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Explore the impact of U2U Extension Programming at the 2014 Energy & Environment Summit in Ames, Iowa. Discover how surveys influenced farming decisions and shaped extension approaches, targeting crop advisors for maximum impact.
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U2U Extension Programming: What Have We Learned 2014 Extension Energy & Environment Summit Ames, Iowa Sept. 24, 2014 Chad Hart Iowa State University chart@iastate.edu
A Little Bit about U2U Our goal is to help producers make better long-term plans on what, when and where to plant, and also how to manage crops for maximum yields and minimum environmental damage.
Information Transfer • Social science team decided to explore who had influence over farming decisions • Conducted two surveys across the study region • One targeted corn producers • The other targeted agricultural advisors • Received responses from nearly 5,000 producers and over 2,000 advisors • Responses have shaped U2U’s approach to extension programming
Producer Results Full report at http://sustainablecorn.org/What_Farmers_are_Saying/Stat-Atlas/StatisticalAtlas.pdf
Putting It Together • Survey results indicate a “train the trainer” approach may be appropriate • Producers are heavily influenced by crop advisors (seed, chemical, and fertilizer representative) • Crop advisors rely on extension services for trusted information • So U2U has targeted crop advisors as its major audience
Reaching Audiences • Working meetings that are already a part of advisors & producers rotation • Certified crop advisors conferences • Producer agronomic conferences Nebraska Crop Production Clinics Missouri Crop Management Conference Linder Farm Network Meetings
Creating Educational Opportunities • Providing information in a variety of ways • Decision support tools • Factsheets • In-person meetings to web-based dissemination • Addressing multiple issues from a variety of fronts • Agronomic • Climatic • Economic
Corn Growing Degree Days • This tool puts current conditions into a 30-year historical perspective and offers trend projections through the end of the calendar year. GDD projections, combined with analysis of historical analog data, can help you make decisions about: • Climate Risks – Identify the likelihood of early and late frosts/freezes. • Activity Planning – Consider corn hybrid estimated physiological maturity requirements, along with GDD projections when making seed purchasing and other growing season decisions. • Marketing – Look at historical and projected GDD when considering forward pricing and crop insurance purchases.
Thank you for your time! What questions do you have?