Management and Evaluation of Soil Health: Inservice Education for the Mid-Atlantic Region

Management and Evaluation of Soil Health: Inservice Education for the Mid-Atlantic Region

Summary

Summary
This project provided extension and NRCS agents with the opportunity to learn the latest information on evaluating and addressing soil health. The goal was to provide agents with the knowledge and tools to incorporate soil health concepts into local program delivery. We accomplished our goals via in-service training workshops and the development and dissemination of two educational program packages.
Fifty-nine agents or specialists from nine states were trained in field assessment techniques and basic principles of soil quality during two, 2-day-long workshops held in August 1997 and July 1998. The first educational kit was distributed in July 1999 and included a half-hour slideshow with lecture notes, background resources and a packet of soil-quality information sheets. The second package (to be distributed in August 2000) consists of a booklet of protocols for conducting soil health demonstrations and a list of background resources. Each demonstration protocol includes a goal, description, materials list, setup instructions, and a results and discussion section.
Follow-up telephone surveys show that participants are using the skills and knowledge they acquired during the training sessions in their day-to-day interactions with clients, as well as for group presentations and field days.

Objectives:
1.To provide 50 – 60 Cooperative Extension staff from the mid-Atlantic Region with current and practical knowledge of soil health, especially the connection between organic matter, biological activity, and chemical and physical soil properties.
2.To develop and distribute two packaged education programs for extension staff to use as part of their general clientele educational outreach.

Results
We completed the activities to accomplish our first objective on schedule. A total of 59 agents or specialists were trained in the two workshops held August of 1997 and July of 1998. Participants viewed demonstrations, engaged in small group problem solving, and participated in discussions on many aspects of soil health during the 2-day workshops. Trainers for the workshops included university researchers, extension specialists, and area farmers.
Feedback and suggestions received from participants of the first workshop were used to revise the curriculum of the second. The most significant change made to the second workshop was to increase the amount of time spent in participatory activities such as soil quality assessments and viewing soil health demonstrations. The session on soil health problem solving was eliminated. Also, the evening session with farmers that focused on strategies for educating farmers on soil health was replaced with a discussion of soil myths. The panel was moved to the end of the workshop, using agents with practical experience rather than farmers.
Evaluations indicated that changes made to the format were improvements. The score given to the overall workshop went up from 7.4 to 8.8 (on a scale of 0 – 10, where 10 was excellent). The range of scores for individual presentations went up as well. In 1997 they ranged from 3.12 to 4.78, and in 1998 the range was from 4.0 to 4.9 (on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 was excellent).
Regarding Objective 2, the first program package, “An Introduction to Soil Health” was distributed in July 1999. The kit included the following: a binder with lists of slides, slide lecture notes, 56 color slides, pre-test materials, background resources, and a packet of soil quality information sheets from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The slide show was developed from the information presented at the first training workshop.
The second program package, “Soil Health Demonstration Protocols”, is a booklet containing instructions for setting up, conducting, and interpreting soil health demonstrations is scheduled to distributed in August 2000. The 14 demonstrations are grouped into three categories: soil composition, impacts of soil organic matter, and soil biology. The demonstrations are suitable for a wide range of audiences, including farmers, extension educators, schoolteachers, children, and the general public. They range from procedures that are as simple as placing soil clods into water-filled fish bowls; to more challenging demonstrations that characterize soil microbial activity. Some can be set up as self-guided stations, while others are tailored for hands-on and/or field presentations.

Impacts
A follow-up telephone survey was conducted in June and July of 2000 to determine the impact of the training and the usefulness of the slideshow. About 80 percent (47 out of 59) of the workshop participants were surveyed.
Ninety-six percent of the survey respondents taught the concepts they learned during the workshops to others, and of those who taught, about 49 percent trained 100 people or more. On average, the audience was: 60 percent farmers, 12 percent general public, 8 percent extension agents, 3 percent students, and 17 percent other.
Ninety-five percent of those who rated the slideshow rated it a four or higher (on a scale of 1-5, where 5 was excellent). About 57 percent of those who had access to the slideshow presented it to others. Forty-three percent of those who presented the slideshow showed it to more than 100 people. On average, the audience shown the slideshow was: 68 percent farmers, 2 percent general public, 6 percent extension agents, 7 percent students, and 17 percent other.
Agents are better able to promote good organic matter management to the growers they work with. This in turn will lead to more productive and sustainable farms as nutrient efficiency and water dynamics are improved. This project gave agents the tools and knowledge needed to communicate these concepts to their clients.

Recommendations for Future Training
Our experience in conducting the two trainings indicates that workshops on soil health management and assessment are most effective when they include participatory and hands-on activities. In the long-term, the whole systems approach that is the core of the soil health concept should be integrated into formal training for agricultural professions at land grant institutions.

Reported August, 2000.

Collaborators: