ABSTRACT
Agricultural and extension educators frequently employ a variety of methods to provide farmers with information about conservation practices. The introduction of virtual programming brought on in response to the COVID-19 pandemic set the stage for analysis of farmer outreach preferences with respect to face-to-face (F2F) versus virtual outreach. Using survey data of individuals who participated in field days in Iowa, we segmented participants based on their F2F or virtual attendance. We compared the groups based on key variables such as water quality concerns, communication behaviors, outreach preferences, and demographics. Our work suggests that a broad and dynamic communication strategy, including both in-person and virtual events, offers greater opportunities for dissemination of ideas and increases access to content © This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License
ABSTRACT
Despite external influences such as societal restrictions imposed during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, farmers continue to work, and needs for outreach and education have not waned. Extension professionals must continue to support these needs by using media and channels not typically employed when more traditional vehicles, such as on-site consultations and field days, are not practical or safe. The Iowa Learning Farms team from Iowa State University Outreach and Extension has developed a successful Virtual Field Day program using available online tools that can be easily adopted by other Extension organizations to facilitate outreach. © 2020. Extension Journal, Inc. All rights reserved.