/4/17. Participants learned about recommended varieties, rotations, planting and termination techniques, and current research updates. 4 ASP's and 11 farmers attended a Soil Health Short Course and field tour, entitled "What is in Your Soil" that was held prior to UMES' Small Farm Conference on 11/2/18. Participants learned about the various components that make up soil, nutrient management, and how to encourage micro and macrobiotic organisms.

Participants responded to email, phone, and in-person surveys. 14 of 16 (87.5%) service providers reported including learned knowledge in farmer consultations and/or trainings. Respondents reported sharing knowledge learned with 78 farmers. 23 of 24 farmers (96%) reported changing behavior based on learned knowledge. Changes included cover crop species/mixes, planting and termination timing/technique recommendations, transitioning to no-till, reducing tillage, building soil organic matter, reducing compaction, nutrient management, weed suppression with cover crops, herbicide carryover, and grazing cover crops with  rotational management.

The soil summit was held the day before the conference at UMES so the conference did not have a soil focus. However, Participants did attend a vermiculture session that included the benefits of and management techniques for using vermiculture in farming operations. Participants learned about how to do small scale and larger scale vermiculture production and how to use vermicast to improve soil health and crop productivity.

Summit-Schedule-Future-Harvest-A-Chesapeake-Alliance-for-Sustainable-Agriculture FlierNov1_2018

9 core service providers along with the other participants attended and learned about soil conditions specific to Delmarva, managing soil health for profit, how to better advise farmers about soil health, carbon sequestration, increasing the depth of soil test analysis, using NRCS' cover crop analysis tool, utilizing mushrooms and microbes for soil health management, and planting green. Four of the participants discussed using learned knowledge in future programming including using compost and vermicompost in future trainings.

13 core Ag Service Providers (ASPs) plus 24 additional unique ASPs have met at various meetings and conference calls, including new partnerships with the UMES researchers, Delaware Center for Horticulture, and the Delaware Urban Food and Farm Coalition and additional ASPs from around the region that have joined the 2020 Delmarva Soil Summit Planning Committee. Meetings and conference calls have been held 11/3/18, 1/16/19, 2/19/19, 3/28/19 4/17/19 & 5/1/19.

Packets were distributed at each event and included contacts of Ag professionals in the state and region working with cover crops and soil health, links to resources online, and printed fact sheets and decision guides.

DSU's 2019 Profiting from a few Acres conference was canceled due to unforeseen circumstances outside of the control of project coordinators. Soil focused sessions had been planned with speakers identified. These will be used in a future farmer-focused stand-alone event(s).

With that said, an unplanned workshop was held in New Castle County and reached new service providers and farmers.

13 Service Providers and 15 famers attended a soil health workshop at the New Castle County Conservation District Building. Participants learned about general soil health principles including nutrient management, organic matter, microorganisms, and compaction etc. Participants also learned about managing weeds and slugs within cover crop rotations and planting green and improving pasture rotations.

From surveys, the biggest takeaways were limiting slug damage, the benefits of planting green, herbicide carryover issues, and how to increase soil organic matter. On a scale from 1-5 (5 being the most likely to implement learned behavior), 19 respondents who answered this question averaged 4.2 and noted that they would add new cover crop varieties, increase cover crop usage and coverage, change management practices to reduce slug and/or weed damage, reduce animal pressure to increase cover crop coverage, and one participant specifically mentioned that they would plant tillage reddish to reduce compaction.Agenda Feb 28 2019 Feb 28 Soil Workshop

Due to the request of core participants, this event was not held as planned. Schedules and a lack of ability to attend a full day workshop led to a new solution to reach participants at their convenience. Delaware State University coordinated the availability of webinars by Steve Groff. The topics were chosen based on surveys distributed to core participants. These webinars were available December 15, 2019 until January 23, 2020 when there will be a live Q&A with Steve Groff. Conservation District, NRCS, DSU, and all participants from recent workshops were given access to the webinars and are able to join. Core participants agreed to view the webinars and participate in the live webinar. This format was designed so that participants from different counties in Delaware and Maryland, who were unable to travel could have an open discussion together. This time of year was chosen based on participant demand as this is when they indicated that they have the most available time. All participants also received a cover cropping guide including a decision making tree. These webinars were also promoted to our farmer constituents and to participants at in person workshops. Participant feedback was very positive and said the time frame of webinar availability was very helpful. The most common plan to utilize information was based on cover crop decision making.

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UMES did not plant cover crops this year. Meetings were held with new researchers about planting cover crops for microbial research, but this has not began yet. For logistical reasons for UMES, last year's plots were not planted this year. Plans were made to demonstrate cover crop plots at a field day in spring 2020, but this was cancelled due to the pandemic.

8 meetings were held throughout year 2, with a conference call line open for participants to join remotely. Meetings largely focused on coordinating future events, but decisions were made based on surveys and participant input. Core service providers shared how they have been successful in workshops and at one-on-one technical assistance in getting farmer adoption. Future planning, such as workshop agendas also addressed failures and challenges with getting behavior change. Many of these challenges were centered around specific farming situations, which were addressed in subsequent programming. Another large barrier to farmers adoption was uncertainty, risk avoidance, and a lack of ability to make decisions. This has strongly been addressed in outreach and workshops.

This event was altered based on participant input and logistics at DSU's farm. The event was shortened, but the target audience was expanded to reach more Delaware and Eastern Shore farmers and service providers. 4 workshops were held over 2 days (Dec 10-11) featuring the cover crop expert, Steve Groff. Half day workshops were held at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, MD, UMES in Princess Anne, MD, Bridgeville, DE and at Kent County Conservation District's new facility in Dover, DE. Each location held unique groups of participants, who nearly unanimously said that they would not have been willing to travel to a further location if they had not been replicated. December Soil Workshops

Based on previous feedback, the workshops focused largely on the decision making process with cover crops. Steve Groff described the process of "treating your cover crops like your cash crops", went through the elements of his 10% cover crop challenge and a cover crop management plan, and walked through his cover crop decision guide. Steve also presented about how to talk to your neighbors about cover crops and matching mixed cover crop species to achieve your soil health goals. Additionally, Steve Groff answered a significant amount of participant questions, which guided his presentation at each location. 

Interestingly, participants in Wye Mills, were nearly all experienced service providers. Participants in Princess Anne were nearly all new and beginning small farmers. Participants in Bridgeville were mostly very experienced large grain farmers along with experienced service providers. And participants in Dover were a diverse group of service providers, small veggie/fruit growers, large grain and pumpkin farmers, Christmas tree growers, and even a congressman, who indicated that he would share knowledge gained with the Delaware Farm Bureau. With the exception of Princess Anne, participants were already very knowledgable about cover crops and the presentation focused more on advanced level topics. This is an example of the agendas. Dec11PM2019Agenda

42 Surveys were completed. 50% (21) reported moderate knowledge gained and the other 50% reported considerable. Zero participants reported that they had no knowledge gained or minimal. 64% (27) reported that they were very likely to implement a learned technique, 31% (13) reported moderate likely and 5% (2) reported somewhat likely. 0 participants reported that they were not likely to implement something that they learned.

42 service providers received verification requests, 19 replied and 16 reported using knowledge and skills gained at SARE programming in their own educational activities. 65 farmers received verification requests, 22 responded and all 22 reported using learned knowledge and skills on their farms.

A session was not held during UMES' Small Farms Conference, but a workshop was held on December 10 at UMES. This information is reported in milestone #21.

Meetings were held a minimum of once per month. They largely focused on the 2020 soil summit and then continued to occur for conference wrap-up discussions and the planning of the next summit in 2022. Discussions were also held to plan the two workshops held remotely in August, 2020. Participants were also able to share successes at getting farmer adoption. This often included increasing cover crop average and adopting new varieties. Challenges also were shared, often related to cost and timing barriers.

Packets were distributed at each event and included contacts of Ag professionals in the state and region working with cover crops and soil health, links to resources online, and printed fact sheets and decision guides. Core participants and 20 farmers also received two soil health textbooks.

Promotions were completed for the final event in August.

This was a full two-day event that 15 core participants attended on both days. Participants were able to attend a Day-1 pre-conference cover crops workshop and afternoon research updates and/or Day-2 plenary and breakout sessions. Delmarva Soil Summit Agenda

79 participants completed surveys. Participants were asked to rate their knowledge gained as none, a little, moderate, a lot or a great deal. 30 of 50 ASPs (60%) selected a lot or a great deal. Only 1 (2%) selected a little and no participants responded none at all. 19 of 29 (66%) farmers rated their knowledge gained as a lot or a great deal and 0 participants selected a little or none. Participants were also asked how likely they were to use knowledge or skills gained on their farms or educational programs. 49 of 50 ASPs (98%) selected very likely or unlikely with 27 (54%) rating very likely. 0 selected unlikely or very unlikely and 1 selected N/A. All 29 farmers responded that they were likely or very likely to adopt a learned method with 21 (72%) selecting very likely. Some intentions included using new cover crop varieties/mixes, rotations, soil amendments, planting methods, and decision making techniques. One ASP wrote, "I plan to use the tools I have learned to help educate my producers and help them make decisions for their farms that better address their goals and needs".

Hundreds of more people (250-350, depending on the presentation) have viewed the videotaped presentations and their PowerPoint slides online at https://delmarvasoilsummit.com.

Due to the COVID pandemic, the in person conference was canceled. Delaware initial lockdown started only two weeks prior to the event, but we were able to pivot quickly and coordinated online sessions. 5 core participants, 3 other Ag Service Providers, 15 farmers, and 5 unknown participants participated in a virtual workshop entitled Soil Health - Lessons learned in New England High Tunnels presented by Katie Campbell-Nelson of Northeast SARE.KCN_High_Tunnel_Powerpoint

Participants learned about general soil health principles and challenges and solutions specific to growing in high tunnels. Specific topics included compaction, irrigation, nutrient management, organic matter and salt management. Via email, participants also received resources including the presentation and a list of local contacts. 

Prior to lockdown, a new workshop was held on March 4, 2020 that was not in the plan. 6 ASPs, including 2 core participants (who also attended the virtual workshop described above) and 28 farmers attended an urban soil health workshop. This was based on advisory group input that described a lack of soil health programming in the more populated areas of New Castle County, DE. This workshop also reached a largely underserved audience. The workshop included a general soil health principles presentation by Philip King, the NRCS State Soil Scientist. It also featured a presentation entitled Soil Health Management in a Variety of Urban Growing Conditions by Sam Anderson, the Urban Agriculture Specialist at Cornell University. Participants learned about topics including, soil contaminants, amendments, nutrient management and issues that are specific for intensive in ground growing, and container grower. Lastly there was a presentation by Patrick Eggleston, the Farm Manager of Coverdale Farm Preserve. Participants learned about practical on-farm experiences with identify soil challenges in concentrated growing situations and finding solutions to maximize yield. Based on surveys, the audience was a mix of container and in-ground growers and ratings were very positive that their needs were met. 24 surveys were completed and all 100% rated their level of knowledge gained as considerable (17/71%) or moderate (7/29%). Similarly, all 100% selected that they were very likely (20/83%) or moderately likely (4/17%) to implement a technique learned during the workshop. Some of the response for what participants would do included using soil testing more or changing soil tests to improve management decisions, using new soil amendments/mixes, changing nutrient management practices, and using new ways to reduce compaction.Agenda March 4 2020

This in-person event was altered due to the COVID pandemic. It was split into two successful virtual soil health programs that were held in August. 28 ASPs, including 12 core participants and 31 farmers and participated in a virtual farmer panel on August 11, 2020 to discuss soil health issues. Three local farmers and the guest moderator Steve Groff, who himself is a farmer and expert in the field interacted live with participants to share their experiences and demonstrated the need to focus on and improve soil health to sustain profitable farms. Participants learned about practical on-farm experiences with trying to improve soil health. The farmers often talk about failures they experienced, especially with cover crops, but expressed the need to keep working at it and trying new things. All four speakers emphasized the return on investments that farmers will have if they continue to improve soil health management. Some of the specific topics that participants learned were, utilizing different planting techniques, altering seeding and termination dates, improving nutrient management, and planting different cover crop varieties and mixes to achieve different goals. Participants also learned about how to better advise farmers and talk with them about soil health in order for them to want to take on new management techniques and receive the desired outcomes. Farmer Panel Screenshot

Soil Health Field Day sk edit (2)

31 ASP's, including 6 core participants from Maryland's and Delaware’s, Departments of Ag, NRCS, Conservation Districts and Universities participated in a professional development interactive Soil Health Solutions Webinar. Participants first learned about the process of finding soil health solutions on all types of farms from a presentation by Shannon Zezula, a renowned soil expert from Indiana NRCS. Next participants were split into breakout rooms where they were presented with one of three challenging farmer scenarios. 2020-08-17 Planning Scenarios for Soil Health Training Participants received the scenarios prior to the workshop along with cover crop decision making tables. Cover Crop Decision Making TablesThe small groups then discussed the situation at length and developed long lists of potential recommendations, considerations, and questions that they would need to ask the farmers to better assist them. The groups then came back together, shared their discussions with the wider group and then opened it up to all participants and Shannon to further dive into the issues. The biggest takeaway from this event is that the ASP's, especially those newer to the field learned how to go about making soil health recommendations even if they are not extremely knowledgable about a specific farming system. By knowing what questions to ask, ASP's can find ways that producers can make management changes that fit into their rotations. Participants were extremely engaged and the report outs were very thorough, detailed, and robust. Shannon remarked several times about how good the group was and that he was surprised by the thoroughness of the responses. Some examples of solutions that ASP's came up with included reducing tillage within the constraints of the system, planting different cover crop varieties based on the cash crop timing demands, and improving crop rotations to minimize soil disturbance in concentrated ways. The audience was surveyed at the end of the webinar with all 31 ASP's indicating that the experience was valuable in content and format. Agenda August 17 2020

Aug 17 Soil Health Webinar Flyer

Dozens more people have watched the farmer panel and Shannon Zezula’s presentation, which have been posted here:

August 11 Farmer Panel:

https://youtu.be/YiCMtLwe4AU

August 17 Soil Health Solutions Webinar:

https://youtu.be/9v06L58EWGE

9 Core participants plus three additional ASPs participated over two calls in September and October. The group discussed passed events and experiences with farmers over the last few years, but focused on what the current and future needs were. Participants shared challenges that they have seen farmers have and what can be done to address them. There was also discussions about what trainings and sessions were particularly helpful and how they have used them. The Delaware Soil Health Partnership and Delmarva Soil Summit planning committee with continue to develop effective and robust farmer educational activities long after this SARE project is complete.

31 ASPs responded to final verification at virtual meetings, and via email and phone. 225 farmers provided verification via email or indirectly through other ASP's. This audience included core participants and attendees of the Delmarva Soil Summit, virtual trainings, in person workshops and meetings.