Economic Evaluation of Alternative (low-water use) Crops for the Great Basin

Economic Evaluation of Alternative (low-water use) Crops for the Great Basin

Summary

Water is an increasingly scarce commodity in the west, and as more water is diverted from agricultural use to residential and industrial purposes, 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 use less water is one possibility.
By educating those individuals involved with relaying pertinent information to agricultural producers about alternative low water use crops and the associated decision-making tools that have been developed to facilitate implementation of lower 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 enchanced 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.

• Understanding 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 market opportunities for alternative crops through knowledge of demand and pricing strategies
  Understand the components of evaluating the economic feasibility of low water use crops
  Ability to use the WATER-ACIS spreadsheet

• 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 WATER-ACIS spreadsheet tool and demonstrate its use to producers

• 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 alternative crop use

Accomplishments/Milestones

Since the last annual report in June of 2010, following input from the focus group, the curriculum was revised and submitted for publication. Printing for the curriculum and accompanying CD was completed in mid-February of 2011. In addition to distribution in correlation with programming, the curriculum was also distributed at the Small Farms Conference held in Fallon, NV in March of 2011, the Indian Agricultural Conference held in Reno, NV in April of 2011, the Nevada Cattlemen’s, Cattlewomen’s, Woolgrowers and Nevada Land Action Association’s 2011 joint annual convention held in Minden, Nevada in November of 2011 and the Nevada Farm Bureau annual meeting held in Fallon, Nevada in November 2011.

1. Programming was completed for Southern Utah with a group of 15 USU extension educators, producers, agriculture servicers and NRCS personnel in Richfield, UT on February 23, 2011. This workshop was held in conjunction with the Diversified Agricultural Conference.
   Programming was completed for Northern Utah with a group of 16 NRCS, USU extension educators, and FSA personnel in Logan, UT on March 1, 2011. This workshop was held in conjunction with the Utah Annual Extension Conference.
   Programming was completed for Northern Nevada with 26 participants including NRCS, UNCE extension educators, tribal and FSA personnel. The program was conducted in person in Fallon, NV and by interactive video to Elko, Ely, Lovelock, Tonopah and Yerington NV on March 9, 2011.
   Programming was conducted in conjunction with the Great Basin Women and Youth in Agriculture Conference in Las Vegas, NV on June 15, 2011. The 12 participants included basin-wide producers, extension educators and other agriculture servicers.
   Programming was completed for Southern Idaho with a group of 17 NRCS, FSA and UI extension educators in Twin Falls, ID on November 10, 2011.
   Pre and post program evaluations were administered at all workshops.
   A survey link for six-month follow-up evaluations was sent to all Utah and Nevada participants.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

“I am more knowledgeable about alternative crops that may be planted instead of alfalfa in low water years and how they may fit into FSA programs.”

“As an extension outreach rep, I can take this valuable information home to local producers. Alternative low H2O use crops will strongly be considered for my alfalfa operation.”

“I can help to implement growing crops to use less water through pipes, sprinklers, and drip, depending on the crop.”

Of the 86 participants, 77 completed both pre and post evaluations. Ninety-seven percent of workshop attendees would attend future workshops on agricultural water management and/or alternative crops. On a scale of 1 to 5, the average rating for curriculum content was 3.84. The average increase in knowledge gained over all curriculum subjects was 44 percent. Asked if participants would recommend this course to others, participants rated this question at 4.32 on the same 1 to 5 scale. Detailed tables of the pre and post evaluation results are uploaded below.

• 45% have introduced workshop curriculum and other SARE resources into producer programming
  35% have worked one-on-one with producers to evaluate the economic feasibility of alternative low water use crops on their farm/ranch
  30% assisted agricultural producers in implementing low water use crops on their farm/ranch
  30% assisted producers with the measurement of changes in water use and resulting environmental improvements such as water and soil quality
  35% assisted producers with the measurement of changes in profitability and economic sustainability of alternative crop use

• Summary of pre and post evaluation results

Collaborators: