Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:In our first year, our target audience included: App development company, FarmRaise (developers of the app). Participated in workshop on responsible innovation approach to developing technologies. Also, individual team members participated in multiple one-on-one interviews regarding the app development and collaboration process. Missouri Climate-Resilient Crop & Livestock (CRCL) Project team members (administrative users of the app who contributed to development). Participated in workshop on responsible innovation approach to developing technologies. Also, individual team members participated in multiple one-on-one interviews regarding the app development and collaboration process. Farmers using the app to enroll in and participate in the Missouri CRCL Project's incentive payment programs to adopt climate-smart practices (pilot tests and target user of the app). Conducted pilot tests with farmers to modify the app in year 1. Also conducted year 1 feedback survey to assess usability and the context of using the app to access cost-share funds. Changes/Problems:This project originally planned to conduct focus groups with farmers in the first year to inform the design of the virtual platform. However, due to the Missouri CRCL Project's early launch in Summer 2023, before this project began, the activity was rescheduled to after the first year of participation in the project. As a result, conversations with farmers will now start in the fall of 2024, focusing on understanding the factors that influence their interaction with the virtual platform, their readiness to implement it, and the factors affecting their willingness to engage with digital tools. Additionally, this year, individual interviews with farmers who participated during the first year are scheduled. These interviews will help inform and refine the development of surveys that will provide quantitative insights into farmer participation and their various perceptions. In addition, the scope of this digital platform changed dramatically from the time we submitted this proposal to the time when the Missouri CRCL Project launched due to major changes inferred from the Missouri CRCL Project's funded, USDA. After proposals were accepted, they introduced substantial added requirements for awardees, including collecting multiple different documents from government agencies and collecting a great deal of data from each producer participant. This impacted what the digital platform needed to provide to the team, enlarging the scope significantly. This added workload impacted the amount of time that project team members on all sides could contribute to the project. To account for this, we began conducting systematic observations of team meetings, conducting short one-on-one interviews with team members from different organizations along the way, and engaging in pilot tests as the app developed. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? In this project's context, the team had the chance to deepen their understanding of the Responsible Innovation Framework. This included an internal workshop with the CRCL project team and FarmRaise partners to explore the four dimensions of the framework: inclusion, anticipation, reflexivity, and responsiveness. The PD, Kelly Wilson, also presented on preliminary findings from year 1 at the annual Rural Sociology Society meeting in Madison Wisconsin. We provided qualitative research training to our postdoctoral scholar to improve her ability to conduct interviews, analyze data, and interpret for different audiences. This included trainings on using Nvivo for qualitative data analysis and training on writing manuscripts for peer review. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of this project are being directly shared with the team leading the Missouri CRCL Project, the technology development company (FarmRaise). These results are communicated directly through one-on-one conversations and plenary meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For the next reporting period, we have outlined the following actions, categorized by audience. First, with other programs that use digital platforms to engage farmers within the framework of Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, we will conduct interviews to understand their perceptions, experiences, and rationales in the design, implementation, and management of their digital platforms. To date, we have identified 10 managers from other programs, and these conversations are scheduled to take place during the fall of 2024. We plan to conduct up to 20 interviews with other projects using an online approach to facilitate access to cost-share funding. With the farmers who have completed Year 1, we have planned three data collection mechanisms. First, a survey to gather their general experience with the program, focusing on overall experience, the ease of using the app, and how simple or difficult it was to complete the various activities. We pilot tested this survey in May-July 2024 with participants of the Missouri CRCL Project's Year 1cover crops incentive payment program. We will hone and replicate this survey for other the other practice programs in addition to participants who enroll in the next several year of this project. Second, we will conduct qualitative interviews with a selected group of producers to understand their level of readiness to use the technologies. For this, we will use a readiness framework that focuses on capabilities, motivations, and opportunities. The goal is to have conversations with producers from different programs and with varying levels of prior knowledge and experience with incentive payments. Third, these interviews will inform the design of the survey aimed at understanding the readiness of all farmers who participated during Year 1. This will allow us to deepen our understanding of what enables producers to take full advantage of the technology, make any necessary adjustments to the platform's design, and improve communication initiatives that facilitate the platform's use. Additional information will be gathered during this process from the direct opinions of producers currently participating in the program. These responses will be collected through a feature in the digital platform that allows for immediate feedback after completing an activity. This will enable us to triangulate the results and gain a much more detailed understanding of each producer's experience with the various activities offered by the digital platform. To summarize these results, we plan to develop an article that weaves together the perspectives from both administrators and end-users (farmers) of online digital platforms. This article will review how the Incentive Payments are functioning in terms of enrollment, explore the project experience with a deeper focus on the factors that influence users' readiness to participate in digital enrollment.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective1: Conduct participatory research to directly inform the development, dissemination, and refinement of an incentive payment sign up and reporting app. We established a framework that integrates the four dimensions of Responsible Innovation--anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion, and responsiveness--into our analysis. This framework serves as a foundation for understanding ongoing and future projects that utilize online tools for farmer enrollment in incentive payments. We facilitated the relationship with the Missouri CRCL Project team and FarmRaise partners by participating consistently in weekly meetings. This regular engagement allowed us to actively contribute to the co-creation process and maintain continuous communication, ensuring participant observation and that our involvement was well-integrated and supportive throughout all stages. Pilot tests with end-users (farmers) to iteratively adapt the digital platform to better meet farmers where they are at and make access to cost-share funds more accessible to more and different producers. Findings contributed to steps made to improve the useability of the platform for end-users and administrators. Using the Responsible Innovation approach, we created a systematization report for the first year of the project. This report documents the findings from our participatory study of co-developing this digital platform with the FarmRaise company and the Missouri CRCL Project team members, analyzing offers insights to guide the conversation and understand other projects using similar digital tools in the context of other cost-share programs, including USDA-NRCS programs such as EQIP in addition to emergent projects through theUSDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. Our analysis revealed that technology development is not neutral but is informed by the perspectives, resources, and social capital of organizations, groups, and individuals involved. This understanding has led to a more nuanced view of how technological evolution is influenced by social and power dynamics. Some insights that are relevant for community leaders and farmers understanding on how these digital processes evolve: Understanding the Digital Transition: The analysis underscores the importance of a holistic vision from the beginning of digital projects. Integrating digital tools into agriculture isn't just about technology--it's about aligning all aspects of the project, from inclusion, data management to the farmer's experience, and data privacy to ensure smooth operations and successful outcomes. Collaboration for Better Outcomes: The collaboration between entities, tech companies, and universities presents a path to achieve scale and sustainability in digital initiatives. However, these relationships are also influenced by various interests and motivations that need to be aligned and clearly defined from the outset to ensure they remain in sync throughout the project. Iterative Design and Continuous Learning: The process of designing and implementing digital tools is iterative, meaning it involves ongoing adjustments based on real-world feedback. For farmers and community leaders, this means that their input is vital and that digital tools will evolve over time to better meet their needs. Balancing Commercial Interests with Farmer Trust: While tech companies may have commercial interests, it's essential to maintain clear communication and protect farmer data to build and sustain trust. Community leaders should advocate for transparency and clear guidelines to ensure that the benefits of digital tools are maximized without compromising farmers' privacy or overwhelming them with unnecessary information. Challenges of Data Management and Access: Managing large-scale data and ensuring privacy are significant challenges. Farmers and promoters of these technologies should be informed about the complexities of data collection and how it impacts their participation. Access to critical data, like FSA records, could significantly ease the process, but this requires ongoing dialogue and negotiation with federal agencies. Role of Farmers in Shaping Digital Tools: Farmers' varying levels of comfort with digital technology influence their engagement with new tools. Building mechanisms to deeply understand these varying levels of comfort and the factors that influence them is essential for achieving a digitalization process that is truly inclusive for everyone. Objective 2: Evaluate the socio-cultural, economic, and ethical impacts of this app for different producers in Missouri. Based on the observations and analyses of the first phase of this project, particularly its steps for enrollment and overall participation, we honed in on an important project primary impact: reducing the transaction costs for producers to access incentive Payments or cost-shares to support adoption of conservation practices. As we evaluate the potential for using a digital platform to reduce barriers, we are therefore assessing how transaction costs at various steps--such as researching and seeking information, taking action, planning or implementing, making a contract, and monitoring an action--are being altered at each stage of the farmer's participation. We built a matrix on the potential considerations at each step. This understanding of how time investment is affected will be further explored in the interviews conducted during phase 2 with producers involved in this project, in addition to interviews with other organizations using a digital platform or online approach to engage producers in cost-share programs. Objective 3: Identify and share applicable learnings for promoters and developers of digital technologies looking to increase access to and inclusivity of incentive programs in climate-smart agriculture. We shared findings from the first year of this project with all members of the collaboration process, including FarmRaise and the University of Missouri team. This is key to the continued process of making our program more accessible, but also impacts broader audiences, as FarmRaise works with other projects to similarly improve access to cost-share funding.

Publications