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Q. What is on-farm
research and what makes it important?
We often hear the term “on-farm research.” Iowa
State University faculty as well as field specialists from ISU
Extension conduct research on farms across the state. Farmers
themselves also participate in demonstrations and other projects
as they attempt to solve problems on their farms.
So what is on-farm research? First, it is more
than a series of replicated test plots that just happen to be on
a private farm because the farmer is cooperating with a
university researcher or extension specialist. On-farm research
calls for the creativity of identifying problems, discovering
possible solutions and testing answers under real-time
conditions. Because the work is done on-site and practices are
specific to a particular farm, on-farm research requires a
complex system of planning and execution.
Key to the success of on-farm research is an
open dialogue between the scientist/specialist and the farmer.
It requires questioning, listening, sharing interpretations,
adapting techniques and methods and finally adoption at a field
level. At the Leopold Center we think that on-farm research is
important because it adds richness to the findings of
researchers and farmers and can lead to meaningful changes in
farm practices.
Q. What is the role of
on-farm research at the Leopold Center?
There are roles both for research occurring at a
university farm or research station, and for research that is
conducted on private farms. At the Leopold Center, we are
particularly enthusiastic about research on private farms. This
type of research honors the farmer’s role by exploring how
problems emerge in a real-life arena and then using the farmer’s
guidance to help solve the problem and observe interactions of
variables at the field level.
The Leopold Center has a history of supporting a
variety of research options. Our challenge is to balance those
approaches properly so we can invest in projects that can make a
significant difference on the farm. We gravitate toward those
projects that involve the farmer early in the needs assessment
process, conduct project planning and actual research on a
working farm, and work with the farmer for dissemination and
demonstration of what has been learned.
Q. What other
opportunities are there for farmers to participate in on-farm
research?
Farmers in Iowa are well situated to be partners
in on-farm research. The Center cooperates with and supports a
number of avenues to increase on-farm research opportunities.
The Center works with the ISU College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences, which funds an annual program in
collaboration with Practical Farmers of Iowa. The ISU/PFI
On-Farm Research Program provides competitive grants that
support partnerships between Iowa farmers and ISU faculty, staff
and extension field specialists to conduct small research
projects on Iowa farms.
In 1992, the North Central Region (NCR)
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture began a competitive grants
program exclusively to fund producers striving for agricultural
sustainability. NCR-SARE has sponsored nearly 250 producer
grants worth more than $1 million since initiating its Farmer
Rancher Grant program.
http://ncr.sare.org
PFI also operates its own statewide program for
on-farm research and demonstrations among its own members. The
Leopold Center has provided an annual grant to PFI that covers a
portion of the costs for this program, which includes more than
two dozen field days scheduled for this summer and fall.
http://www.practicalfarmers.org
Organic on-farm research is supported by the Organic Farming
Research Foundation based in California. This competitive
program, now in its 15th year, has supported 243 organic
research and education projects totaling $1.6 million, including
some projects on Iowa farms.
http://ofrf.org
And finally, the Leopold Center’s annual call
for grant project ideas also could involve on-farm research.
Watch for our call for 2007 pre-proposals in early July.
http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/research/rfp/2007.htm
Jerry DeWitt
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