Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Crop Production: application rate management, conservation tillage, cover crops, cropping systems, crop rotation, no-till, nutrient management, water management
- Education and Training: decision support system, focus group
- Pest Management: integrated pest management
- Soil Management: soil quality/health
Proposal abstract:
The American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) (Societies) and the International Certified Crop Adviser (ICCA) Program will be collaborating with other agricultural groups to offer educational programs at a one and a half day conference titled Sustainable Agronomy. We are anticipating 150 to 200 attendees consisting of Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs), professional agronomists, soil scientists, crop scientists, agriculture retail lead personnel, extension educators, environmental consultants, university researchers/professors and farmers. The sessions will be livestreamed to a virtual audience throughout North America. We anticipate from 500 to 1,000 down loads either live or later via the recorded version. Our primary outcome will be to increase the adoption rate of sustainable agronomy practices among farmers in the North Central Region of the US by addressing the question through educational sessions: I think I understand sustainability but what exactly can I do now and recommend to my farmer clients that will help them make their operations more sustainable?
The sessions will address current needs but also identify gaps that could lead to future educational programs and/or research in sustainable agriculture practices. The four CCA competency areas – nutrient management; soil and water management; IPM; Crop Management – will set the broad topical areas. An advisory team of sustainability experts will be organized to help identify the specific topics and speakers.
Project objectives from proposal:
Attendees and those viewing the live or recorded versions will increase their knowledge in sustainable agronomy practices. They will also increase their commitment to helping their clients adopt sustainable agronomy practices on their farms. All meeting attendees will receive an electronic pre-meeting and post-meeting survey to measure their sustainable agriculture knowledge. Six to nine months post meeting event, a second survey will be sent to all meeting attendees to measure implementation of sustainable agronomy practices. Field to Markets’ Field Print Calculator will be utilized by at least 50 CCAs to measure and repot progress at the farm level.