Tactical Agriculture (TAg) Train the Trainer Workshop

Tactical Agriculture (TAg) Train the Trainer Workshop

Summary

This training program will teach extension educators in the Northeast to use a proven educational design called Tactical Agriculture (TAg). While most extension educators conduct in-field workshops to disseminate current information and strategies relative to integrated crop management (ICM) and integrated pest management (IPM) to producers, most educators do not design programs in such a way as to maximize advantages of sound educational design for adult learners. The TAg program is grounded in educational research and design. The TAg program specifically is an experiential, hands-on season-long training program for small groups of field crop producers in local areas. The TAg program has been used successfully in New York State to teach producers to better manage field crops, protect the environment, reduce health risks, and enhance their own long-term viability by implementing specific targeted IPM and ICM practices. Producers are actively integrated into the growing-season-long educational program, which focuses on the collection of data from their fields in conjunction with meetings to discuss critical pest and crop management issues that arise during the growing season. The program has had remarkable success in encouraging participants to adopt IPM and ICM strategies. Impacts of the program are measured by pre- and post-testing of subject matter and an exit survey to determine the percentage of adoption of IPM and ICM practices taught to producers. We had two separate 2 day workshops on design, teaching, and evaluating an effective TAg program February 1-2, 2007 and February 14-15, 2008. The workshops were very well received, with 15 out of 20 participants conducting or developing new TAg or TAg-like programs in the Northeast.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Forty educators will be identified as potential beneficiaries of a workshop designed to train educators to use an innovative IPM educational program. Of these 40 targeted educators, 20 will participate in the workshop. From this group, 10 extension educators will successfully design and administer at least one TAg program during the year after the completion of the training workshop. As a result, 40 to 80 producers will be reached with the TAg program during the year following the training workshop.

We will design a program to train Extension Educators and other professional agriculture educators in the Northeast US to design and implement Tactical Agriculture, or TAg, programs in their county, region or state. This project involves identifying educators who seek innovative educational opportunities for IPM programming. Recruitment of these individuals will begin with communications with state IPM coordinators across the Northeast. Experts in adult agricultural education will be identified as instructors, and they will work directly with members of NYS IPM who use the innovative TAg program to design a curriculum for training educators to use a TAg program. Workshop participants who implement a TAg program will report back to the workshop trainers to indicate the usefulness of the program in their setting, improvements needed, and behavior changes that take place with targeted producers.

Accomplishments/Milestones

We organized two TAg workshops that targeted extension educators and other selected agriculture educators in the northeastern US, which were held on February 1 and 2, 2007 at the Desmond Inn in Albany, NY and February 14-15, 2008 at the Holiday Inn in Albany NY. We had 20 Extension Educators and other professional agricultural educators attend the workshop. The workshop was very well received by the participants as you will read in the outcomes.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

There were 20 participants in attendance at the two workshops offered. Thirteen of the educators attending were from Cornell Cooperative Extension, 1 from the NYS IPM program, 1 person was from NE SARE, 2 persons from University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension, 1 person was from Department of Agriculture in Maine and the last 2 were from New Entry Sustainable Farming Project in cooperation with Tuffs University. At the completion of the workshop we conducted a post-survey on the effectiveness of the instruction.

Figure 1: Usefulness of aspects of TAg Train the Trainer

-Overall, the workshop was: 5=Very Useful, 1=Not Useful: The average was 4.6
-Talks Presented were: 5=Very Useful, 1=Not Useful: The average was 4.5
-Educational Materials were: 5=Very Useful, 1=Not Useful: The average was 4.7
-How involved did you feel during this workshop: Just Right=5, 1=Not Enough, The average was 4.75
-The workshop activities were designed: 5=Very well, 1=Poorly, The average was 4.0

Overwhelmingly, participants found this workshop useful to their work as depicted in figure 1. The prepared talks and educational materials and handouts were also useful to the participants. The professional educators that attended the workshop indicated that they were involved in the workshop and the hands-on activities were well received.

Figure 2: Responses to developing future teaching modules

-Fifty percent of those responding indicated “yes”, 28% “maybe” and 22% responded “no”.

A teaching module is much like a pre-made educational curriculum for anyone who wants or needs to teach a subject. Almost ¾ of the participants in the workshop indicated that they would or might prepare teaching modules on different agricultural subjects that could be shared between educators.

(“I’ll use many of the tools re: adult education/ technology transfer, impacts and evaluation”, participant quote.)

Figure 3: Participants plans for developing a TAg Program in the future

-Ninety percent of those responding indicated “yes” and only 9% “no”.

An overwhelming percentage of participants indicated that they would develop a TAg type educational program as shown in figure 3.

Figure 4: Did the workshop meet expectations and needs
-Ninety percent of those responding indicated “yes”, 10% “somewhat” and 0% no.

Figure 5: Would participants recommend this workshop to colleagues
-Ninety five percent of those responding indicated “yes” and only 5% “no”.

In figure 4 workshop participants indicated the workshop did meet their expectations and in figure 5 they state that they would recommend the training to other colleagues.

In preparation for the workshop we developed a plan book to help guide the participants in the process of developing a TAg type program. At each talk we had a related activity that would help educators plan each step of their TAg program.

(“The small group size was an advantage for the activities”, participant quote.)

The following were TAg Program that were develop or that are in development:

Table 1: Participants conducting or developing TAg teams
Organization TAg Team Number enrolled

CCE-Madison C. 1 Alfalfa-Corn TAg 5 growers
CCE-Oneida C. 2 Soybean TAg 8 growers
Washington C. 1 Bio-fuels TAg* 8 growers
CCE-Cayuga C. 1 Soybean TAg 6 growers
CCE-NE Field Crops Team
2 Soybean TAg 10 growers
CCE-SE Field Crops Team
1 Soybean TAg Many
Cornell/NYS IPM Greenhouse TAg 25 people
Maine Dept. of Agr.
1 Greenhouse IPM TAg* 6 People
CCE-Sullivan C. 1 Corn/Livestock IPM TAg6 growers
CCE-Seneca C. 1 soybean TAg 5 growers
CCE-Oneida C. 1 Soybean TAg 5 growers
CCE-Essex C. Corn/Alfalfa TAg 6 growers
CCE-Clinton C. Livestock TAg 15 People
CCE-Lewis C. Corn/Alfalfa TAg 8 growers
CCE- Cayuga C. 1 Soybean 5 growers
U. Conn 1 Bio-fuels TAg* NA
U. Conn 1 Dairy TAg* NA

*In development

Since most of the information presented was sound research based adult educational theory and practical application of these methods they were better able to use this in a TAg program or else in their programming. Much of the workshop had applications to help extension educators better meet local farmers’ needs and how to plan a good adult agricultural education program.
(“The discussion on evaluation is something I know I’ll draw upon in my work-it was presented in a very accessible way and addressed many of the challenges of evaluation”, participant quote)

SARE has approved that with the remaining grant money we will develop a set of teaching modules. The majority of the TAg programs implemented were in Soybeans. Because of this we will develop a set of teaching modules that will address pest management issues that can be used in a field meeting. This grant will be completed in December 2009.

Collaborators: