Achieving Conservation Through Targeted Information, Outreach & Networking (ACTION) Program

About the ACTION Program

Despite the potential benefits of in-field, edge-of-field and edge-of-stream conservation practices to soil and watershed health, implementation occurs on less than 10% of all U.S. croplands. The reasons for the low adoption rates remain unclear.

Coordinated efforts that engage farmers from the beginning help researchers understand farmers’ specific needs and develop interventions that specifically target those needs. Additionally, novel engagement approaches like financial and crop insurance incentives could encourage landowners to adopt conservation practices.

FFAR and the Walton Family Foundation launched the Achieving Conservation through Targeting Information, Outreach and Networking (ACTION) program to develop innovative research that increases farmer and landowner adoption of conservation practices. The program includes collaboration with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which can provide additional support for practice implementation costs associated with opportunities developed through awarded projects.

The ACTION program is providing grants to the following:

1. Dr. Thomas Isenhart, Professor, Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University
   • FFAR grant amount: $226,636
   • Total grant amount: $480,426

   The cost and complexity of technical assistance is a major barrier to large-scale adoption of edge-of-field conservation practices. Isenhart’s project equips farmers and other professionals to deliver edge-of-field practices at scale in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Researchers are studying models used to implement these practices and are compiling intervention and engagement strategies that can be tailored to local conditions and target audiences. The project uses these studies to produce data-driven decision-support tools that allow farmers to scale up practices.

   Isenhart received additional matching funds from the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition and the Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership.

2. Jenny Seifert, Watershed Outreach Specialist, University of Wisconsin
   • FFAR grant amount: $127,676
   • Total grant amount: $262,200

   Seifert, along with collaborators Dr. Beth Baker of Mississippi State University and Dr. Amanda Gumbert of University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension, are testing two engagement approaches to increase farmer willingness to adopt conservation practices. These approaches, informed by social sciences, facilitate peer learning among farmers. The first approach is a series of virtual meetups for farmers to foster peer-to-peer conversations about implementing conservation practices. The second approach is a mini-grant program that supports pairs of farmers and farm advisors in implementing edge-of-field practices, learning how to become opinion leaders and developing multimedia to encourage other farmers to adopt conservation practices. The research team is evaluating both approaches to understand their effectiveness and share lessons learned to increase conservation practice adoption.

3. Dr. Robyn Wilson, Professor, Risk Analysis and Decision Science, The Ohio State University
   • FFAR grant amount: $120,238
   • Total grant amount: $246,924

   Almost half of growers who do not implement conservation practices have positive attitudes about those practices. Dr. Wilson’s project tests the effects of interventions meant to close this gap. Researchers are developing targeted engagement that addresses farmers’ needs, including plans for overcoming challenges and maintaining motivation to continue conservation practices when financial incentives end. To achieve this, Wilson’s team is developing interventions that target the gap between valuing conservation and implementing practices, assessing their effectiveness and creating guidance for scaling up the proposed interventions.