Season 7 Episode 5: Purdue On The Farm Updates

Recorded in May 2024, Scott Gabbard, Purdue On The Farm (POTF) Coordinator, and Sarah Brackney, Purdue Ag and Natural Resources Extension Educator (Daviess County) discussed current and future activities of POTF.

The POTF has created more opportunities for Extension Educators like Sarah to work with farmers as they create their own on-farm trials with POTF assistance. These efforts are leading to more insight for Purdue staff on farmers' research requests. It is expected that 30-40 Educators will be doing this work across the state each year. These educators have taken soil samples at various depths, pulled leaf foliar samples, scouted for weed/insect/disease pressure. By working closely with plant and pest diagnostic lab, their efforts have helped researchers identify counties exhibiting those pressures. The farmer-participants receive in-season reports on their fields as well as aggregated data with insights from researchers.

This has provided opportunities for farmers to as "what if" questions on conservation practices. When a farmer has an idea of a conservation practice, the POTF team has been able to set-up demonstrations - for example, strips of balansa clover seeded at different rates by members of the Purdue UAV team. This has provided an element of learning side-by-side, in essence a bottom-up side of research and extension.

Those interested in working with POTF can either reach out to their county Extension or go to the Purdue On The Farm Website