Progress report for SNE23-003-DE
Project Information
Statement of Problem or opportunity
We aim to build a future where agricultural, environmental, and
social systems are resilient in the face of a rapidly changing
climate. The Northeastern U.S., is experiencing an increase
in extreme weather events, changes in seasons and in pest
and disease pressure. There are potential opportunities
for longer growing seasons, but farmers need specific
information, tools, and resources to help them adapt to, and
mitigate, climate change. A survey of Ag agents yielded results
indicating a gap in training needed to equip them to better be
resourceful. By working closely we will have opened a
conversation about collaborative opportunities on matters
relating to the topic under discussion
Summary of Justification and need
There is a critical need to provide agricultural educators with
the knowledge and tools to assist farmers in making informed
choices within the context of a changing climate. The proposed
training will provide comprehensive, practical, research-based
information in modules that cover: current knowledge regarding
greenhouse gases and climate change; changes in temperature and
precipitation patterns in our region and projections for the
future; potential impacts (positive and negative) on agriculture;
and implications for pest, soil, and energy management in
relation to farm profitability.
Summary of the educational approach
We will establish a smart farm model at Smyrna Outreach Research
Center (SORC); Conduct workshops at SORC and incorporate
training sessions with the help of Cornell Institute of Climate
Smart Solutions (CICSS) on integrated crop and livestock systems
as need be; Include ‘topics of interest’ during designated
conferences; write newsletter articles and media to promote the
workshops; Produce three fact sheets on related climate change
and agriculture issues, focused on information relevant for
Delaware and Establish ongoing evaluation between workshops
based on participant feedback and planning committee discussion
to improve upon future events.
Performance Target
A planning committee in partnership with established resources
from North East Climate Hub and Cornell Institute for Climate
Smart Solutions (CICSS) will help provide training.
Thirty (30) agricultural service providers in
Delaware and parts of Maryland, will be trained in pertinent
issues relating to climate change and will have acquired
knowledge to offer information to their clients on
opportunities and risks for agriculture associated with climate
change, with a focus on practical and profitable farmer
responses.
Of the 30 Ag providers; 20 will follow-up on knowledge acquired
to reach 100 limited resource growers. Those educators will be
expected to deliver extension programming that will lead to an
increase in knowledge in climate smart solutions to 60 growers
before the conclusion of the project.
The establishment of demonstration plots at Smyrna Outreach
center as a model climate smart farm will attract 450
visitors. Materials developed '360 degree tour virtual
realities, will be used as future training tools.
The training, learning plans, hands-on demonstration approaches
will be documented and serve as a template for other producers to
adapt and modify for hands-on labor training and skill
development in basic farm tasks to improve labor training and
production skills efficiencies.
Description of Problem or opportunity
In a quest to establish a good program for Delaware, Surveys were administered to service providers.
The first survey to help guide the choice of sustainable agriculture research and educational initiative for Delaware Ag was administered during a Joint Delaware State University (DSU) and University of Delaware (UD) Agriculture In-service retreat on Sept. 22, 2022, held at Killen’s pond. A total of 29 service providers gave answers. The survey requested a list of concerns among target audiences and topic areas of interest. The agents consisted of plant specialists, animal specialists and farm management specialists.
The survey revealed top 5 concerns among target audiences to be;*Sustainability in the face of climate change/Climate Smart Ag solutions:*Pest and cover-crop management;*Maintaining State level certifications/ Regulatory concerns/ Regulations compliance: Soil and nutrient management and Accessing USDA services/payouts for conservation practices.
Agents also listed topic areas that they would be interested in for their professional development. These included but were not limited to; Grant Writing: Climate smart Ag tools: Marketing Training, Data Management/using and developing digital tools such as app management: Equipment training: Effective presentation techniques: Vertical gardening/ Agrivoltaics: Creating fact sheets; Working with Labor agencies and Evaluation of programs.
The need to increase participation of minority farmers; connecting with limited resource farmers; Talking to farmers about controversial topics and tackling climate change were indicated by 19 of the 29 agents (63%).
A follow-up survey was administered during Delaware Ag week on 10-12, Jan., 2023 targeting the very Ag agents with survey questions on 5 point Likert scale with a series of statements emanating from the first survey seeking to rank the statements of concern. Taking the first number as the base number, the response rate was 73% (22 people out of the 29, responded).
The third and last survey seeking to articulate the best topics of discussion, and preferred methods of outreach to the agents just went forth on 4/28/2023. Sixteen returned surveys indicated the preferences for face to face workshops as (70%) or hybrid meetings as (65%) and virtual meetings as (35%). Through the survey results, we have identified audience perceptions, experiences, and priorities related to climate change; assessed audience awareness of sustainable agricultural strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change. This information is pertinent in developing and delivering extension-based activities to advance audience environmental literacy on the effects of climate change on agricultural systems, mitigation practices, and resilience strategies to handle them. After the 3rd survey results, the team is developing practical modules. Through evaluations and 2 focus group sessions composed of extension agents and other ag professionals, a revision of the proposed module will provide a great guide.
Delaware agriculture is particularly vulnerable to a changing climate. Warming temperatures threaten to shift the kinds of crops that can be grown in the state. The vision of agriculture that has long been articulated and modeled by sustainable agriculture provides powerful solutions to the climate crisis. Despite the increased understanding of the linkages between climate change and agriculture, these issues are new to many agricultural professionals and the farmers and ranchers they work with. Fortunately, there is a growing body of research looking at the agricultural practices that may offer climate benefits.
The launch of the country’s first mandatory carbon market opened up new opportunities for agriculture to sell carbon credits, and revenue may become available for public investments in agricultural efforts to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change. Increasingly, agricultural professionals need to understand the science of climate change and agriculture as well as policies such as cap-and-trade that will affect producers.
Solutions and benefits
In essence, there is need for training of agricultural service providers to help them assist farmers in helping them make informed choices with the changing climate. While providing the training, better ways of reaching out to under-served audiences will be explored. The extension program activities by the agents will enhance audience's awareness about the impacts of climate change on production systems and their ability to implement climate- resilient strategies. We seek $ 93,251 to support our project to train Cooperative Extension and other agricultural professionals on proven sustainable agriculture practices associated with climate change mitigation and adaptation. Through workshops and conference topics, we will educate our audience on climate change science as it relates to Delaware agriculture, sustainable farming practices that mitigate or adapt to climate change, and we will review the latest in climate change policy as it relates to agriculture. Partnership with individuals from the Cornell and Climate Smart Farming Extension Team Cornell's Climate Smart Farming Extension and the North East Climate Hub will enhance training. We will conduct 4 workshops and two field days at SORC.
Service Provider Interest
As indicated by the service providers through the surveys, there is need to get this training for a successful outreach program. Our project aimed to deepen the understanding of climate change and the role of sustainable agriculture in providing climate benefits (mitigation and adaptation) among Delaware agricultural professionals. An array of service providers will be appealed to.
Advisors/Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
- - Technical Advisor - Producer (Educator)
Educational Approach
Engagement
Recruitment of participants will take a form of emails and messages being sent to various list serves; Delaware State University (DSU) and University of Delaware (UD) co-operative extension; Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA); DE Soil & Water conservation districts; DE Master gardener list serves, will be required to respond to recruitment materials that clearly state the participation required for the proposed program. Service providers will be encouraged to complete the application process which will include a pre-training skills assessment and a requirement to identify interested farmers they currently advise who they can further assist on ‘climate smart issues’ issues.
Integrated climate-smart farming programs that can combine climate and agricultural modelling research, social science research on farmer needs, development of decision tools, and dedicated climate-smart extension programming can be effective in reaching farmer audiences. The Delaware extension, North East climate Hub and Cornell Smart Farm team will provide resources and learning tools as outlined on the education plan. The key individuals mentioned in the project are well versed with the topics
Learning
Workshops and field days and virtual engagements will be our main forms of interaction. Established resources, newsletters and other published work will be used too. Although we look forward to partnering with other experts in the field for delivery, Our Delaware team (Rose, Jenn, Gulni, John) will be in the frontline in supporting Ag agents to;
*Increase farmer use of Climate Smart Farming decision support tools and develop new tools based on stakeholder input. We plan to develop 360° video educational resources to use for the training and educational activities.
*Develop outreach materials and case studies to provide accessible information on climate change adaptation and mitigation planning and strategies.
*Develop and deliver CSA workshops and sessions in existing agricultural meetings for Extension educators, farmers and stakeholders.
*Provide training for Extension educators, advisors, consultants and farmers on how to use tools; and how to adapt to and mitigate climate change through farmer meetings, trade shows, Extension in-service sessions, a webinar series with the HUB, and climate-smart demonstration farms in DE
*While providing the training to the Ag agents, ways of reaching out to underserved audiences will be explored under the following objectives;
- Develop and deliver extension-based activities to advance stakeholders literacy on the effects of climate change on agricultural systems, mitigation practices, and resilience and
- Improve outreach to limited resource group of farmers Extension activities will enhance audience's 1) awareness about the impacts of climate change on production systems and 2) ability to implement climate- resilient strategies.
Evaluation
Intermittent evaluation will be carried out to ascertain that the project is on target and improvements to it were being carried out as needed. the program. Pre and post training surveys will be administered during training.
To the reviewer- This portion is still not complete as we still need to meet as a team and determine content and content flow.
Milestones
Milestones (Note that educational material is still being lined up)
The 30 enrolled participants will participate in the workshop training as follows;
- Workshop 1, January 2024; This will be either at Smyrna outreach center or carried out during Ag week. Ag agents will be meet the key individuals at a sitting. It will form the first face to face meeting where topics to be tackled will be introduced. and discussions will be largely based on concerns emanating from climate change. Having the meeting during Ag week will help inclusion of visiting Ag agents from other states to be part of the clientele.
- Status: A Delaware NE SARE- vendor table was set up. Interested individuals got to register by giving their e-mail contacts.
- Accomplishments: 35 new names were included on the list serve. Up to 100 SARE literature pamphlets were given out. Within the 3 days of activities, 98 participants visited the table.
- Establishment and maintenance of demonstration plots at SORC-Spring through summer 2024- With the help of the program assistant, plots demonstrating adaptive activities that help mitigate climate change will be established in readiness for workshops in Summer and Fall.
- Status: Plots were established at SORC during spring. Timely planting-beds preparation as a pre-requisite for good production was stressed by indicating the steps followed on labels beside the plots.
- Accomplishments:15 Farm School participants visited the plots during a class tour to learn about- hygiene, bed preparation and manure incorporation in readiness for planting. A handout containing preferred planting dates for various vegetable crops were handed over.
- Workshop 2 and Field Day, July 2024;: This workshop will be carried out at SORC- wherein we will have a show case of farm activities that are recommended activities deemed to be 'Climate Smart'. Up to 40 participants will learn principles related to cropping systems including nutrient management, cover crop etc. (topics are still being lined up by key individuals). The field day will also give a chance to participating farmers and their advisors the experiences and ideas of climate smart farming through observation of demonstration and participation in workshop presentations.
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Status: Plots were established at SORC for both Summer and Fall Vegetable production in conventional plots and high tunnels.
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Accomplishments: These plots showcased various Vegetable crops- Choice of variety, Production and Scheduling in the face of erratic weather patterns.
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In the summer, 2 trainings and a workshop were carried out at SORC. During the 1st training12 farmers and 5 service providers participated in the events relating to climate smart farming.
- In the Fall, a BIPOC conference was held at SORC and SARE table set. Over 120 participants visited the SARE Table.
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- Virtual meeting and training- September 2025:
- Status Instead of a virtual meeting, in September, we held an annual Conference for Delaware Extension Professionals.
- Accomplishments: 45 service providers present participated in a daylong training that was heavy on AI and its applications towards resilience in farming in the face of climate change.
- Workshop 3 January 2025: This will be either at Smyrna outreach center or carried out during Ag week.
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
- Establishment and maintenance of demonstration plots at SORC-Spring through summer 2025- With the help of the program assistant and student assistant, plots demonstrating adaptive activities that help mitigate climate change will be established.
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
- Workshop 4 and Field Day, July 2025: . Thirty (30) farmers will attend the second field day associated with workshops. They will gain valuable information with real world situations to observe, and gain experience about. The participants will complete post workshop and field day surveys/evaluations.
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
- Virtual meeting training September 2025- This will form the end of the meetings for the 2-year project.
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
- At the conclusion of trainings the 30 service provider beneficiaries will develop their own “Trainer Tool Kit” by the end of year 2. The “Tool Kit” will consist of presentations, slides, hand-outs, references, demonstrations, etc. introduced during workshops and field days. Beneficiaries will be encouraged to share what tools and resources they have or discover with each other. The “Tool Kits” will be used by beneficiaries to help prepare for their own climate smart solutions and technical assistance activities with their clients. Participants will be strongly encouraged to participate with organizations such North East climate Hub, Climate Smart Farm Programs etc. to expand their knowledge and resource base. We will provide contact information and meeting dates for these organizations. In addition, we will encourage beneficiaries to consider forming farmer climate smart discussion groups.
- Status:
- Accomplishments:
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes - Service Providers
Target #1
Give talks during related workshops and advise farmers during farm visits.
TBD (Both Large and Small Farms)
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 10 |
Topics related to climate resiliency included during the BIPOC meeting 2024.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 80 |
| Activity | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curricula, factsheets and other educational tools | 3 | 3 | ||
| Consultations | 7 | 7 | ||
| On-farm demonstrations | 3 | 3 | ||
| Online trainings | 2 | 2 | ||
| Study circles / focus groups | 2 | 2 | ||
| Tours | 1 | 1 | ||
| Webinars, talks and presentations | 3 | 3 | ||
| Workshops and field days | 2 | 2 | ||
| Farm Visits | 6 | 6 |
Each year- Delaware puts together an annual conference. In 2024, we had it on October 29th. This is a great opportunity to meet service providers as University of Delaware, Delaware State University and Department of Agriculture service providers attend.
Last year- 2024- 67 people were in attendance. The focus was on AI and Smart farming. I (Dr. Ogutu) and Dr. Gulnihal delivered a talk titled 'Technologies for Smart Agriculture and Farm Climate Resiliency'. This was followed by a clicker survey in which the numbers reported above were gotten for 2024.
We look forward to our 2025 Annual meeting which will be on November 4th.
Performance Target Outcomes - Farmers
Target #1
16
Smart farming practices including cover cropping and other techniques that build up soil,, scheduling, varieties, adopting new crops due to the changing weather, being aware of new pests and diseases, use of timers to regulate irrigation etc.
TBD
13
Most farmers now use ground cover/ fabric for weed management. Use of soil temperature and weather data to determine planting date. Trellising in high tunnels, Downloading weather and pest identification apps on phones
TBD
verification of numbers- in progress.
Additional Project Outcomes
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 |
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 |
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500000 | $ | $ | $500000 |
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 14 | 23 |
The work on Climate related activities during the first year of this SARE grant highlighted our work and we got invitation to collaborate in bigger grants. This will be captured as a success story.
To be entered...
To be entered
SARE Outreach
- During the January DE- Agweek which runs for 4 days. A Delaware NE SARE- vendor table was set up. Interested individuals got to register by giving their e-mail contacts.
- 35 new names were included on the list serve. Up to 100 SARE literature pamphlets were given out. Within the 3 days of activities, 98 participants visited the table.
- In the Fall, a BIPOC conference was held at SORC (Nov. 12 and 13, 2025) and a SARE table set. Over 120 participants visited the SARE Table and a number of pamphlets distributed (TBD)
Recieved information about SARE grant programs and information resouces:
| Audience | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service providers | 27 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Farmers | 155 | 0 | 0 | 155 |