we will be conducting on-farm research with four conventional farmers on moving from a corn-soybean rotation to a three-year rotation that reduces chemical inputs. These farmers will become leaders in sharing what they learn with other farmers.
I am looking for research that would help us decide how best to focus our outreach on this project.
Teresa Opheim
Executive director
Practical Farmers of Iowa
United States
Helping Conventional Farmers Diversify
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The Conservation Agricultural Systems Initiative has been using the information contained in the following study to effectively increase the adoption of conservation cropping systems in the San Joaquin Valley of California. I highly recommend it to assist you in your efforts.
Understanding and promoting adoption of conservation practices by rural landholders (http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/72/paper/EA05037.htm)
Ron Harben
Air Quality Coordinator
California Association of Resource Conservation Districts
United States
Several of these papers are published in "Shaping Change - Natural Resource Management, Agriculture and the role of Extension" from Australasia Pacific Extension Network. (http://www.apen.org.au/)
Rhonda Scoullar
Queensland Environment and Resource Managment
Australia
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This is an interesting paper: Using farmers information seeking behaviour to inform the design of extension, Megan Hill, Department of Primary Industries, Private Bag 1, Tatura, Vic, 3610 (http://www.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/109616/EFS_Journal_vol_5_no_2_14_Hill.pdf)
Another general usful paper is by Frank Vanclay and can be found at http://www.agsci.utas.edu.au/AJEA-principles.pdf
Rhonda Scoullar
Queensland Environment and Resource Managment
Australia