2. Performance Target(s) 3. Report on Milestone Accomplishments

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1 2014 Final Report for Pennsylvania State Program Project Title: Cover Crop Innovations: A training program for agricultural service providers and farmers 1. Report Summary Cover crops have traditionally been promoted as a conservation practice to reduce soil erosion and nitrate leaching. Despite decades of research and extension programs focusing on cover crops as a conservation tool, many farmers have not adopted cover cropping. In recent years, innovative farmers and their research and extension collaborators have been investigating how cover crops can be used to achieve both tangible management benefits to the farmer while also maintaining conservation benefits. This has led to a wide range of recent innovations in cover cropping, including new cover crop species, planting high diversity cover crop mixtures, new methods of interseeding cover crops with cash crops, reduced-herbicide no-till termination of cover crops, and using cover crops to provide pollinator resources. These innovations provide farmers with tangible benefits such as weed suppression, reduced cover crop establishment and termination costs, reduced chemical usage, reduced fertilizer costs, improved soil health, and pollinator conservation. The Pennsylvania SARE State Program provided in-depth training and resources on these cover crop innovations to 665 agricultural service providers and 200 farmers by offering a variety of different training formats and resources. We hosted or provided resources to 3 workshops and field days, 1 research tour, a 5-part webinar series, and 4 on-farm demonstrations. We also provided individualized consultation and support to ag service providers and a speaker service, resources which were taken advantage of by ag service providers 30 times and 15 times, respectively. Products we developed included two guidance documents, an online webinar archive, and articles for extension newsletters and the commercial farm press. The work of the State Program was extended by serving in an advisory capacity to projects led by other organizations and individuals, including projects on integrated crop pollination, using cover crops to facilitate reduced tillage practices in organic vegetable production, and using cover crop mixtures for ecosystem service provisioning. As a result of participating in this training initiative, 28 ag service providers used information or resources from the State Program in 230 educational activities that reached 130,126 farmers. Highlights of these activities included: Extension educator, NRCS, and conservation district recommendations to farmers about the species and seeding rates to use in mixtures NRCS Plant Material Center cover crop demonstration plots NRCS cover crop exhibits at Ag Progress Days A revised NRCS cover crop practice standard (code 340) that includes information about cover crop mixtures On-farm cover crop demonstrations and field days conducted by Extension, Conservation Districts, and a non-profit Articles written in 4 commercial farm press publications, 3 non-profit organization newsletters, and cooperative extension newsletters 1

2 Resulting from the educational activities of these 28 ag service providers, and from the direct involvement of farmers in the training program, 607 farmers adopted an innovative cover crop management practice on 34,263 acres of land. These practices included using new cover crop species and mixtures, alternative cover crop planting dates such as summer-time inter-seeding into standing cash crops and early-spring seeding, and using cover crop mixtures to provide floral resources for pollinators. 2. Performance Target(s) 30 agricultural service providers from Extension, NRCS, Conservation Districts, and Industry will deliver educational programs about innovative cover crop management to 500 vegetable or agronomic crop farmers who manage a total of 25,000 acres; 50 of these farmers will implement a new cover crop management practice on 2,500 acres of land. 3. Report on Milestone Accomplishments 75 ag service providers receive access to support and advice from the state coordinator, results from the cover crop demonstration plots, and curriculum materials for use in delivering programs on cover crop innovations (November 2013 to March 2014) The State Program coordinator was invited to speak about the principles of using cover crop mixtures and managing nitrogen with cover crop mixtures at several workshops and training sessions, reaching 200 ag service providers and 50 farmers. The largest meetings among these were the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Meeting and the Big Flats NRCS Plant Material Center Agronomic Cover Crop Workshop. The State Program coordinator also provided individual consultations about using cover crop mixtures via and phone to 15 ag service providers. 25 ag service providers receive an invitation to pilot test a cropping system computer simulation model that can be used to predict cover crop growth and the dynamics of nitrogen retention and supply by cover crops (April 2014) We were not able to create and deliver a computer simulation model. Rather, State Program coordinator time was re-allocated towards developing a tool to predict cover crop nitrogen (N) supply. This tool consists of using an inexpensive handheld NDVI meter to measure aboveground cover crop biomass N, and an empirical model that relates cover crop biomass N to an N fertilizer equivalency based on the C:N ratio of the cover crop biomass. This tool will be incorporated into State Program training initiatives in ag service providers use the computer simulation model as a cover crop planning tool (August 2014) We did not accomplish this. See above. 2

3 50 ag service providers receive a performance target verification survey from project coordinators and 30 report results and outcomes from the delivery of programs to farmers on cover crop innovations (September 2014) We only surveyed 12 ag service providers this year to verify performance target outcomes. Eleven ag service providers responded to the survey. The reduced number of service providers surveyed was due to the coordinator s decision to pursue only high-value clientele for whom there were known outcomes. This strategy was extremely fruitful, as these 11 high-value clientele reported conducting 224 activities using information from the State Program, reaching 29,124 farmers. These service providers also reported that 600 farmers implemented innovative cover crop practices on 33,866 acres of land using information derived from the State Program Year Summary of Activities, Participants, Learning Outcomes and Products Table 1 Activities. Type of Educational Activity Conducted by Project Number of Each Activity Conducted Workshop/Field Day 3 On-farm Demonstration 4 Tour 1 Webinar/Talk/Presentation 20 Other on-line training Individual Consultations (an estimate is acceptable) 30 Other (specify) Table 2 Participants. Type of Agricultural Service Provider Number Who Participated Extension 84 NRCS 133 Other Federal/State Agency Other (specify) Non-profit (22) Industry (150) Unidentified component of participants (276) 448 3

4 Total Number of Agricultural Service Providers* 665 Farmers 200 Table 3 - Learning Outcomes. Total Number of Agricultural Service Providers Verified an increase in knowledge, skills, confidence Verified intention to use knowledge and/or skills learned Total Number of Farmers Total number of acres or animals the farmers manage, if known *Bulleted list of only the key knowledge and skill areas for which you verified an increase in knowledge and skills. Management practices for cover crop mixtures, including species selection and seeding rates Using cover crops for forage Interseeding cover crops Cover crop/herbicide interactions Managing nitrogen with cover crop mixtures Spring Seedbed Characteristics After Winter-killed Cover Crops Invertebrate Pests and Their Natural Enemies Optimizing Weed Suppression and Nutrient Use Efficiency in Cover Crop-Based No-Till Organic Corn Table 4 Products. Type of Information Product Produced Fact sheet/guidance document 2 Decision tool Website/web content 5 Article (newsletter, press) 4 Curricula Video Other (specify) Number of Each Type Produced 5. Performance Target Outcomes and Additional, Unanticipated Outcomes 4

5 a. Summarized Outcome Data Table 5 Numbers of agricultural service providers taking action The total number of agricultural service providers who incorporated information and/or used skills learned through the state program training activities in their educational activities, services and/or information products for farmers. The total number of farmers these agricultural service providers reached through their efforts ,126 Table 6 Actions taken by the agricultural service providers Place an X next to all that apply Types of Educational Activities Ag Service Providers incorporated information they learned into Number of Each Activity Type, if known X Workshop/Field Day 37 X On-farm Demonstration 19 X Webinar/Talk/Presentation 41 Other on-line training X Individual Consultation (an estimate is acceptable) 112 X Fact sheet/guidance document 4 X Article (newsletter, press) 16 X Web content 1 Other (specify) Table 7 OPTIONAL - Actions taken by farmers The number of farmers who made a management change as a result of learning from the project activities and/or the trained agricultural service providers? 607 Bulleted list of the changes made by farmers Using cover crop mixtures with appropriately designed species and seeding rates New use of winter cover crop monocultures, including cereal rye seeding, forage radish, and winter wheat Interseeding clover into standing corn Spring pea drilling prior to corn planting Trialing new management of winter cover crop seed mix, to provide resources for overwintered bumble bee queens Trialing summer planting of seed mix to achieve floral resources for gyne life stage 5

6 of the pollintator, Bombus impatiens Spread barley on soybean stubble, turbotilled Using spring legume cover crop on most of crop ground now Number of acres, animals, or other appropriate production units that were affected by these changes. (please enter your best estimate; you may leave this blank if you have no idea) 34,263 Table 8 OPTIONAL Additional outcomes as a result of the project Type of Outcomes Achieved Number of Each Outcome New working collaboration 3 Grants applied for 2 Grants or other funds received 2 Other (describe) Revisions of an objective in a current grant, known as Project Integrated Crop Pollination ('Project ICP', Submitted by PSU Entomology Professor [The Pennsylvania NE-SARE State Program s] great knowledge, original thinking, hard work, collaboration with others and positive attitude has changed the trajectory of cover crop adoption by the early majority of farmers in Pennsylvania. As a result, cover crop adoption is increasing at the exponential rate now. Submitted by PA-NRCS State Agronomist I am looked to as a key statewide resource on cover crops in Virginia. [The Pennsylvania NE-SARE State Program s] help and work has been one of the single most useful forms of outside information I have come across in the past few years to help me fulfill my job. I am integrating concepts (rather than data or documents) into my own products and outreach. In that manner, [the Program s] work is being extended in a way that is far greater than what is obvious from the outside. Submitted by VA-NRCS State Agronomist 3 b. Outcome Narrative The Pennsylvania State Program training initiative conducted a broad range of training activities in the first two years of the project to increase ag service providers knowledge and skills related to innovative cover crop management practices. Through field days, workshops and a webinar series, we reached 665 ag service providers and 200 farmers with content about new cover crop species, cover crop mixtures, interseeding cover crops, facilitating organic no-till with cover crops, and managing insect pests and 6

7 natural enemies with cover crops. Of these participants, 333 ag service providers and 75 farmers verified an increase in knowledge and skills related to cover crop innovations. These broadly attended activities gave the State Program a platform to identify and nurture a select group of ag service providers that were highly motivated to deliver educational programs about cover crop innovations to their farmer clientele. The State Program provided intensive, individualized support to each of these ag service providers to build their capacity for conducting educational activities related to cover crop innovations. In some cases, this support involved providing guidance documents about managing cover crop mixtures or results from research station and on-farm experiments. In other cases, we provided seed for cover crop demonstration plots or potted plant specimens for cover crop exhibits. We provided individual consultations to many of these ag service providers to help them identify cover crop species or seeding rates of mixtures for their farmer clientele. We also provided a speaker service, where State Program personnel would attend a workshop or field day organized by the ag service provider and present on a cover crop topic of interest. The time and energy invested in training this small group of highly motivated individuals paid large dividends. Eleven of these ag service providers responded to an outcome verification survey at the end of the project period. Altogether, they conducted 224 educational activities using information about cover crop innovations derived from the State Program, reaching 29,124 farmers. These service providers also reported that 600 farmers implemented innovative cover crop practices on 33,866 acres using information derived from the State Program. In addition to the outcomes achieved by the core group of highly motivated ag service providers, information from the State Program was extend to very broad audiences through farm press publications and non-profit organization newsletters. Publications such as Corn and Soybean Digest, Progressive Forage Grower, Country Folks, Lancaster Farming, the PA Certified Organic Organic Matters newsletter, the PA Association for Sustainable Agriculture Passages newsletter, and the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Association newsletter wrote or solicited articles based on cover crop information from the State Program. We conservatively estimate that 100,000 farmers received information from the State Program through these channels. Finally, the work of the State Program was extended by advising and collaborating with projects led by other organizations and individuals. For example, we advised PSU Entomology researchers about the phenology of flowering cover crop species and how to appropriately manage these species in a mixture. As a result, the USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative-funded Project Integrated Crop Pollination incorporated flowering cover crop mixtures as one of the practices to test in on-farm research trials. We served as an advisor and provided technical support to the PA Association for Sustainable Agriculture, who was awarded a grant from a local conservation district to conduct on-farm trials and education events about using cover crops to facilitate reduced-tillage vegetable production. We also collaborated with a NE-SARE-funded project on winter-killed cover crops based at the Univ. of Maryland to provide a platform for engagement with farmers and ag service providers in Pennsylvania. We worked with the winter-killed cover crop project to organize an on-farm trial for two years at a Pennsylvania vegetable farm and were able to facilitate involvement from the project in 2 field days, 2 conference workshops, and a webinar series held in Pennsylvania. In total, the State Program enabled 28 ag service providers to conduct 230 educational activities about cover crop innovations that reached 130,126 farmers. As a result of the ag service provider activities 7

8 and the direct involvement of farmers in State Program training initiatives, 607 farmers adopted an innovative cover crop management practice on 34,263 acres of land. These practices included using new cover crop species and mixtures, alternative cover crop planting dates such as summer-time interseeding into standing cash crops and early-spring seeding, and using cover crop mixtures to provide floral resources for pollinators. Performance Target Outcomes Overview As a result of State Program training initiatives, 28 ag service providers conducted 230 educational activities about cover crop innovations that reached 130,126 farmers. The vast majority of activities were conducted by a group of 11 highly motivated ag service providers that were identified through State Program training events and nurtured with intensive, individualized support from the State Program. On the other hand, the vast majority of farmers reached with State Program content were through articles published by the commercial farm press. Having a core group of ag service providers that worked closely with the State Program allowed us to verify significant farmer adoption of cover crop innovations. The 11 ag service providers were able to use their local knowledge to verify that 600 farmers implemented innovative cover crop practices on 33,866 acres of land using information derived from the State Program. The only other verification of farmer adoption of cover crop innovations was from a follow-up survey to the Cover Crop Innovations Webinar series, where we determined that 7 farmers adopted practices on 397 acres. Partnerships with NRCS State Offices and NRCS Plant Materials Center The Pennsylvania NE-SARE State Program provided significant levels of support to the NRCS State Agronomists in Pennsylvania and Virginia and the Big Flats NRCS Plant Materials Center. The recent NRCS Soil Health Initiative dovetailed perfectly with our State Program content on cover crop mixtures, and NRCS was able to utilize information and resources from the State Program to advance their activities. We provided the NRCS State Agronomists with [The NE-SARE PA State Program] provided me with key information including slides and printed documents about cover crop work over the past two years. I have listened to multiple pre-recorded webinars featuring PA and NE SARE cover crop work. I consider [the State Program] one of the very top Extension resources on cover crops in the mid-atlantic region. I include a one-page excerpt from [the State Program s] documents about formulating mixtures every time I create a handout to give during field or classroom presentations on advanced cover crop management. [These] rules of thumb on formulating cover crop mixes have guided me in making my own mixtures during multiple seasons of on-farm demonstrations all over VA. [The State Program s] help and work has been one of the single most useful forms of outside information I have come across in the past few years to help me fulfill my job. I am integrating [these] concepts (rather than data or documents) into my own products and outreach. In that manner, [the State Program] work is being extended in a way that is far greater than what is obvious from the outside. Virginia NRCS State Agronomist 8

9 guidance documents and power point presentations on agronomic management principles for cover crop mixtures and managing nitrogen with cover crop mixtures. The PA-NRCS State Agronomist used these guidance documents to revise the NRCS Conservation Practice Standards for Cover Crops (Code 340) to specify guidelines for the use of cover crop mixtures. Subsequently, 529 farmers followed these guidelines to obtain EQIP funding for planting cover crops on 22,235 acres. The VA-NRCS State Agronomist used the guidance documents and power point presentations we provided to conduct 48 educational activities that reached 1,070 farmers. As a result, 15 farmers designed appropriate seeding rates of cover crop mixtures planted on 2,250 acres. We also supported the PA-NRCS State Agronomist in the development of a highly engaging cover crop exhibit at Ag Progress Days. We supplied potted specimens of 20 different cover crop species in monocultures and mixtures for display at the exhibit in 2013 and We estimate that 5,000 farmers interacted with this exhibit in each year (total attendance at Ag Progress Days is 40,000 people per year). Lastly, we supported the Big Flats NRCS Plant Materials Center in their efforts to conduct cover crop programming. We supplied cover crop seed to the Plant Material Center for demonstration plots that were featured at 4 field days attended by 400 farmers. We also offered a speaker s service to the Plant Material Center to enhance their workshop offerings and the State Program presented on cover crop mixtures at two workshops attended by 200 farmers. Supporting Extension Educator, Conservation District, Industry and Farmer Activities The Pennsylvania State Program offered several services to extension educator, conservation district, industry and farmer clientele to support and enhance their programming related to cover crop innovations. These services included guidance documents and power point presentations, individual consultations to identify appropriate cover crop species and management practices for their farmer clientele, and a speaker service from the State Program to enhance their cover crop programs. An extension educator in NY was able to use information from these services to conduct 2 workshops and 30 individual consultations, write 4 newsletter articles, and establish an on-farm cover crop demonstration, reaching 895 farmers. As a result of this extension educator s activities, 29 farmers increased cover crop usage or planted cover crop mixtures on 9,025 acres. In Pennsylvania, an extension educator, conservation district employee, and an industry sales representative were able to use resources from the State Program to conduct 36 individual consultations with farmers to identify appropriate cover crop management practices, species selection, and seeding rates for mixtures. As a result of these consultations, 11 farmers 9

10 implemented innovative cover crop management practices, including planting mixtures, interseeding cover crops into corn, and planting cover crops in spring. The State Program also worked with a prominent organic dairy farm in Pennsylvania to identify cover crop mixtures to use in their rotation between spelt and corn. The farm adopted two types of cover crop mixtures to use in their rotation- a forage radish/annual ryegrass/crimson clover blend and a sorghum-sudangrass/annual ryegrass/crimson clover blend. Both mixtures were designed to allow for forage harvesting if needed, as well as to offset nitrogen fertilizer inputs for the following corn crop. The farm has planted these mixtures on 150 acres each year for the past two years. The farm has also hosted a field day in each of the past two years during which they discussed the process of designing and managing these cover crop mixtures, reaching 250 other farmers with the information. Media Engagement through the Commercial Farm Press and Grassroots Newsletters While our intensive work with a core group of highly motivated ag service providers yielded a variety of high-value outcomes, we were also able to reach massive numbers of farmers with State Program content through engagement with the commercial farm press and grassroots farmer newsletters. We conservatively estimate that we reached over 100,000 farmers through various media outlets (we were unable to verify circulation numbers for two key media outlets). Corn and Soybean Digest (circulation not verified) published an article about interseeding cover crops and Country Folks (circulation not verified) published two articles about reduced tillage using winter-killed cover crops and innovative field day activities based on webinars presented by the State Program. Progressive Forage Grower (circulation 45,000) solicited an article about monitoring nitrogen supply from cover crop mixtures based on a field day activity developed by the State Program. Lancaster Farming (circulation 55,000) re-printed an extension newsletter article on nitrogen supply from cover crops written by the State Program. Pennsylvania Certified Organic and the Northeast Organic Dairy Producer Association each wrote or solicited articles for their newsletters (circulation estimated at 1,000 and 500 respectively) using information about innovative cover crop management provided by the State Program. Other Results, Unanticipated Outcomes and Interesting Finding In addition to the traditional train-the-trainer approach to professional development projects, several research and education teams called upon the Pennsylvania State Program to serve as a technical advisor and outreach collaborator for their projects. The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) utilized the State Program as a technical advisor on a grant they received from the Allegheny Conservation District to establish on-farm cover crop demonstrations and conduct educational activities. We worked with PASA 10

11 staff and their farmer collaborators to identify cover crop practices that could facilitate reduced tillage organic vegetable production, such as using winter-killed cover crops and winter-hardy cover crops that could be terminated by mowing. The PASA-led project team used this advising to establish 5 on-farm cover crop demonstrations, conduct 2 workshops, and write one newsletter article. The State Program also provided a speaker service to present at one of the workshops. In total, these activities reached 6,029 farmers with information about innovative cover crop management practices. The Pennsylvania State Program also advised a Penn State entomology research team about how to use mixtures of flowering cover crop species to provide resources to native pollinators. The Penn State research team used information about the phenology of flowering cover crop species to design two cover crop mixtures to plant in 5 on-farm experiments. The research work was embedded in a multi-state USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative Coordinated Agricultural Project grant. Using information provided by the State Program and results from the on-farm experiments, the Penn State entomology research team conducted 2 workshops and 2 webinars and wrote one newsletter article, reaching 512 farmers. Additionally, the research team used this information to conducted a 2- day in-service on Pollinator Health and Ecosystem Services of Pollination, attended by 20 extension educators. Finally, the Pennsylvania State Program collaborated with the SARE-funded Research and Education project No-till, noherbicide planting of spring vegetables using low-residue winter-killed cover crops to provide a platform for on-farm demonstrations and outreach in Pennsylvania. The State Program facilitated two years of on-farm demonstrations of forage radish and oat cover [The NE-SARE Pennsylvania State Program] invited us to participate in a webinar series which drew a lot of attention to our project and shared information about our cover crop project with other groups and people, including PASA and other PSU extension agents, and helped us make connections within PA. As a result, we have been able to have on-farm trials in PA and had articles published in newsletters for Penn State, PASA, Pennsylvania Certified Organic, and the Small Farm Journal. We have also interacted [with the State Program] on many occasions to share data and ideas about cover cropping as well as extension efforts. [The State Program] has been very helpful in coming up with ideas for field day activities. I have turned to [the State Program] on several occasions for feedback on both scientific questions and questions about optimizing extension efforts and [they] have always given prompt and thoughtful feedback. Outreach Coordinator for the SARE-funded Research and Education project No-till, no-herbicide planting of spring vegetables using low-residue winter-killed cover crops crops followed by no-till planting of spring vegetables in Pennsylvania. We also included the Research and Education project members as featured speakers in our Cover Crop Innovations webinar series, and in two on-farm field days. The Research and Education project was also 11

12 able to utilize information on cover crop mixtures from the State Program in 4 newsletter articles and 1 website. In total, the Research and Education project team was able to reach 2,385 farmers with information about innovative cover crop practices through these State Program-facilitated activities SARE Outreach Activities Event/Activity Number of Contacts (please enter your best estimate) Farmers PASA Conference PCO Farm Fest Penn State Extension Organic Vegetable Production Intensive Workshop 100 Ag. Professionals 12