Site-Specific Education and Outreach (USDA-IFAFS Project)


This website http://www.farmresearch.com/ifafs/ is a focus point for the products and activities related to the Foundation for Agronomic Research (FAR) project, Soil and Crop Management Systems Information Management and Outreach, funded in part by the USDA-CSREES Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems (IFAFS) program. The website contains details of the project objectives and cooperators and is used to document and publicize progress toward those goals. Presentations, workshop materials, publications and other products of the project will be posted here as they become available.

A major highlight of the InfoAg 2001 Conference was the opportunity for "networking" among participants. The conference was one of the outreach programs of the IFAFS project. IFAFS Project Summary: Increasing productivity and profitability of crop and soil management systems should be the goal of all of agriculture. The goal of this proposed project is to provide an improved outreach model to transfer site-specific soil and crop research information to the end user. The information management and outreach outlined in this proposal will guide farmers and their input suppliers and advisers toward successful implementation and management of site-specific systems. These improved information tools support technically current, scientifically sound, and environmentally responsible crop production systems.  The objectives in support of the project goal are:  1. provide internal and external communications for precision research projects 2. conduct a needs assessment to define the content areas of greatest interest to producers and their advisers 3. develop a series of case studies that will describe the integration of site-specific technology into management strategies 4. develop a series of training modules on precision systems 5. expand and update the Site-Specific Management Guidelines publications 6. disseminate and evaluate the developed outreach materials.  Our existing, ongoing research projects on site-specific systems will provide the basis for developing the communication, data management, and education components of an integrated outreach system that can be used as a model by other projects (including other IFAFS projects) for implementing an expanded outreach program. Workshops, conferences, internet communications, web-based training, classroom and self-study training materials, publications, field demonstrations, hands-on training and "virtual tours" represent the types of outreach efforts planned to further the adoption of site-specific management.