Progress 09/01/20 to 03/01/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this event was broad by design:we brought together farmers, researchers, ag tech professionals, extension agents, industry members, students and key policy influencers to address access and equity challenges in agtech. Specifically, we worked with open-source software and hardware developers, organic farmers, researchers, USDA staff, extension agents, and certifiers. We also worked with think tanks that support AgTech startups and innovations, and AgTech thought leaders who who were able to bring in AgTech members who have previously not interacted with organic. Researchers with specialties in open-source technology were targeted as well as sociologists that have studied how AgTech affects farmers and rural communities. We involved these broad stakeholders including farmers, industry members, researchers, extension agents, USDA staff, and regional organic farming associations from across the nation by holding listening sessions, implementing a survey, and holding one-on-one conversations to gather input on priorities and develop the conference and hackathon agenda. We focused outreach to farms and farming groups who represent marginalized communities to ensure a diversity of views in advisory and leadership positions. We also involved representatives of several agricultural technology companies who are eager to engage with organic farmers, as well as collaborating with the Gathering for Open Agricultural Technology Community. Throughout the project, we continued to engage stakeholders through an advisory committee composed of representatives from industry, farmer groups, policymakers, extension agents, scientists and food system advocates. These advisors participated throughout the development of the project, and ensured that the conference agenda and deliverables met the needs of organic stakeholders. Changes/Problems:We encountered two major challenges to completing the goals of this project. However, not only did we find solutions to both of these challenges, the solutions enabled a wider range of participants to join us. 1. COVID-19 The pandemic prevented in-person meetings from occurring, so we pivoted to a virtual meeting. This provides opportunities to engage a broader audience, and we leveraged our network to ensure that voices from around the United States were heard. While this change delayed our timeframe, it also broadened not only our speaker base, but also the participant list of who could attend. In the end, more people were able to attend because of this digital focus. 2. Disbandment of the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) We had originally planned to hold the conference and hackathon in tandem with the SSAWG annual meeting, but unfortunately they closed their doors for the final time this summer. Instead, we usedthe platform Work Adventure to host the hackathon and partnered with multiple organizations and farmer groups who represent BIPOC farmers and groups underrepresented in tech fields to ensure broad participation and the development of an agenda and projects that would not only be impactful to farmers, but would also be minority led. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The hackathon was an excellent opportunity for training and professional development. Juliet Norton, a postdoc at Purdue, led the development of a virtual world for the hackathon in Work Adventure. Additionally, the hackathon itself trained agtech professionals in organic systems and organic practitioners in agtech development. Finally, there were several hackathon attendees who had never attended a hackathon before, and were trained in giving project pitches, working on teams, and developing software and prototypes to overcome organic challenges. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?When we engaged farmers in the development of dissemination tools, the top request was for recordings of the talks rather than a written report. Farmers noted that they could listen to the recordings while preparing dinner, milking cows, cleaning seeds, etc. Written reports were less useful, because they rarely had a solid chunk of time that would allow them to read technical information such as reports. In response to that feedback, and because the COVID pandemic required us to hold our events remotely, we developed recordings of all of the talks and the hackathon kick-off and final presentations. Additionally, Hackathon outputs were released as open-source projects on a Miro board, with virtual collaboration spaces available for continued work on the GOAT forum (forum.goatech.org). We also hosted a forum chat about the conference, which has garnered substantial interest from the developer sector, with posts about project concepts. We wrote an article about the conference for the Organic Report, a magazine with a distribution of over 24,000 individuals. The Organic Center also developed a web portal with a description of the conference and hackathon, updates, the agenda, and speaker bios have been posted. We also launched and maintain a social media campaign surrounding the events via The Organic Center and Organic Trade Association Facebook and Twitter accounts. The combined reach of our organizations' social media pages is followed by over 149,412 individuals for Facebook, and over 70,200 followers for Twitter. We have also leveraged the project outreach with the Organic Center's Google Ad Words Grant, which provides up to $40,000 of funding per month for Google Ad Words. This campaign has generated a total of 275,027 clicks and 2,674,981 ad views over the last year. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Specific Goal Accomplishments 1. Provide a venue for a diverse array of organic farmers to directly convey their needs to AgTech innovators and to learn about new technologies that are being developed. One of the ways we achieved these goals was through the inclusion of mentors in the hackathon. The mentors included in the hackathon were: Project management mentors who evaluated the ability to complete tasks within the allotted time and prevent scope creep. They had understanding of funding, business, project management, and open source. Domain expert who evaluated the impact of the project. They had in depth understanding of organic agriculture, and were organic farmers that have leadership in the community. Tech mentors who evaluated the technical feasibility of the project Design mentors who evaluated the user experience and aesthetic of the project. These mentors shared needs of organic farmers and industry members to those in the tech sector, and tech and design mentors were able to share information with organic farmers about what was possible and directions to move toward the future in a joint capacity. We also achieved this goal during the conference portion of the project. For example, we heard from Amy Wu of From Farms to Incubators, who explained the role of storytelling in amplifying the voices and contributions of female innovators in the fast growing field of agtech, and bridging the gap between tech and farmers. Finally, we had talks from farmers such as Karen Washington, the owner of Rise & Root Farm. She noted not only the needs of farmers, but also the pitfalls that have arisen from past AgTech and the potential pitfalls we face in the future. 2. Identify tactics to enhance the accessibility and usability of expensive or specialized technology to small and low-resource organic farmers. To achieve this goal, we included a series of speakers focused on increasing technological accessibility for small farms. Specifically, we heard from David Selassie Opoku of Growing Gold Farms who spoke about the parallels between small farmers and subsistence farms; Jacki Perkins of MOFGA who spoke on the Shared-Use Farm Equipment Program that MOFGA developed; and Wade Miller of CROPP Cooperative who discussed how cooperative structures can increase tech access for farmers of all scales. We also heard from Laura Demmel Gilmer of OpenTEAM, Crystal Arsenault of Islands Organic Producers Association, Pablo Munoz Ledo of LookInto, and LaKisha Odom of FFAR, who explored the barriers to access in organic farming participation. They covered historical and current barriers and spoke from their experience and knowledge from farming, data gathering technology, land access, and barriers to collaboration in building technology. 3. Coordinate development and execute early stage open-source AgTech programs and prototype designs for organic agriculture through a hackathon. Two promising projects were conceptualized with one prototype developed. The concepts were presented in a show-and-tell fashion to the full group of hackathon participants, including farmer mentors who offered suggestions to make the concept more feasible and relevant for organic farmers, in addition to their enthusiasm for the work. Both teams consisting of programmers, farmers and researchers were motivated to continue meeting after this event to further develop their concepts and test them in a participatory way with relevant, existing groups of organic farmers. There was interest in pursuing federal funding to support the full development of the following projects: Ecosystem Service Monitoring (ESM) tool This concept builds off the existing FarmOS open-source software tool that allows farmers to map their crop plans onto satellite imagery with a goal to assist in planning crop rotations and overall farm management. Farm OS would provide the platform to host the data collected for the Ecosystem Service Monitoring (ESM) tool with a goal of using the observation data for multiple purposes such as developing Organic System Plans, fulfilling NOP biodiversity guidance compliance, Organic certification compliance, and meeting conservation goals for USDA EQIP programs. The basic concept design is that farmers input their goals goals (e.g. conservation, biodiversity enhancement), and utilize quick forms that will facilitate data collection and offer suggestions of what to observe. Plans can be added to the FarmOS maps that will help the farmer work toward specific goals like adding cover crops or non-crop vegetative diversity. Progress can then be tracked through goals and milestones using on-farm observations across space and time, with the final step being that planned goals are realized. The (ESM) tool will produce final reports and data analysis that can be used for multiple certification/audit purposes, though the team recognized the challenge that one report may not work everywhere, even if just trying to satisfy once compliance (e.g. different organic certifiers may interpret rules/guidelines differently). Farmer mentors were enthusiastic about this project, particularly its open-source nature. Umbrella Worker's Cooperative The main focus of this project addresses the challenge that many farmers need to work a second job to earn enough income to sustain their household, particularly in the winter months in regions where the growing season is not year-round. The concept of an umbrella worker's cooperative would work in such a way that people could rotate jobs seasonally between coops as needed. Farmer mentors were extremely enthusiastic about this concept and saw this as hope for saving the future of farming as current farmers age out in a time when farming is not feasible or sustainable for younger generations, even if the interest exists. By recruiting new farmers, alternative practices such as organic, can be elevated as traditional non-organic farmers age out. 4. Develop strategies to increase continued partnerships between AgTech and farmers. This goal was achieved during both the conference and the hackathon. The conference not only brought together speakers from many sectors to discuss issues together Hackathon teams were developed with four team members: a domain expert, a project manager, designers, and developers. The domain experts hold in-depth knowledge about the problem and challenge domain. In this case the domain experts were farmers, who worked hand-in-hand with the hackathon teams. The project managers are responsible for organization, and hold expertise in project management. At our hackathon project managers ranged from industry members who are experienced with project management to researchers who are used to juggling multiple research projects. Developers and designers fall into the tech sector, and are responsible for desining the feel of the product, usability, and the nuts and bolts of function development (eg. data and content management). These diverse teams worked together, started projects, and built the scaffolding for continued partnerships between AgTech and Farmers. These strategies had amazing outcomes. At the end of the conference and hackathon the connections formed between farmers and AgTech professionals was deep, and long-lasting. One farmer noted to the AgTech developers during the hackathon "I feel like you are all my new best friends." Another farmer noted: "I was super skeptical about AgTech and this hackathon, but attending this hackathon has made me really inspired and hopeful about the future of organic and AgTech"
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Shade, J.. Organic Confluences Conference: Equity and Access in AgTech. The Organic Center. Retrieved Feb 26, 2022, from https://www.organic-center.org/AgTech
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Shade, J.. Organic Confluences Conference: Equity and Access in AgTech Speakers. The Organic Center. Retrieved Feb 26, 2022, from https://www.organic-center.org/organic-confluences-conference-equity-and-access-agtech-speakers-moderators
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Raturi, A., M. Stenta, A. Sciligo, J. Norton, G. Austic, et al. 2022. GOAT Hack@Organic Miro Board. https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVOLUY078=/
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Conference planning and organization has engaged a diverse combination of farmers, educators, industry leaders and scientists. Specifically, we have convened a Planning Committee meeting with Jessica Shade and Amber Sciligo of The Organic Center, Kelly Maguire of USDA ERS, Ankita Raturi of Purdue, and Alice Forminga of eOrganic. We also connected with a diverse advisory committee, including the following individuals to discuss the conference agenda and potential speakers (see below). Finally, weare in discussions with multiple farmer groups that represent marginalized farmers including the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers, Southeastern African-American Farmers Organic Network (SAAFON), and the food group, to ensure that a diversity of perspectives are represented in both the organization of the meeting as well panel speakers. Bob Quinn Kamut Ben Worley Agrisource Data Kathleen Merrigan ASU Danilo Leao BovControl Cindy Daley Chico State Erin Callahan Climate Collaborative Christina Volgyesi Dr. Bronner's Sebastian Boyer Farm Wise Labs Perry Clutts Farmer Advisory Council Michale O'Gorman Farmer Veteran Coalition Dorn Cox Farmhack, GOAT Michael Stenta FarmOS/Farmier Craig Ganssle Farmwave Mark Retzloff Flock Sara Clow Flock Marty Mesh Florida Organic Growers Danielle Nierenburg Food Tank Linda Cronin FSA Matthew Pavone FSA Alison E. Czeczuga Gaia Herbs Christina Owens General Mills Jeffry Orrey GeoVisual Analytics Mark Squire Good Earth Natural Foods David Vetter Grain Place Foods Emma Fuller Granular Katie Clark Happy Family (Danone) Kathleen Delate Iowa State University David Nichols Loupe Jessica Lundberg Lundberg Family Farms Lori Stern MOSES Robin Schoen NAS Aaron Shier Nat Farmers Union Mark Nelson National Association of County Ag Agents Rudy Arrendondo National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Jennifer Tucker National Organic Program, USDA Cara Fraver National Young Farmers Coalition Dag Falck Nature's Path Foods Inc Jeff Schahczenski NCAT Carlotta Mast New Hope Lindsay Haines NRCS Cara Fraver NYFC Carolyn Dimitri NYU Dennis R. Buckmaster OATS, Purdue Sarah Brown Oregon Tilth Brise Tencer Organic Farming Research Foundation Logan Peterman Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative Nicholas Andrews OSU Extension Greg Austic Our Sci LLC Cathy Jones Periwinkle farms Perry Clutts Pleasantview Farm Jefferey Moyer Rodale Institute Diana Martin Rodale Institute Katherine DiMatteo Sustainable Food Trade Org Kathryn DeMaster UC Berkeley Alexis Racellis University of Texas Pan Am Erin Silva University of Wisconsin, Madison Michael Cavigelli USDA ARS Steven Mirsky USDA ARS Penny Zuck USDA NOP Lindsay Haines USDA NRCS Michael Brautovich Whitewave Ann Marie Hourigan Whole Foods Michel Nischan Wholesome Wave Changes/Problems:We have encountered two major challenges to completing the goals of this project, but have found solutions to both of these challenges: 1. COVID-19 The pandemic has prevented in-person meetings from occurring, so we are pivoting to a virtual meeting. This provides opportunities to engage a broader audience, and we are hoping to leverage our network to ensure that voices from around the United States are heard. Unfortunately, this change has delayed our timeframe, so we are currently planning to hold the meeting in the fall of 2021 rather than our initially planned winter of 2021. 2. Disbandment of the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) We had originally planned to hold the conference in tandem with the SSAWG annual meeting, but unfortunately (and surprisingly) they closed their doors for the final time this summer. However, we have identified an alternate partner in the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), who has agreed to co-house our two conferences. MOSES is an ideal replacement for the SSAWG annual meeting, because they also focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and ensure underrepresented farmer voices are heard. They are committed to ensuring this conference is developed in a way that meets the needs of disadvantaged farmers and avoids common pitfalls around inadvertent bias, racism and exclusion. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to finalize the conference agenda, identify speakers, finalize venue logistics, advertise and complete registration, and hold the conference and hackathon. We also plan to report out to our audience about outcomes from the conference.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Provide a venue for a diverse array of organic farmers to directly convey their needs to AgTech innovators and to learn about new technologies that are being developed. We are in the process of developing a conference that will bring together farmers, developers, AgTech innovators, and researchers. We have reached out to several developers and members of the AgTech industry as well as organic growers and industry members to engage them in the planning process. We had originally planned to partner with the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, but they disbanded, so we have identified a new partner conference with the MidwestOrganicand Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) annual meeting. This meeting draws over 2,500 attendees. The conference will be a hybrid event with meetings taking place both in person and remotely to allow for participation across multiple groups. Specifically, we have met with MOSES staff to organize a hybrid even that will allow remote participants as well as in-person participants through virtual panels in combination with on-site workshops. We are also working with them to secure a central room and several break-out rooms for the hackathon so that programmers can interact seamlessly with the full MOSES conference along with the hackathon event. Identify tactics to enhance the accessibility and usability of expensive or specialized technology to small and low-resource organic farmers. Strategize on the design of scale-agnostic AgTech, and determine means to overcome generational, language and technological literacy-based challenges. Our proposed agenda addresses issues of access and inclusion, and we are currently working with stakeholders to identify potential speakers for the event. For example, panels will include "Increasing Technological Accessibility for Small Farms," which will highlight successful pathways and potential opportunities for small farmers to have increased access to technology; "Equitable AgTech: Advancing Tech for All," which will identify pathways and opportunities for all farmers to have increased access to technology, focusing on aspects such as cost barriers and technological literacy; and "Incorporating Tech into Organic Ideals," which will explore methods to evaluate the compatibility of future AgTech with organic ideals. We are in discussions with multiple farmer groups that represent marginalized farmers including the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers, Southeastern African-American Farmers Organic Network (SAAFON), and the food group, to ensure that a diversity of perspectives are represented in both the organization of the meeting as well panel speakers. Coordinate development and execute early stage open-source AgTech programs and prototype designs for organic agriculture through a hackathon conducted in partnership with the Gathering for Open Agricultural Technology (GOAT). We are organizing a hackathon with the Gathering for Open Agricultural Technology (GOAT). We have had an initial meeting and exchanged several emails with our point person within GOAT, and are setting up a meeting with the full GOAT team to identify local hubs so that we can have a mix of central programming at the MOSES Annual Meeting, as well as remote programming at local sites. We have developed a draft call for programmer participants and identified challenge areas for programmers to consider as teams are developed. Prompt questions will be delivered to farmers who can then engage with programmers to jointly develop solutions to challenges they face. Here is the call: Hack @ Organic Background Because organic farmers are banned from using common conventional materials such as most synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, the tools available to tackle common agricultural challenges are limited. Agricultural technology (AgTech) could provide sustainable, organic-compliant methods to overcome organic obstacles, but there need to be more organic-AgTech collaborations. In addition to this need, the diversity of organic farming operations presents the need for AgTech discussions to include issues such as accessibility of technology for small and/or low-income farms, equity around tech use and adoption, and inclusion of marginalized farming communities in the development of AgTech. The goal of a Hack @ Organic would be to bring together a multidisciplinary cohort of researchers, designers, developers, and agricultural practitioners to develop equitable, open source technical infrastructure that enables research, adoption, and evaluation of organic agricultural practices. Challenge areas · Organic compliance and record keeping o Prompt question: Walk us through how you keep your records for organic certification. Organic operations are required to track detailed information for organic certification and compliance. This type of software could streamline tracking for compliance. · Supply chain traceability o Prompt question: What goes into getting your crop from the field to the consumer? Innovative software focused on documentation of farm management decisions can manage everything from crop plans and inputs, to tracking costs and sales. This technology may be especially helpful for diversified crop operations, which are common for organic farming operations. Farm-to-table block chain technology can enable secure traceability of a product along the entire supply chain and assist in fraud prevention. This would also be critical for addressing and overcoming disturbances in the food flow from field to consumer. · Tracking ecosystem service goals o Prompt question: What environmental goals are you interested in and how do you track them? Ensuring that a farm is supporting a healthy ecosystem requires tracking of sustainability goals. These tools would target variables such as soil health, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, etc. · Robotic and sensing technologies o Prompt question: How do you address on-farm challenges such as weeds, insect pressures, ect.? What are the most labor-intensive parts of your production? Robotic and sensing technologies that can reduce the labor burden for organic farmers by addressing issues such as on-farm monitoring, weed control and harvest. New robotic technologies are being developed to automate activities such as pruning and harvest. Sensing technologies such as drones and remote monitoring devices can optimize resource use on farms of all sizes by providing high resolution, real time data that can be used to monitor pests, pathogens and weeds, track soil health and irrigation needs, and estimate crop yields. · Innovative machinery that improves efficiency and cost effectiveness. o Prompt questions: Starting from when you first decide to plant a crop, what goes into soil management, planting, growing, and harvesting the crop? OR (for meat/dairy) Walk us through how you manage your animal throughout the process of your product. For example, a recent study by Frasconi et al.found that combining flaming and roller crimping was the most effective and sustainable way to terminate cover crops without tillage. Additionally, a current machine developed in Australia called the Harrington Seed Destructor simultaneously vacuums and pulverizes weed seeds as a non-chemical method of weed control. It is currently being testing in limited locations in the US. Develop strategies to increase continued partnerships between AgTech and farmers. Part of our development strategy with GOAT will be to organize multisector teams (including farmers, AgTech innovators, programmers and other organic stakeholders) who will participate jointly in the hackathon. These farmer-driven teams will coordinate and inspire development of AgTech for organic priorities and needs across agricultural scales, for diverse systems and people, and use participatory development methods.
Publications
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