Progress 07/01/24 to 06/30/25

Outputs
Target Audience:During year 1, our target audiences were farmers in Ohio and Missouri, agricultural scientists and extension faculty, national and regional policy market actors, and undergraduate students at Central State University and Lincoln University. We identified and recruited 11 farmers to the project Farmer Leadership Team (FLT). The FLT is the core co-leadership group that runs the project. We recruited 41 additional farmers (50 total, including 9 FLT members) to participate in on-farm research nodes spread geographically across Ohio and Missouri with a broad range of farming operations and experience. We targeted agricultural scientists and extension faculty working on the project in order to develop a shared understanding of project goals and co-production of knowledge methods. We also targeted local Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educators in Missouri and Ohio to build awareness of the project across the states. We recruited national and regional stakeholders for our Policy and Market Advisors team and our Stakeholder Advisory Board. We targeted organizations and individuals who are working to develop new supply chains, policy initiatives, or projects that would reward farmers for the use of conservation practices, and who would offer valuable insights and opportunities relevant to the wide range of farming operations and conservation practices in the project. We recruited undergraduate students from Central State University and Lincoln University who were interested in conservation practices in agriculture and collaborative transdisciplinary modes of agricultural research and extension to complete summer internships connected to our three tiers of research, engagement and extension activities. However, we were forced to cancel those internships when our funding was suspended by NIFA in Spring 2025. Changes/Problems:In April 2025, we discovered that reimbursements for the project had been suspended by NIFA pending their review of the project for alignment with the new administration's priorities. This funding suspension caused severe challenges and required extensive changes in the project timeline including: Cancellation of the entire summer internship program for 2025 and the resulting cancellation of the fall and spring curriculum programs for 2025/2026; Postponing to Year 2, training for all project personnel on working effectively with people of different backgrounds and expertise; Resignation of the Ohio Education Coordinator due to lack of job security; Postponing some on-farm research fieldwork (like soil moisture sampling) until Year 2; Postponing the purchase and installation of on-farm weather stations until Year 2 and the resulting loss of key data about spring planting and crop establishment conditions for 2025; Delaying baseline soil analysis on almost 500 samples, postponing critical information needed by our farmer partners; Preventing the hire of summer undergraduate interns and graduate students for fieldwork and analysis in Ohio and Missouri, which caused a severe shortage of labor and placed additional pressure on project staff and Co-PIs; Preventing the hire of an undergraduate communications intern in Missouri for Year 1; Delaying to Year 2 the hire of a Project Communications Specialist and the loss of talented applicants from the initial application process; Delaying to Year 2, focus groups with local actors in each state to Year 2; and Delaying to Year 2, qualitative interviews with project participants about perceptions of conservation practices and co-production of knowledge methodology. Our original proposal outlined a set of potential conservation treatments that farmers could test, including: (i) single- vs. multi-species cover crops (SSCCs & MSCCs); (ii) annual vs. perennial crops in rotation; (iii) use of manure as a substitute for fertilizers; and (iv) use of livestock grazing to increase economic viability of CCs and diverse rotations. These were based on feedback we had received from farmers during the proposal writing process. To ensure farmer ownership and true co-production of knowledge, our proposal outlined an approach that involved deep engagement with the members of each of the farmer research nodes designed to identify specific treatment designs unique to each node. After extensive discussions, our nine farmer groups have selected the following conservation practices for intensive study: i) using multi-species cover crops in a specialty crop production system; ii) alternative fungicide use patterns; iii) plowing vs. harvesting leguminous cover crops; iv) terminating vs. harvesting winter cover crops; v) planting small-seeded cover crops into standing soybeans and corn combined with a typical winter cover crop; vi) alternative fertilizers in established pasture; vii) broadcasting treated cover crop seeds into established pasture; viii) winter cover crops in a corn and soybean rotation; and ix) using root vegetables as winter cover crops in a specialty crop production system. We had initially planned to distribute and train farmers to use Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow (CoCoRaHS) Network rain gauges to capture farm-level data. However, in response to feedback from farmers that they would like instant digital access to contemporaneous and historical weather data, and that it would not be feasible for them to carry out the extensive monitoring required by the CoCoRaHS Network, we now plan to install Ambient weather stations on each farm. Following consultations with farmers and extension professionals in Ohio and Missouri we changed language used in our public-facing materials from a focus on "climate-smart" practices to "conservation" practices, in order to reflect feedback from the farming community about practices employed on-farm, and to use language that would better resonate with them. We also adjusted our approach to capturing information about soil moisture outcomes in our on-farm research nodes. Specifically, we will develop high-resolution soil moisture release curves for collected soil samples. This replaces using in situ proxies to assess soil moisture release curves based on tensiometer estimates. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Our Tier 1 workgroup provided training to project staff, undergraduate students, and graduate students in farmer engagement, soil sampling, cover crop sampling, and forage sampling. Project staff received training on the installation of METER Group weather stations, and one graduate student completed a mobile weather radar training course. Postdocs and research technicians on the project have been exposed to a variety of advanced and high-throughput analytical instruments such as EPOCH spectrophotometer, LI-830 infrared gas analyzer, SR-1 system, ICP-OES, UHPLC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS at Lincoln University's Soil Health Lab. The Missouri Research and Engagement Coordinator attended a course on scientific writing and publishing and received training in soil aggregate stability analysis. The Ohio Research and Engagement coordinator attended a FINPAK course in order to assist with the economic outcomes analysis planned for Year 3. Project staff, students working with survey data, the external evaluator, and Co-PIs working with survey data and other personal data completed CITI training in Human Subjects Protection and Responsible Conduct of Research. In January 2025, one graduate student attended a weeklong SWAT+ (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) workshop, which will assist him in developing the biophysical landscape models for selected watersheds in OH and MO. Our Ohio Education Coordinator attended the Ohio Agricultural Education Summer Conference to build connections and partnerships with high-school teachers to further our agricultural education curriculum objective. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?While the project has not yet generated results to disseminate to our target audience, understanding of and interest in the project has been increased through a variety of outreach mechanisms. 50 farmers from across Ohio and Missouri were recruited to the project through in-person and virtual meetings and phone calls with Farmer Leaders, the Research and Engagement Coordinators and project Co-PIs. The Project Management Team and the Farmer Leadership Team also met in person at the Winter Summit in March 2025. We also reached a broader group of farmers and members of the agricultural business community by attending conferences and events (including the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association annual conference, the Organic Farming Conference (Mt. Hope, Ohio), the BIPOC Food and Farming Network annual conference, the Carver Farm Field Day at Lincoln University, and the Central State Land-Grant Open House & Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activities Day). At these events, we also shared our project flyers and displayed the project banner. We enhanced internal project understanding by connecting workgroup team members and the Project Management Team via monthly remote MS-Teams meetings, and quarterly remote meetings with the Farmer Leadership Team. We engaged stakeholders and introduced them to the project and its goals through remote meetings and the in-person Winter Summit in Ohio in March 2025. We connected with local Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educators in Missouri and Ohio at scheduled all-extension meetings and at local events, informing them about the project and building relationships for future significant involvement through email and phone calls. We used flyers, direct in-person communication, and Handshake to reach interested undergraduate students and to encourage them to apply for the project internships. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?OBJECTIVE 1: In Year 2 we will mobilize staff and research personnel to carry out the planned activities that were postponed in Year 1 due to the temporary suspension of project funding (see details on the Changes/Problems section). We otherwise plan to follow the agency-approved plan (Project Initiation). In particular, in Tier 1, our node farmers will continue to implement the conservation treatments that they collectively identified and will participate in Winter management interviews and group meetings with farmers and scientists to review results from Year 1 and confirm research methods for Year 2. We will finish analysis of the baseline soil samples collected in Year 1, and continue with forage, cover crop, manure, and yield sampling and analysis. We will take soil moisture measurements in Ohio in late summer 2025 and in Missouri in summer 2026, and develop high-resolution soil moisture release curves for collected soil samples. We will conduct scouting for selected crop diseases in one farm node in Ohio. We will complete the installation of weather stations at each of the participating farms and begin to analyze these data. We will also conduct remote sensing of crop yields, cover crop biomass, and soil carbon in Ohio to assess how well remote sensing data predicts on-the-ground conditions and changes. OBJECTIVE 2: In Year 2, the Tier 2 workgroup will conduct the focus groups that were planned for Year 1 to identify local adoption barriers. We will also continue to assemble spatial datasets and adapt existing biophysical landscape models for each Tier 2 site. We will also begin to integrate data and results from Tier 1 on-farm research into existing physically-based hydrology, biogeochemical crop growth simulation, and carbon footprint models. OBJECTIVE 3: Tier 3 will continue to recruit members to the PMA and hold an annual meeting with this group, along with 1:1 meetings between each PMA member and our facilitator, Ernie Shea, to gather their input and advice on policy and market interventions to support conservation practices. OBJECTIVE 4: The Extension workgroup will continue to develop innovative methods to disseminate the project's findings to a broad audience, including through holding field days in each research node with an emphasis on facilitating peer-to-peer learning. The workgroup will also work with our newly hired Project Communications Specialist and Communications Interns in Ohio and Missouri to develop communications products for the wider farm community, including node-specific flyers about on-farm research and farmer video stories. OBJECTIVE 5: The Education workgroup will leverage the internship framework developed in Year 1 to recruit a 2026 class of undergraduates for integrated project internships in Year 2. We will hire a new Education Coordinator in Ohio who, together with the Education Coordinator in Missouri, will develop partnerships with secondary schools to further the agricultural curriculum development objective. OBJECTIVE 6: The Impact Assessment workgroup will conduct a Qualtrics survey and qualitative interviews at the start of Year 2 to collect baseline information from all internal project participants about their perceptions of conservation practices and farm management practices and approaches to transdisciplinary research. We will also continue to analzye data from the statewide farmer surveys. We will also continue to build farmer-research networks and invest in our co-creation and collaborative research methodology, including through quarterly meetings between our Project Management Team and Farmer Leadership Team, and annual in-person All Hands meetings for everyone involved in the project in each state.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Identify and fill the on-farm knowledge and performance gaps that limit the use of climate smart farming practices under working farm conditions (TIER 1). Networks of farmers have been recruited across Ohio and Missouri and relationships of trust have been built between those participating farmers and researchers, and among the farmer groups. A participatory action research model was used to design on-farm research at whole or split-field scale to address critical knowledge gaps associated with CSAPs. Soil samples from each participating farm have been collected and soil health analysis has begun, and data collection of weather and climate conditions has begun in Ohio, in order to begin quantifying the above- and below-ground outcomes identified as most important to participating farmers and stakeholders. 2. Identify and fill off-farm knowledge gaps related to the performance of climate smart farming practices to increase local support and use (TIER 2). We have chosen two communities (one in OH and one in MO) that are near on-farm research nodes where we have begun engaging key local actors and recruiting potential participants for focus groups to capture their perceptions of the value and barriers to adoption of conservation practices. A graduate student has conducted preliminary analysis on trends in 11 agroclimate indices to identify their impact on agriculture in the Midwest and is drafting a manuscript for peer review. The student has also compiled a geospatial dataset for the period 1980 to 2024 to use to set up the watershed scale model to simulate hydrological fluxes and the impacts of adoption of conservation practices. We have also conducted a literature review and identified gaps in existing assessment frameworks for incorporating novel conservations practices (including many of those being employed in this project) into watershed models. 3. Identify and fill knowledge gaps that hinder the design of national policy and market tools to reward farms who use climate smart practices (TIER 3). Tier 3 leaders formed a Policy and Market Advisors (PMA) board comprised of representatives of public and private sector organizations who are actively working at the regional or national level to create new supply chain and ecosystem service payment systems that reward farmers for carbon sequestration, water quality, and biodiversity. There are currently 8 members of the board and the working group is actively recruiting several more. Following an initial kick-off meeting, the PMA gathered with the Project Management Team and Farmer Leadership Team at the in-person Winter Summit in March 2025 to discuss the conservation practices being implemented on-farm in the Tier 1 nodes and potential barriers and opportunities for policy and market interventions to support those conservation practices. 4. Use innovative extension methods and leverage emerging programs to disseminate findings to broader and more diverse audiences. Members of the Extension workgroup attended conferences and events (described below) to disseminate information about the project to broad audiences in Ohio and Missouri, and are building connections with other SAS projects to leverage common networks and develop joint extension opportunities. Assisted by members of the extension workgroup, two participating farmers planned farm tours for late Summer and Fall 2025 to engage in peer-to-peer learning and share information about the project and their experience participating in farmer-led research. 5. Build a future workforce and increase participation in STEM sciences by underrepresented minority students and scholars through hands-on learning. Our Education workgroup developed the framework for an Undergraduate Integrated Internship program, including openingworkshops for the entire intern cohort, and recruited 12 students from Central State University and Lincoln University for hands-on internships in each of the workgroups. While the 2025 program had to be cancelled due to funding uncertainty caused by NIFA's review of the project, the structure has been established for future years. 6. Assess whether a farmer-led co-production of knowledge approach can change knowledge, attitudes and behaviors about climate smart farming practices. A statewide farmer survey has been conducted in Ohio and Missouri to gather baseline data in order to assess whether a farmer-led co-production of knowledge approach can change knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about conservation practices. Initial analysis of these survey data has begun.

Publications

• Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: https://ftgup.org