Developing answers and learning in extension for dryland nitrogen management

Abstract

The complexity of nitrogen management appeared to be stifling farmers’ ability to apply advances in scientific understanding of nitrogen processes. Concerns about the impact of traditional ‘transfer of technology’ approaches led to the development of the Nitrogen in ‘95/96 workshop series, grounded in the concepts of experiential learning, action learning and adult learning. Nitrogen in ‘95/96 aimed to help people ‘navigate’ the available information on nitrogen, and through their personal experiences, transform this information into practical knowledge for use on their own farms. The series of workshops helped small groups of farmers understand the nitrogen cycle, use nitrogen budgets to interpret soil tests from their paddocks and develop recommendations for their own conditions. Planned evaluations demonstrated the impact of the process with 98% of respondents believing Nitrogen in ’95/96 helped them better understand nitrogen and 86% believing the process helped them make nutrition decisions. Comparison of participants’ initial fertiliser intentions and actual practices confirmed that they put their new learning into practice. Nitrogen in ‘95/96 presented a transparent simplification of reality, which is needed if any model is to be of any use as a framework for thinking about reality. This simplicity and transparency helped establish useful dialogue between farmers and scientists, and highlighted the potential contribution of learning concepts to agricultural research and extension in Australia.

Participatory research in dryland cropping systems — monitoring and simulation of soil water and nitrogen in farmers' paddocks in Central Queensland

“…Regular checking of soil mineral N both for the total amount in the root-zone, and for its distribution in relation to the current depth of plant available water, would be a wise practice. Within a few years of the completion of this work, combined with other related efforts at addressing the soil N balance (Lawrence et al . 2000), deep soil sampling for N had become recommended practice in north-east Australia (Foale and Goode 1998), and the number of deep soil samples analysed for N content had increased exponentially (Carberry et al .…”

Selecting methods of agricultural extension to support diverse adoption pathways: a review and case studies

“…There was some evidence that accompanying training with financial incentives (in this context, reduced insurance premiums) influenced training participation (Rautiainen et al 2005). In other contexts, training was found to have a positive effect on attitudes and commitment towards change in pasture improvement (Lloyd et al 2009), increased awareness and understanding in nitrogen management (Lawrence et al 2000), and was a precursor to further participation in learning among resource-limited farmers (Akobundu et al 2004). Farmers who undertook agricultural training on mastitis management were 10 times more likely to monitor milk quality through milk recording than were those who had not (Dillon et al 2016).…”

Action learning in partnership with Landcare and catchment management groups to support increased pasture sowings in southern inland Queensland

“…The presenters' roles were to value-add to the existing knowledge. A guided learning process was used to help participants navigate and understand the logic of each workshop issue (Lawrence et al 2000). The challenge for facilitators and presenters was to match the levels of detail to participants' initial knowledge for proximal development (Billett 2001;Lawrence 2006), and develop the necessary skills to better use pastures on their farms.…”