2010 Annual Report for EW09-007
Economic Evaluation of Alternative (low-water use) Crops for the Great Basin
Summary
Water is an increasingly scarce commodity in the West and producers in the Great Basin are facing the challenge of sustaining the economic viability of their enterprise with less water.
Practices adopted by the producers may be an effective alternative to water management through policy change. Moving to alternative crops that uses less water is one possibility. By educating those individuals involved with relaying pertinent information to agricultural producers about alternative low water use crops not only can the efficiency of resource utilization be improved, but agricultural communities in the Great Basin can sustain their economic viability.
Objectives/Performance Targets
At the end of the program it is our goal that program participants will have increased knowledge and skills regarding sustainable agriculture, as well as an enhanced ability to effectively deliver knowledge and skills to agricultural producers. The following is an overview of expected program short, medium and long-term outcomes for program participants.
Short-term
•Understand of economic, political, and environmental benefits of reducing water use in agriculture
•Understand the basic agronomics of alternative crops available to producers in the Great Basin
•Understand the components of evaluating the economic feasibility of low water use crops
•Ability to use the IRRIG-AID spreadsheet
Medium-term
•Create plan to introduce seminar curriculum and other SARE resources into producer programming
•Work one-on-one with producers to evaluate the economic feasibility of alternative low water use crops on their farm/ranch
•Provide an overview of the benefits of utilizing the IRRIG-AID spreadsheet tool and demonstrate its use to producers
Long-term
•Assist agricultural producers in implementing low water use crops on their farm/ranch
•Assist producers with the measurement of changes in water use and resulting environmental improvements such as water and soil quality
•Assist producers with the measurement of changes in profitability and economic sustainability of alterative crop use
Accomplishments/Milestones
1.Curriculum
a. Peer review of curriculum was completed in March/April 2010
b.Curriculum was revised based on the two outside peer reviews in May 2010
c. PowerPoint presentations to accompany curriculum developed in May 2010
d.Curriculum was sent to University of Nevada Cooperative Extension for publication number assignment and publication specialist’s edits in June 2010
e.We expect curriculum final printing in late August 2010
2.Programming
a.Programming was completed with a group of 9 NRCS, UNCE extension educators, and FSA personnel in Reno, NV June 2, 2010
b.A number of comments/suggestions were made by the group, those will be incorporated into the curriculum before final printing
c.Pre and post program evaluations were conducted
3. Additional programming locations and projected dates
a.Las Vegas, NV was scheduled for June 23, 2010, but has been cancelled due to low pre-registrations and PI/Co-PI travel/moving schedules. This session will be rescheduled, likely as a pre-conference workshop in late Fall 2010
b.Utah- Logan: February 2011
c.Utah –St George: January 2011
d.Oregon – Klamath Falls: March 2011
Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes
Programming was completed with a group of 9 NRCS, UNCE extension educators, and FSA personnel in Reno, NV June 2, 2010. A summary of the pre and post-workshop evaluation results is attached, as well as the promotional flyer.
Collaborators:
Associate Professor and Extension Specialist
Utah State University
3530 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322
Office Phone: 4357970444