Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Collaborative on-farm research is a critical component of advancing productivity, profitability, and resilience in the organic sector. Our project will partner with organic producers and leverage existing personnel, resources, and knowledge at three institutions (The Ohio State University, Central State University, and the Ohio Ecological Farm & Food Association) to expand farmer-led organic research in Ohio. We propose a series of research workshops and engagement activities to develop an Ohio Organic Farmer-Researcher Network. We will implement five workshops that bring organic farmers together with institutional educators, extension, and researchers to co-develop specific organic research project ideas. Workshops will be held at existing farmer events and will focus on transforming on-farm problems or ideas into viable researchable projects. The culminating event will bring together potential partners and resources to develop an Ohio organic research agenda to guide future work and grant applications. Our leadership team will facilitate monthly virtual meetings and follow up activities by organizing additional events, sharing research planning tools and information, and creating working groups to advance specific research projects that address identified needs. The project will provide funds to defray the costs of participation by organic producers and compensate farmers who lead future research project development. In this way, we will advance the OREI goals of facilitating the development and improvement of organic agriculture production and fostering advanced on-farm research and development which is farmer-led. In addition, our project will build the trust and common vision needed to advance collaborative research for organic agriculture in Ohio.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
Identify research needs and co-develop plans and partnerships to address identified needs.Collaborate with farmers, researchers, and educators to explore future ideas, share experiences with on-farm research, and respond to needs identified during in-person workshops.Build trust, a common vision, and concrete plans for a sustainable, collaborative, on-farm Ohio Organic Farmer Researcher Network.Develop and submit new grant proposals to support Ohio Organic Farmer Researcher Network activities, collaborative on-farm research projects, and peer-to-peer networking events focused on organic farm management.
Project Methods
We will design and implementfive in-person events to engage a wider group of farmers in workshops and community building. These workshops will identify research priorities, organize on-farm research projects, and build authentic and respectful partnerships and shared understandings between farmers and Ohio's public and private research and education institutions. Workshops will coincide with existing farmer events and include follow-up activities to encourage continued discussion. To further reduce barriers to farmer participation, we will offer $100 stipends to offset participant travel costs and lost work time. We will also support the meeting and host organizations by contributing to on-site food costs, space, promotional, and facilitation needs, in exchange for their partnership. Personal invitations from Ohio Organic Farmer Researcher Network farmer leaders will also be critical to event promotion, as well as including our network farmer leaders as workshop facilitators, monthly meeting speakers, and working group leaders. This grant proposal will allow us to support this higher level of farmer participation with compensation for their time. Workshop venues will be selected to encourage participation by historically underserved farmers, and by Plain community members who constitute a majority of Ohio's organic growers and are less able to attend virtual meetings.Our workshops will allow farmers to identify shared research questions grounded in production issues with support from farmer leaders, educators, and researchers. These events will encourage farmer ownership of organic research topics, ensure authentic exchanges of knowledge, and increase the relevance and impact of future collaborative research and education programs. Time permitting, our workshops will incorporate educational presentations, panel presentations with question-and-answer periods, and small group breakout sessions with report back periods. These activities allow interaction between all attendees as well as more personal interaction focused on specific topics and tasks within small groups. Small group facilitators from our network leadership will help keep conversations on track, ensure all voices are heard, take notes, and report areas of main interest and possible follow-up to the whole group. With the limited time available for these workshops, our main workshop objectives will be to 1) introduce research process; 2) share experiences with on-farm research; 3) develop and share viable research questions; 4) begin to elaborate methods and approaches to address these questions. Our network and project co-coordinators will encourage further development of workshop ideas through follow-up activities.To support the in-person workshops, we will continue our monthly virtual meeting series. Meetings will be used to hear from past recipients of on-farm research grants to share experiences with research and network building, resources, and relevant knowledge.Feedback from workshop surveys and input from monthly meeting participants will be used to adjust and improve our methods and approaches throughout the project to improve results.Our project will culminate in an all-hands meeting at the 2024 OEFFA Annual Conference where we will share outcomes from the regional workshops, collaboratively set an organic research agenda, and discuss opportunities for new institutional investments and funding to support continued and coordinated on-farm research and infrastructure for a permanent Ohio Organic Farmer Researcher Network.