Cooperators Meet

FARMING SYSTEMS PROGRAM TURNS A CORNER

Rick Exner

PFI on-farm research cooperators came together Feb. 7^th and 8^th for a spring planning meeting that was a little different than usual. After 15 years of on-farm research, cooperators have racked up an impressive record of discoveries and public exposure. Now opportunities are opening, and that calls for a review of priorities.

New and experienced cooperators helped set direction for the farming systems program. Here Dave Jackson, North English, offers a comment.

Executive Director Robert Karp led a group of nearly 40 cooperators in an afternoon-long assessment of PFI on-farm research and field days. Present were some of the program’s “senior” and highest-profile cooperators as well as a few people new to the network this year – probably a couple hundred years of cooperator experience in all.

Everyone had thoughts to share about the value of farmer research, both the value to the cooperator and the value to the community. The discussion embraced both PFI’s scientific approach and the value of looking for the “big picture” in agricultural systems. The group affirmed the value of working with ISU scientists, and they strongly emphasized the importance of supporting the individual producer’s inspiration or burning question. Far from conflicting, these contrasts demonstrated the experience of the cooperator network. When the session notes are typed up, we’ll make them available on the PFI website.

As announced at the PFI Winter Workshops in January, PFI’s Farming Systems Program will enjoy new support and a closer working relationship with Iowa State University in 2002. Anticipated benefits include broader and more frequent communication between PFI and ISU scientists. In time, more scientists will have opportunities to work with PFI farms, and farmer perspectives and issues will reach ISU more quickly.

The new relationship will also allow us to mine the resource of past farmer research to produce sustainable agriculture bulletins and training materials for producers and Extension staff. While this is a welcome development, it will require a real investment of my time as Farming Systems Coordinator. That time has to come from somewhere. We are hopeful that in the long term I will not be the only staffperson “juggling the balls” of the farming systems program. This year, though, there will be cutbacks in some of the things we do. Expect to see a reduced schedule of farm field days. This won’t be all bad if it helps us put more resources into the field days that do take place.

Despite the changes we dealt with at the cooperators’ planning meeting, I came away feeling better than ever about the people involved and about the mission. As the year goes on, I think we will see positive developments for on-farm research and the PFI-ISU partnership.