Cultivating Connections Between Resilient Agricultural Land and Healthy Natural Resources

Commodities

Practices

• Animal Production: manure management, rangeland/pasture management
• Crop Production: conservation tillage, cover crops, cropping systems, drought tolerance, no-till, nutrient management, organic fertilizers, water management
• Education and Training: decision support system, extension, farmer to farmer, networking, technical assistance, workshop
• Farm Business Management: risk management
• Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, grass waterways
• Production Systems: agroecosystems, integrated crop and livestock systems
• Soil Management: organic matter, soil microbiology, soil physics, soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: leadership development

A multi-agency team of extension and natural resource
professionals with a shared goal of increasing adoption of land
management practices that improve resilience of agricultural
systems will expand content of the existing “Interactive Nutrient
Management Decision-making Exercise” to augment the comprehensive
value of this tool for motivating implementation of practices
that enhance natural resource protection. The project team will
develop new curriculum content and exercises that encompass
climate risk assessment, connections between soil quality and
water quality, and resources for implementing research-based soil
and water conservation practices. Regional training events will
use the train-the-trainer model to prepare at least 85 educators,
specialists, and farmer advisors to confidently deliver this
training to agricultural stakeholders in their network and
improve understanding of, appreciation for, and desire to
implement practices that improve agricultural land resilience and
natural resources. In addition to training the community of
agricultural educators and advisors in Nebraska and the North
Central Region to deliver the experiential learning curriculum,
project team members will support up to four participants in
their first delivery of the curriculum to assess the impacts of
our training program and inform necessary revisions to the
training.

AN “INTERACTIVE LAND MANAGEMENT DECISION-MAKING
EXERCISE” ENHANCED WITH NEW CONTENT that includes
principles of climate risk, land resilience, soil health, water
quality, and conservation practices, along with guidance on
securing funding for practice implementation.

ONE PILOT TRAINING EVENT AND THREE FULL TRAINING
EVENTS conducted in Nebraska will generate data to
determine the change in awareness and knowledge among team
members and training participants about topics delivered in
curriculum.

85 EXTENSION EDUCATORS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS
from Nebraska and peer institutions are expected to have the
necessary tools and confidence to deliver the curriculum as local
hosts.

PARTICIPANT CONVERSATIONS will provide peer
support and shared learning opportunities for the 85 participants
of the professional development trainings.

INPUT FROM PARTNERING FARMERS will provide
perspectives of trusted experts who have implemented soil
conservation practices and can speak to their experiences, which
is expected to greatly influence quality of the curriculum,
training delivery, and participant acceptance of information
presented in the trainings. Recorded comments from farmers will
contribute to media outputs (e.g., videos, articles, printed
content, etc.) that promote sustainable agricultural practices.

“INTERACTIVE LAND MANAGEMENT DECISION-MAKING
EXERCISE” TEACHING KITS (n=15)
will be distributed to participants who commit to hosting a local
training. The curriculum will continue to be distributed in
Nebraska and regionally through the North Central Regional Water
Network via the Soil Health Nexus and through the eXtension
Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Community.

FOUR TRAININGS DELIVERED BY TRAINING
PARTICIPANTS (“trained trainers”) at their local level
within the performance period of this project with support from
project team members will provide data to assess the
effectiveness of the primary training in developing confidence
and abilities among participants to deliver the training
independently.

EVALUATION DATA collected during project
planning meetings, curriculum development activities,
professional development events, and subsequent delivery of the
curriculum by “trained trainers” will provide data to assess
effectiveness of the planning, development, and delivery
mechanisms.

OUTREACH CONTENT developed from observations
during trainings, participant discussions, farmer partner
testimonials, and new curriculum content will be disseminated
through existing social media, print, video, and similar outlets
managed by the Schmidt Lab at UNL that are recognized nationally
for providing high-quality, translatable, and valuable outreach
content to support nutrient management and water quality
programming.

WEBINARS AND IN-PERSON PRESENTATIONS by project
participants will promote the value and accessibility of the
“Interactive Land Management Decision-making Exercise”
as an effective experiential learning tool for teaching
principles encompassed by the curriculum.