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Using a Team Approach to Expand the Impact of Agronomic Crop Research

Christopher Zoller and Elizabeth Hawkins

Summary

The needs of agronomic crop producers continue to evolve and they look to Extension to provide answers. Tight margins increase the need for researching farmer questions as they work to be profitable.

Ohio State University Extension has increased its crop research program with the expansion of on-farm research trials. The eFields: Connecting Science to Fields program was created to evaluate and demonstrate on-farm production practices. These efforts have increased the quantity and quality of on-farm research in Ohio. Farmers have changed practices to reduce production and financial risk as a result of this research. Research trials have focused on fertilizer placement, manure side-dress, remote sensing, planter downforce, and seeding rates. Our efforts are making an impact. In its second year, involvement has increased from 14 to 25 counties, acres enrolled increased from 3,121 to 5,624, and the number of individual studies increased from 39 to 95. Final results of the trials are published in a bound book. Requests for printed copies of the book have increased from 2,000 in 2017 to 7,500 in 2018. In 2018, economic analysis was added to select reports to help producers evaluate the potential impact of incorporating new practices into their operations.

Much of the success of this program is attributed to bringing together multi-disciplinary team members, identifying cooperating farmers, conducting useful research, and publishing results in a timely manner for farmers to view.

This poster will describe our accomplishments and how other Extension professionals can develop a similar program to address relevant issues.

Details

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