2012 Annual Report for ENE10-114
Reading the Farm: Discovering whole-farm interactions
Summary
Agricultural professionals are often trained in specialized sub-disciplines of agriculture such as agronomy, business management, animal health and management, or environmental resource management. Because of this specialization, agricultural professionals often make recommendations about one part of a farm system without full knowledge or full consideration of how that recommendation may affect other parts of the system. For example, heavy potassium fertilization of silage or forage crops can lead to a nutritional imbalance in the feed for dairy cows. In the “Reading the Farm” project, twenty agricultural professionals with diverse areas of expertise will participate in a 3-day workshop in the summer of 2010 that focuses on how interactions between components of the farm system influence farm sustainability. In the workshop, participants will conduct an integrated assessment of two dairy farms led by a team of specialists. Through the farm assessment process and discussions among the farm families and participants, the workshop participants will increase their knowledge of how the components of a farm system interact. During and following the workshop, participants will engage with project leaders to develop content for educational materials on interactions within the whole-farm system that include case studies, a website, and power point presentations. As a result of the project:
15 agricultural professionals from Cooperative Extension, government agencies, and non-profit organizations will deliver educational programming on how interactions between components of a farm system affect farm sustainability to 200 other agricultural professionals, who in turn, will deliver this information to their clientele.
Objectives/Performance Targets
15 agricultural professionals from Cooperative Extension, government agencies, and non-profit organizations will deliver educational programming on how interactions between components of a farm system affect farm sustainability to 15 other agricultural professionals, and at least 400 of their clientele will receive this information.
Accomplishments/Milestones
In our 2010 and 2011 Annual Reports we outlined the milestones and accomplishments related to our initial Reading the Farm workshop held in August 2010. We also outlined the impacts and outcomes from the initial workshop in the 2011 Annual Report. Because there was still time and funding remaining in the Reading the Farm grant, we organized another workshop that was held in July 2012 with a new group of beneficiaries. The workshop was rooted in learning approaches and objectives similar to the 2010 Reading the Farm workshop, including participant engagement during in-depth tours of sustainable agriculture farms and businesses and understanding the interrelatedness of components of the farm and food systems. While the workshop in 2010 focused on dairy farming systems, the 2012 workshop focused on organic crop production systems, especially those engaged in food grade specialty grain consumption and utilization. The workshop was held in the Finger Lakes region of New York and visited two organic field crop farms, and a mill and a bakery that utilized grains from one of the field crop farms. Thirty people, encompassing a range of disciplines and professions- from farmers, to extension educators, to researchers and students – participated in one or more components of the workshop.
Milestone 1: One hundred fifty potential project beneficiaries become aware of the workshop opportunity.
We advertised the 2012 workshop to farmers, extension educators, researchers and students throughout Pennsylvania and the Finger Lakes region of New York. A collaboration with the Cornell Organic Cropping Systems Project facilitated interaction with potential project beneficiaries in New York.
Milestone 2: Forty potential project beneficiaries submit applications to participate in the workshop.
Thirty project beneficiaries registered to attend the workshop.
Milestone 3: Twenty beneficiaries attend the workshop and increase their knowledge of farm system components that are outside their primary discipline and discover at least two ways that components of the whole-farm system interact.
Thirty project beneficiaries attended one or more components of the 2012 workshop. Sixteen beneficiaries completed a follow-up survey conducted approximately 4 months after the workshop to measure knowledge gain and understanding of system interactions. Complete results from the survey of knowledge gain on topics such as crop rotations for organic production, weed management in organic crop production and other topics are listed in Figure 1. In brief, between 9 and 16 people increased their knowledge a moderate amount or a great deal in 8 topic areas that were the focus of the workshop. When asked to what extent the tour increased understanding of how the topics focused on in the workshop interacted with each other within the context of a whole-farm system, 8 responded ‘A moderate amount’ and 8 responded ‘A great deal.’
Milestone 4: Twenty beneficiaries learn at least 3 ways that recommendations from their own discipline affect other components of the farm system.
Milestone 5: Twenty beneficiaries learn at least 3 ways that recommendations from other disciplines affect their own component of the farm system.
Milestones 4 and 5 were not specifically addressed in the 2012 training and we have nothing to report from the 2012 training at this time.
Milestone 6: Twenty beneficiaries outline how they will use new knowledge on whole-farm interactions in their educational programming and contribute to the development of new educational materials that meet their programming needs.
Milestone 7: Fifteen beneficiaries communicate with project leaders and other participants the successes and challenges of incorporating content about whole-farm system interactions into their educational programs. (August 2011)
In the follow-up survey to the 2012 event, workshop participants were asked whether they had used experiences or knowledge gained from the tour to make improvements in their farming system, educational programs, or research activities. Five respondents had already made changes, 9 had not yet made changes but planned to do so, and two were not sure. Specific changes were identified as:
- I will incorporate this information in course material and in extension programming.
I now have a clearer understanding of the challenges and opportunities of small grain production in the humid Northeast, and have added that knowledge to the information that I pass onto my farmers about small grain production.
insect control
grain cleaning
marketing
Thor Oeschner’s crop rotations are complex but seem to keep weeds at bay and afford a diverse crop succession, so I plan to follow his ideas to the extent possible in our plantings.
We are planting an organic winter wheat variety trial in association with OGRIN.
I helped directly apply this information working with a local grower who planted her first acre of specialty wheat this year. I have also discussed these concepts with other local growers.
I was able to use a case study of Thor Oechsner’s farm in a newsletter article and will include it in an upcoming extension publication on organic grain production. Better understanding the markets for organic food-grade grains will better equip me to handle inquiries and make recommendations to farmers in PA that are seeking this opportunity. The discussion about varieties at Jerry Dell Farm, regarding using organic vs. conventional untreated was very enlightening. It made me realize that many organic farmers are seeking out the best genetics for high yields, even when the seed isn’t produced organically. I will have these discussions in mind when I discuss variety options with organic farmers in the future.
I plan using information that we learned about the different weed control implements in an upcoming project I work on.
Plan to take students to Thor’s farm based on this visit
Other comments that were made about the workshop included:
- I liked seeing how Thor and Troy thought about weeds, crops, and rotation.
I appreciated the ability to network with the organic small grain farmers/processors. I have continued to communicate with some of them, to both provide information and to obtain information.
It was very helpful and unique to get the farm, processor, and retail perspectives all in one tour for a single commodity group.
great to see succesfull food grade producers firsthand
It was my first exposure to a grain growing and cleaning operation, so it was a start in my learning process.
It help to strengthen and solidify sustainable ag networks in the northeast. There is a tremendous amount going in in both PA and NY, and this trip helped to highlight that. It will definitely improve cross-state-line collaborations in the future.
This tour was definitely worth traveling for. It was very interesting to see that there are actually farmers out there that are making a living growing grains organically. It was also very inspiring to see how if the community works together like it should then everybody benefits.
It was incredibly useful for networking and it strengthened relationships between Penn State and Cornell. I don’t think the questions above about management will capture how successful this event was for building the organic community.
Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes
We distributed a survey in December 2011 to gauge progress towards completing our performance target as a result of the original Reading the Farm workshop in August 2010. Eighteen of 32 workshop participants (facilitators included) responded to this survey. Six participants used knowledge and experience gained at the “Reading the Farm” workshop in educational programs they delivered to other ag service providers and 6 participants used knowledge and experience from the workshop in educational programs they delivered to farmers. These educational programs delivered by the workshop participants reached a total of 732 ag service providers and 754 farmers.
The whole-farm system components that were most frequently included in the educational programs delivered by workshop participants were crop management, livestock management, and environmental quality (6 or 7 participants included these components). Business management and social issues components of whole-farm systems were only included in programs delivered by 1 or 2 participants.
Topics of the specific educational programs that workshop participants delivered to ag service providers and/or farmers included:
- Using cover crops as a forage source on small dairy farms
Organic farming case studies
Potential for rolling vertical tillage in Mid-Atlantic cropping systems
Dry poultry manure injection equipment for environmental sustainability
Best management practices for livestock health and management and the water quality and soil quality benefits associated with those practices
Whole farm planning for new organic vegetable farmers, including how farmers’ goals fit the environment and markets.
Integrating animal feeding systems with land use and matching animals to land opportunities
Educational products that workshop participants developed using knowledge and experience gained at the “Reading the Farm” workshop included:
- Powerpoint presentation about organic farming systems using one of the “Reading the Farm” host farms as a case study
Handouts and powerpoint presentations about the forage quality of cover crops
Powerpoint presentation about cover crop management in forage based cropping systems
Newsletter articles about on-farm cover crop trials, with an emphasis on forage quality
Videos on poultry manure injection equipment and community-based watershed planning
One of the most notable achievements towards the performance target was the development of a whole-farm systems training program for new conservation practitioners in Pennsylvania. The training program, called ‘Ag 101: Understanding Pennsylvania Farm Operations,’ was coordinated by a “Reading the Farm” workshop participant and featured instruction from 4 other “Reading the Farm” workshop facilitators. The philosophy and goals of the ‘Ag 101’ training program were inspired by the “Reading the Farm” workshop but the training format was slightly modified. The training consisted of a series of webinar presentations to provide background information on production practices followed by facilitated farm visits. A series of webinars in the winter of 2011 covered the topics: Introduction to Pennsylvania Farms, The Pennsylvania Farmer, Livestock Production Systems, Equine and Specialty Species, and Visiting a Farm. A series of webinars in the summer of 2011 covered the topics: Field, Forage & Grains, Pest Management, Specialty Crop Operations, Agroforestry and Woodlot Management, Nutrient Management, Organic Farming, and Water Resource Management. Following each webinar series, participants in the training conducted a facilitated farm visit to 1 of 4 farms in various regions of Pennsylvania in February and again in July. Portions of the ‘Ag 101’ training program were attended by 174 ag service providers from 14 different organizations. Over half of the participants were from Pennsylvania NRCS or Pennsylvania Conservation Districts. The ‘Ag 101’ program offered 30 hours of training in total, with 60 participants attending 10 or more hours of training and 30 participants attending 20 or more hours of training. Webinars conducted in the ‘Ag 101’ training program are available online at the website http://extension.psu.edu/aec/conservation-training/ag-101. A brochure that describes the training program in further detail is attached as a supplemental document.
In addition to the outcomes from the original training in August 2010, the training held in July 2012 has also yielded outcomes. Within four months of the training, five beneficiaries had already made improvements in their farming system, education programs, or research activities as a result of the training. Nine more beneficiaries indicated that they planned to make improvements in the future as a result of the training but had not done so yet. Some of the improvements made by the beneficiaries included:
- incorporating information about value added organic grain production into their course material and extension programming
added information learned about challenges and opportunities of small grain production to the information distributed to farmer clientele
methods of insect control, grain cleaning, and marketing of organic food-grade crops
using complex crop rotations to manage weeds and harvest windows
planting a winter wheat variety trial
working with a local grower to plant a test acre of specialty wheat
creating a case-study of one of the farms in the training for use in a newsletter and crop production guide
picking the right weed control implement for the job when managing an organic field crop research study
planning to take students to one of the farms included on the tour
Collaborators:
Distinguished Professor of Agronomy
Penn State
116 ASI Building
University Park, PA 16802
Office Phone: 8148631016
Professor of Veterinary Science
111 Henning Building
University Park, PA 16802
Office Phone: 8148656995
Sr. Research Associate
Penn State University
111 HENNING BUILDING
University Park, PA 16801
Office Phone: 8148638526
Extension Associate
Penn State University
116 ASI
University Park, PA 16801
Office Phone: 8148637344
Website: http://ento.psu.edu/directory/cmw29
Extension Educator
Penn State
301 Valley View Blvd
Altoona, PA 16602
Office Phone: 8149405989
Program Evaluator
Penn State Cooperative Extension
339 Ag Administration Building
University Park, PA 16801
Office Phone: 8148637621
On-Farm Research Coordinator
Penn State
116 ASI Building
University Park, PA 16802
Office Phone: 8148656672