Performing Department
BIOSYSTEMS AG EGR
Non Technical Summary
Although subsurface drainage is essential for crop production, it can cause environmental challenges such as eutrophication of waterways or lakes. Research has shown that controlled drainage has promising water-quality benefits in the Midwest USA, but it has not been widely adopted. The main reasons are: (1) lack of decision-support tools to show site-specific water-quality benefits, and (2) lack of farm-specific cost-benefit information. However, no decision-support tool provides such information for controlled drainage. Therefore, there is a critical need for an online tool to help farmers see the value of installing controlled drainage on their farms to accelerate the adoption of controlled drainage. Without such a tool, the current rate of voluntary adoption of controlled drainage is unlikely to address the environmental challenges of drainage.The objectives are to: (1) Develop an educational decision-support tool for controlled drainage to help farmers and stakeholders make informed site-specific decisions, and (2) Evaluate the effectiveness of the tool in increasing the adoption of controlled drainage. The Extension component focuses on whether farmers will be more likely to adopt a conservation drainage practice if they had a site-specific estimate of the environmental benefit and cost-benefit information of the practices. Then, we will use the farmer feedback to enhance the tool.The overall impact of this project will be to help stakeholders make choices that align with their economic interests while also promoting environmental stewardship
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
100%
Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
Objective 1: Develop an online decision-support tool for controlled drainage to help farmers and stakeholders make informed site-specific decisions (research and Extension).Objective 2: Evaluate the effectiveness of a user-friendly tool in increasing the adoption of controlled drainage (Extension only).
Project Methods
We propose to develop an educational decision-support tool for Iowa and Michigan's Lower Peninsula to increase the adoption of controlled drainage by increasing knowledge of the value of this practice. We will identify whether farmers will be more likely to adopt a conservation drainage practice if they have a field-level estimate of the cost and benefit of the practice. To test the hypothesis, Extension experts will conduct focus groups to evaluate the effectiveness of the decision-support tool in both Michigan and Iowa.The following tasks will be performed to achieve objective 1:Task 1.1: Develop a controlled drainage tool for Iowa and Lower Peninsula of MichiganTask 1.2: Improve the tool based on technical advisory group feedback (stakeholder involvement)Task 1.3: Validate the controlled drainage tool with field data from Iowa and MichiganThe following tasks will be performed to achieve objective 2:Task 2.1: Develop an evaluation survey and conduct focus groups (stakeholder involvement)Task 2.2: Implement feedback from the focus groups to improve the toolTask 2.3: Communication of results to audiences in the form of training module, factsheet, news articlesTask 1.1: Develop a controlled drainage tool for Iowa and Lower Peninsula of Michigan We will develop an online decision-support tool to simulate the performance of controlled drainage for the farmer's field in Iowa and Lower Peninsula of Michigan (Figure 6). The tool will run DRAINMOD in the background to quantify the nitrate reduction and crop yield benefit of controlled drainage.DRAINMOD is one of the world's most widely used field-scale deterministic models originally developed by Dr. Wayne Skaggs in 1977 at NCSU to simulate drainage and water-table management (Skaggs, 1977). The model simulates based on the water balance. DRAINMOD predicts all the components of the water balance, including drainage discharge, surface runoff, lateral seepage, deep seepage (deep percolation), and evapotranspiration (Ghane and Askar, 2021). This model has gone through several additions over the years, including DRAINMOD-NII for carbon and nitrogen predictions, which has been verified by many studies worldwide (Youssef et al., 2005). This model is simple and has been used by experts throughout the USA as well as in other parts of the world (Youssef et al., 2018). The model's prediction of hydrology, crop yield, and nitrogen has been verified by many studies worldwide.Task 1.2: Improve the tool based on technical advisory group feedback (stakeholder involvement) Once the tool is developed, we will schedule a meeting to demonstrate the tool. The technical advisory group will return to their office and use the tool independently. Then, we will schedule another meeting to hear the group's feedback. Ghane will summarize the feedback and deliver it to the tool developers. The developers will improve the tool based on the technical advisory group's feedback. The technical advisory group is an integral part of this project.Task 1.3: Validate the controlled drainage tool with field data from Michigan and Iowa To validate the flow and nitrate load predictions of the controlled drainage tool, we will compare daily observed values to the daily predicted values of the tool. The observed data will be collected from three sites in Michigan (Figure 8) and Iowa. The Michigan data are explained in the next paragraph. The Iowa data will be acquired from the Transforming Drainage Research Data (USDA-NIFA Award No. 2015-68007-23193). Model accuracy will be quantified using evaluation statistics of Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and normalized percent error (NPE) (Skaggs et al., 2012).Task 2.1: Develop an evaluation survey and conduct focus groups (stakeholder involvement) This task focuses on whether farmers will be more likely to adopt a conservation drainage practice if they have a field-level estimate of the cost and benefit of the practice. We propose to develop an educational decision-support tool for Iowa and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan to increase adoption by increasing knowledge of the value of this practice. To test the hypothesis, we will deliver an outreach program to evaluate the effectiveness of the decision-support tool in both Michigan and Iowa. In addition, Iowa State University and Michigan State University will host focus groups in Iowa and Michigan to evaluate the effectiveness of the CD tool to increase adoption. Our approach draws from research that suggests effective policymaking requires strategically targeting policy design and outreach efforts to landowners most likely to participate in conservation programs (Kast et al., 2021). Studies indicate that conservation programs will have greater success when they promote a combination of awareness, financial incentives, and nudges (e.g., reminders) that acknowledge multiple barriers to adoption (Reddy et al., 2017). We will convene focus groups comprised of 12 diverse producers in each state through partnering with university extension, nonprofits such at The Nature Conservancy and Michigan Agriculture Advancement, NRCS and Conservation District professionals, and using existing survey research initiatives. We seek feedback from groups of producers with heterogeneous views and experiences who may have adopted other conservation practices or are engaged in other conservation programs to improve practice uptake. In the focus groups, we will conduct an evaluation of producers' views, understanding, and behavior toward the tool. Our main objective is to determine whether they are more likely to adopt the practice after seeing a demonstration of the CD tool, which was noted in past research as a barrier to adoption (Ranjan et al., 2019). In addition, we will assess their general views regarding farming goals of increasing crop production and protecting water quality, along with which conservation practices they are familiar with and/or have experience with as general background. The focus group's content will include general barriers to practice adoption from information to operational challenges (e.g., costs, farm size). These barriers include the group's recommendations that might increase the adoption of the tool and suggestions for what other agencies might do to promote practice adoption.Task 2.2: Implement feedback from focus groups to improve the tool Following the evaluation of the focus groups, we anticipate receiving feedback from the focus groups to improve the tool, both in terms of inputs/outputs and appearance of the tool. This feedback will address the needs of the producers and the accessibility of the tool. The tool developers will improve the tool based on the focus groups' feedback. For example, producers may ask for font sizes to be adjusted, additional economic input/output indicators to be included, additional crop inputs/outputs to be included, and/or the existing diagrams to be revised.Task 2.3: Communication of results to audiences in the form of training module, factsheet, news articleTask 2.3.1: Increase the knowledge of farmers and others of the cost-benefit information and the environmental value of controlled drainage To increase the knowledge of the value of controlled drainage, we will demonstrate how the tool can be used to increase controlled drainage adoption. We will support the development of outreach and implementation plans for the watershed coordinators to meet watershed water-quality goals. We will also train the next generation of scientists to be well-informed about controlled drainage and the tool.