Progress report for WPDP23-001
Project Information
This project will produce 30 online courses that explore the latest sustainable viticulture practices over two years. Courses will be farmer and researcher driven to share science-based and practical farming methods. Veteran growers, Cooperative Extension Specialists, University researchers, and ag experts (e.g. USDA, CDFA) will cover the top challenges facing viticulturalists today including pests and diseases, water conservation, nutrient management, natural resource conservation, technology adoption, fruit quality, and regulatory compliance.
In-person continuing education events require travel, time away from the farm, financial investment (hotel, gas, food, ticket), and are not always available when the farmer is. A library of online courses gives more farmers access to sustainable viticulture education enabling them to learn about topics that actually impact their business.
Skills assessment and behavioral changes will be assessed throughout the project to expand and improve the educational experience in the future. Quizzes and surveys will determine the specific practices farmers learned and implemented. A train-the-trainer tool kit will help grower mangers facilitate educational programs for their own team.
Since 1994, Vineyard Team has shared the latest viticulture sustainable farming practices through field demonstrations, expert presentations, research, and grower-to-grower networking. Today, the organization can capitalize on its large network of growers and successful events to make educational content available to a wider audience. Online courses will be created by recording presentations at in-field “Tailgate” meetings and live sessions at the three-day Sustainable Ag Expo. Plus, new content will be developed by recording courses with online meeting platforms (Zoom) and video.
Ready access to online education helps grower managers educate their whole team to make smarter, sustainable vineyard management decisions to increase efficiency, conserve resources, and maximize fruit quality.
The target audience is viticulturalists in the Western United States as well as their field level staff, growers, and industry professionals who wish to gain knowledge on best practices.
Our objectives are:
1. To provide farming professionals with accessible educational opportunities to spread best management practices in the viticulture industry in a format that is convenient, easy to use, and timely.
2. Effectively educate a minimum of 100 grower managers on current viticulture sustainability topics. Engage participants through a direct mail and email campaigns using Vineyard Team’s 2500 person mailing list. Participating grower managers will share their course learnings with two team members, for a total project reach of a minimum of 300 farmers, so that they can further spread the knowledge to other industry members.
3. Assess knowledge gained with mandatory 70 percent passing grade course quizzes. Facilitate knowledge sharing with train the trainer tools kits and grower roundtables. And, determine behavioral change (implementation of sustainable viticulture practices) with surveys.
- April 2023 | Staff engages Board of Directors, Committees and hires a contractor to identify topics and experts (UC, university, grower) for the 2023 Sustainable Ag Expo (SAE) and 5 online presentations.
- May-July 2023 | Staff hires videographer to film 2 in-person/field meetings.
- June-July 2023 | Staff promotes courses in bi-weekly newsletter and mails postcard 1/4 to 2500 recipients.
- June-September 2023 | Staff films/edits/uploads/releases 5 presentations (including close captioning; quiz; survey).
- July-August 2023 | Staff edits/uploads/releases 2 online courses filmed at in-person/field meetings (including close captioning; quiz; survey).
- September 2023| Staff promotes courses in bi-weekly newsletter and mails postcard 2/4 to 2500 recipients.
- November 2023 | Film 15 SAE presentations on sustainable viticulture topics.
- December 2023 | Staff facilitates an online grower manager roundtable to discuss their learnings, newly implemented practices, and train-the-trainer experience.
- December 2023 - February 2024 | Staff edits/uploads/releases 15 SAE presentations (including close captioning; quiz; survey).
- February 2024 | Staff promotes courses in bi-weekly newsletter and mails postcard 3/4 to 2500 recipients.
- April 2024 | Staff and contractor plan 5 online presentations.
- May-July 2024 | Staff hires videographer to film 3 in-person/field meetings.
- July-August 2024 | Staff edits/uploads/releases 3 online courses filmed at in-person/field meetings (including close captioning; quiz; survey).
- July-September 2024 | Staff films/edits/uploads/releases 5 online presentations (including close captioning; quiz; survey).
- September 2024 | Staff promotes courses in bi-weekly newsletter and mails postcard 4/4 to 2500 recipients.
- December 2024 | Staff facilitates an online grower manager roundtable to discuss their learnings, newly implemented practices, and train-the-trainer experience.
- January 2025 | Staff sends producers a follow up survey to evaluate how many people were educated using train-the-trainer and what new practices were implemented at the vineyard.
- February-March 2025 | Staff evaluates survey data and aggregates responses to determine educational reach and sustainable practices implemented.
Cooperators
Education
This project will produce 30 online courses covering sustainable viticulture between April 2023 and March 2025 for growers primarily located in California. 100 grower Professionals will watch online courses. Course mastery will be measured with a quiz requiring a minimum 70% passing score. Course surveys (including the Western SARE format) will ask if the grower Professional learned new information, how and when they plan to educate their team, and what farm management changes they plan to make. Grower Professionals will use a train-the-trainer kit to educate at least two team members. Two virtual roundtables will allow farmers to discuss what they learned and experience share. A survey of behavioral changes in year two will confirm that grower managers shared their course learnings with their team using the provided tool kit and define changes were made to their farming practices.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
To provide farming professionals with accessible educational opportunities to spread best management practices in the viticulture industry in a format that is convenient, easy to use, and timely.
Develop and publish 30 courses between 2023 and 2024.
- Work with Vineyard Team's Outreach Committee, Board of Directors, and consultant Cliff Ohmart to identify experts and sustainable viticulture topics to film 5 total in-person "tailgate" meetings in 2023 and 2024, 10 virtual presentations in 2023 and 2024, and 15 in-person presentations at the November 2023 Sustainable Ag Expo.
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Courses released in 2023 offered participants access to 1 DPR and 10 CCA continuing education hours:
- Accelerating Soil Regeneration: The Role of Compost and Biochar
- VitisGen2: Using Marker Assisted Selection (MAS)
- How Maintenance and Distribution Uniformity Affect System Performance
- Integrating Mechanization
- Investigating Regenerative Practices in a Production Vineyard
- Foliar Fertilizers in Vineyards
- Biologicals Update and What is New for Biologicals in Vineyards
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- Schedule in-person and virtual recordings with experienced farmers, researchers, and UC extension staff.
- Ensure each course has an affiliated quiz to measure the grower's learnings.
- Include a train-the-trainer kit model to be replicated in each online course.
- Apply for continuing education hours (DPR and CCA) for applicable courses.
- Publish courses on the online platform: Editing videos, formatting quizzes, SARE surveys, and denoting courses with continuing education.
Benefits to Participants:
- Allows on-demand education from anywhere saving growers time and money on travel.
- Easy to use online platform.
- Tracks user progress.
- A quiz to test knowledge requires 70% passing grade with an option to retake.
- Western SARE survey is included to track learning.
- Certificates for DPR and CCA continuing education hours.
- Train the trainer tool kit makes educating members of the grower's team easy.
- Additional resources related to the topic are included in each course.
Effectively educate a minimum of 100 grower managers on current viticulture sustainability topics. Engage participants through direct mail and email campaigns using Vineyard Team’s 2500-person mailing list. Participating grower managers will share their course learnings with two team members, for a total project reach of a minimum of 300 farmers, so that they can further spread the knowledge to other industry members.
- Create an outreach plan including.
- Announce the grant and opportunity to participate for free.
- Develop a signup list to capture interested participants.
- Promote courses throughout the grant with new course announcements, continuing education hours, sneak peeks, and speaker bios through direct mail, email, and social media.
- Solicit 100 grower managers to participate in the grant project.
- Prompt participating growers to watch courses throughout the grant.
- Remind participating growers to share their knowledge with at least two team members using the train-the-trainer tool kit.
2023 Outcomes
- 233 registered participants
- 92 participants watched 7 courses and estimate they "will share some aspect of this project within the next 12 months" with 715 others
- 2,360 postcards mailed
- 2,711 email addresses reached
- 17 emails sent
- 100,000 impressions from press release
Media Examples
Postcard
Online Course
How to participate
Assess knowledge gained with mandatory 70 percent passing grade course quizzes. Facilitate knowledge sharing with train-the-trainer tools kits and grower roundtables. And, determine behavioral change (implementation of sustainable viticulture practices) with surveys.
- Online course platform requires a >70% quiz passing grade. Students can retake the quiz.
- Facilitate two grower roundtables to discuss sustainable viticulture learning from the online courses.
- Review Western SARE survey results to assess knowledge gained, the number of people trained by participants, and to determine behavioral changes.
2023 Outcomes
- 71 quizzes passed with a >70% grade.
- 97% of survey respondents said YES to, "This course provided new knowledge."
- 77% of survey respondents said YES to, "This course modified my opinions and/or attitudes."
- 82% of survey respondents said YES to, "In the next year I am likely to use some aspect of this project to adopt one or more of the practices shown."
- 22 live attendees at the first Grower Roundtable (all participants can view the video).
- 11 continuing education hours (1 DPR and 10 CCA) offered.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
2023 Outcomes and Impact
The goal of this grant is to educate 100 growers through a suite of 30 online courses addressing sustainable winegrowing topics. Since the first online courses were released on August 14, 2023, participation reached an impressive 233 participants and continues to grow.
Vineyard Team's has brought together experts and growers for 30 years to provide education on sustainable winegrowing. As a result of this longevity, the organization has a strong mailing list of 2k.
Course Development
A total of seven courses were released on time between August and the end of September. The remaining 23 courses will be released in 2024.
With grant funding secured in April 2023, the time required to identify topics, secure speakers, record presentations, edit video, apply for continuing education hours, and upload all content (video, quiz, survey, train-the-trainer, resources) in the Fall was realistic and achievable.
Recording some videos at in-person"Tailgate" meetings and others on Zoom gives variety to the suite of online courses.
Many Vineyard Team Members are already familiar with the online course platform, Thinkific. This created a smooth customer experience.
Grower Roundtable
The first Virtual Grower Roundtable was hosted on December 14, 2023. Vineyard Team staff reviewed the most watched courses and three invited speakers from each to join the meeting. Speakers included:
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Doug Beck, Monterey Pacific | Accelerating Soil Regeneration: The Role of Compost and Biochar
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Jenny Garley, New Age Laboratories | Investigating Regenerative Practices in a Production Vineyard
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Lance Cadle-Davidson, ARS | VitisGen2: Using Marker Assisted Selection (MAS)
Each speaker gave a short overview of why their topic of expertise was important, what they are working on now, and what growers need to know or implement. Attendees used the Q&A tool to ask their specific questions directly to the experts.
2024 Communication Planning
A robust communication plan is prepared for 2024 to engage existing and new participants through email, direct mail, at in-person events, and on social media. With 23 new courses coming online, there is a lot of great content to share including new course releases, continuing education hours, speaker bios, and sneak peeks.
In planning the courses to be released in 2024, Vineyard Team focused on capturing a few courses that provide coveted Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) continuing hours. Many growers hold a license that requires earning a minimum number of education hours every two years.
Recently DPR made significant changes to the Sponsor (organizations like Vineyard Team that host educational meetings) application requirements. These include increasing quiz questions from five to 10, increasing minimum course time from 30 minutes to 60 minutes, and increasing application processing time from 30 days to 60 days.
Vineyard Team had already recorded a number of courses, including those filmed live at the November 2023 Sustainable Ag Expo, intended for release in 2024 before these changes were announced.
While all recorded course content will bring high value to grant participants, staff would still like to provide as many DPR hours as possible. The new DPR application and extended processing time may delay the release of 5-10 courses until July 2024. Grant participants will get great value out of the opportunity to receive DPR hours online.
Vineyard Team has other courses that are eligible for CCA hours that will still be released by the end of February 2024 to provide participants with access to education earlier in the year.
2023 Course Surveys
The original goal of the grant was to educate 100 participants directly through online courses and have each participant educate 2 colleagues on what they learned. The target audience is winegrape growers primarily located in California.
The majority of survey respondents described how they will implement what they learned from the courses at their operation:
- "We're going to start by checking the quality of compost we buy and spread. Where wind's an issue, we're going to look at mixing it into the middle of the row. "
- "Using a testing block this year we will be testing biologicals and comparing them to conventional methods to see if it is better to switch going forward."
- "To help young and incoming people in this industry."
Survey responses reveal that the grant has reached beyond the state of California and is impacting a larger audience than originally targeted.
- Four participants indicated that they would use the knowledge that they gained from one or more courses to educate 50-100 others.
- A Pennsylvania grower plans to work with a county Conservation District office, Ag extension office, Penn State, and regional businesses to promote the use of biochar/compost. "This on-Farm production practice will be a game-changer for practices in our local area, the region, and hopefully the state"
- One participant said she would use the course information as she designs, "course lectures for a local ag school".
- Farming education is important to share with customers too to battle food-disconnect. One participant said, "We host customer vineyard tours and will be able to convey this info in this type of setting."
2023 Grower Round Table Survey
A survey was sent after the first Grower Roundtable in 2023. Respondents had this to say about their experience in the grant program:
- "I have found the presentations to be very informative and well thought out." Winegrape Farmer
- "The quality of the content and the flexibility of the online platform are awesome. Super interesting and useful; easy to access." Winegrape Farmer, Paso Robles, California