Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The goal of this project was to create an opportunity for organic farmers and agricultural researchers to interact and to inform on one another's work and future practices. The primary vehicle used to achieve that goal was the 2-day Organic Research Symposium held in tandem with NOFA-NY's Winter Conference in Saratoga Springs, New York in mid-January 2012. The Organic Research Symposium consisted of 12 research-based presentation sessions (8 on Thursday, and 4 on Friday morning), 3 roundtable discussion sessions, and a display of posters accessible by over 1300 people over the four-day weekend. The Symposium was promoted through hundreds of land grant college agricultural departments, as well as organic farming organization newsletters and various social media outlets. Each session included two to four academic/extension-based researchers or on-farm researchers who each had 20 minutes to deliver a paper, and share their methods, research, and results with the audience. Themes of papers included Grains, Weed Management, Organic Vegetable Systems, Agricultural Economics and Marketing, Organic Dairy Systems, Lamb and Sheep, Pest Management, Soil Systems, and Specialty Crops. Additionally, the symposium included three roundtable sessions where audience participation was a priority. The roundtables did not include formal presentations but rather permitted audience members to interact with a group of featured guests, and to interact in a less formal setting amongst farmers and researchers interested in on-farm research. Many, but not all, presenters made use of visuals during their presentation. Depending on the preference of the moderator, questions were taken after each presentation or during a larger Q&A at the end of the session. In most sessions, the moderator, presenters, and audience had the opportunity to engage in a discussion. Attendees were able to speak directly to the authors of the 35 posters on display during three 60-minute poster sessions. Posters presented work on organic vegetable systems, organic fruit systems, grain systems, ruminants, organic dairy production, agricultural economics and marketing, pest management, soil systems and general farm issues. The poster sessions yielded one-on-one or small group discussion about the poster content. The Organic Research Symposium was documented thoroughly so that attendees, as well as those unable to attend, might have long-term access to the information discussed and continue to have an opportunity to connect with presenters. The Proceedings is a collection of 2-page summaries for every paper and poster presented at the Symposium. It was disseminated to all attendees of both the Symposium and NOFA-NY's Winter Conference (as a printed document or as a CD). A PDF of the proceedings is available, indefinitely, on the NOFA-NY website. In addition, every session was videotaped. The video was edited to create individual videos for every speaker as well for every Q&A. These videos are accessible, indefinitely, through the NOFA-NY website as well as on NOFA-NY's customized YouTube channel. PARTICIPANTS: Organic Research Symposium Advisory Board: Abby Seaman, Anu Rangarajan, Brian Baker, Heather Darby, Louis Lego, Robert Hadad, Sarah Flack, Vern Grubinger The advisory board consisted of experts in those agricultural categories included in the programming of Organic Research Symposium: vegetable production, fruit production, dairy systems, pest management, and soil systems. The advisory board was asked to review papers in their respective areas of expertise to determine the best submissions and those that would be appropriate for the Symposium. They also participated in monthly conference calls to review progress on the Symposium production, logistics, etc. Two additional readers, Karma Glos and Siobhan Griffin, both advanced organic farmers, were kind enough to review papers on lamb, sheep, and dairy but did not participate in conference calls and planning the Symposium. Organic Research Symposium Coordinator: Jill Slater Jill Slater was responsible for producing the event. This included initial outreach to solicit presenters and posters for the Symposium, creation of large mailing database of academic researchers and academic research organizations nationwide, management of Advisory Committee to select those papers most appropriate to be delivered at the Symposium, outreach to solicit attendees for the event, arrangements for the physical space in which the Symposium would occur, organization of all the 2-page summaries, layout of the Proceedings document in Adobe InDesign, design of Proceedings cover in Photoshop, interaction with all of the presenters to make sure that they were prepared with a power point presentation. Slater also coordinated the details of the event including a guide for moderators with instruction and support, preparation of all the promotional language for the event, which included press releases, newsletter entries, and social media announcements. She managed the documentation during the event including photography and video recording, management of volunteers for the event, preparation of evaluations for the event and following the event, written updates and reports after the event, and gathered evidence and data of long-term outcomes of the attendees participation at event. TARGET AUDIENCES: Farmers and on-farm researchers were the primary target audience but academic researchers played a vital role in participation as well. Throughout the schedule, there were always two sessions occurring concurrently. Through feedback, it was clear that there were a couple of instances in which attendees (specifically vegetable growers) wished to attend more than one session at the same time and were unable to do so. On average, 39 people attended any given session. A total of 153 people attended the Symposium. As far as affiliations reported, 42% of attendees were from an educational institution, 10% were from a non-profit or research Institution, 41% were farmers, and 7% were either journalists, gardeners, or other interested parties. The majority of attendees traveled from some part of New York State (13% Capital Region, 13% Catskills & Hudson County, 23% Central Region, 12% Finger Lakes, 4% North Country, 2% Western Region, 6% NYC/Long Island), while 26% arrived from outside of New York State with one presenter traveling from Australia to attend. Attendees were drawn to the Organic Research Symposium for the detailed, highly scientific, timely, organic agriculture based research being shared by on-farm researchers and academic researchers. The small session sizes allowed for a lot of discussion and interaction between panelists and between panelists and the audience. The bringing together of academics and practitioners to exchange information and network with one another was a unique and successful aspect of the Symposium and was noted as a major draw for attendees. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No major changes occurred.
Impacts
Symposium attendees appreciated the vast trove of knowledge available throughout the room and not just behind the podium. They enjoyed the opportunity to engage in discussions with one another as well as with the presenters during the sessions, allowing them to clarify or follow-up on items touched on during presentations. One audience member went as far as to say that without the robust discussions at the end of each session, the session would not have made sense to him and therefore would have been "a waste of time." Participant feedback heralded the discussion element within both the roundtables and the regular sessions. Each roundtable session included a discussion facilitator and a specific topic for discussion, and at times, focused on certain highlighted participants such as those farmers who have engaged in on-farm research. According to evaluations collected in each session, 50% of respondents reported learning "A Great Amount" from the session attended, while 34% reported learning "A Medium Amount," 15% reported learning "A Little New Knowledge/Skills," and 2% learned "Nothing New." Looking toward the future, session audiences were asked whether they intended to use what they had just learned in the coming year. 74% of respondents reported that they would, while 26% reported that they would not. Many of the latter responders were students or beginning farmers who were not capable of making use of advanced practices. In a follow-up survey issued about 6 months after the Symposium ended, 57% of the farmers and researchers who responded reported that they had made changes or planned to make changes in the near future with regard to their respective work. The majority of responders, or 68%, reported that they made valuable connections at the Symposium. Some comment highlights include: "I made some new connections and collaborations;" "I am exploring growing small grains in a permaculture system for use as feed and human consumption.;" "I have set up a worm farm and am using vermicompost tea to stimulate plants roots and prevent disease;" "I think it's very important to connect researchers and producers. It helps researchers disseminate their findings, and gives them a bit of a reality check;" "It provided a shot of positive energy! It was a far better experience than the technical conferences I have attended;" "Really great conference; loved the direct interaction between farmers and researchers." Bringing together academic researchers and farmers was the first step to narrowing the communication and networking gaps between these two groups. What helped tremendously, however, was the presence of on-farm researchers who served as bridges or translators between what were often extreme ends of the agricultural spectrum. On-farm researchers were able to explain the potential benefits of research, both on the farm and in the laboratory. They were able to show, through their own experiences, how incorporating new practices improved yields on their farm. A key factor in the success of future symposia is to ensure that the valuable lessons learned by farmers and researchers, respectively, are effectively conveyed across that gap.
Publications
- Northeast Organic Research Symposium Proceedings 2012
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