Performing Department
Entomology
Non Technical Summary
In 2009, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) piloted a new program to increase conservation activities on farms. The program provides financial assistance to farmers who hire certified Technical Service Providers (TSPs) to write Conservation Activity Plans (CAPs). There are 12 types of CAPs including Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM planning can help protect ground and surface water resources, humans and wildlife by identifying on-farm concerns and opportunities to minimize risks through crop rotation, pesticide selection and timing, application technology and other IPM strategies. However, according to the Center for Agricultural Partnerships (December 2005), the lack of conservation planning and technical assistance has limited the ability of small farmers and specialty crop producers to participate in federal conservation programs. The major problem is the critical shortage of NRCS Technical Service Providers, NRCS County staff, and County Extension Agents trained in IPM and knowledgeable about how to develop NRCS Conservation Activity Plans. For this project, we propose to assist in development of a distance education module that will provide training to NRCS Technical Service Providers, County NRCS staff, and County Extension Agents as to how to write IPM Conservation Activity Plans for growers so that they can receive financial assistance from NRCS Conservation Programs by implementing IPM practices.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
100%
Goals / Objectives
In 2009, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) piloted a new program to increase conservation activities on farms. The program provides financial assistance to farmers who hire certified Technical Service Providers (TSPs) to write Conservation Activity Plans (CAPs). There are 12 types of CAPs including Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM planning can help protect ground and surface water resources, humans and wildlife by identifying on-farm concerns and opportunities to minimize risks through crop rotation, pesticide selection and timing, application technology and other IPM strategies. However, according to the Center for Agricultural Partnerships (December 2005), the lack of conservation planning and technical assistance has limited the ability of small farmers and specialty crop producers to participate in federal conservation programs. The major problem is the critical shortage of NRCS Technical Service Providers, NRCS County staff, and County Extension Agents trained in IPM and knowledgeable about how to develop NRCS Conservation Activity Plans. For this project, we propose to assist in development of a distance education module that will provide training to NRCS Technical Service Providers, County NRCS staff, and County Extension Agents as to how to write IPM Conservation Activity Plans for growers so that they can receive financial assistance from NRCS Conservation Programs by implementing IPM practices. The steps in this process include identification of an appropriate content provider to assemble course content for the IPM CAP training, development of content, and conversion of course content and assessments to an appropriate distance delivered format (e.g. WebVista or Moodle) so that the training can be distance delivered more widely and cost-effectively. The IPM3 Training Consortium (IPM3) will be the distance education platform used to deliver the IPM CAP training (see: www.umn.edu/ipm3) when it is completed. The proposed funding will provide partial salary support to maintain IPM3 infrastructure as it begins the first step of the above processes. Additional funding will be sought for the subsequent steps.
Project Methods
Content providers will be identified and the IPM cubed training platform will be used to deliver training to NRSC The steps in this process include identification of an appropriate content provider to assemble course content for the IPM CAP training, development of content, and conversion of course content and assessments to an appropriate distance delivered format (e.g. WebVista or Moodle) so that the training can be distance delivered more widely and cost-effectively. The IPM3 Training Consortium (IPM3) will be the distance education platform used to deliver the IPM CAP training (see: www.umn.edu/ipm3) when it is completed.