Linda Stalker Prokopy, Diverse Corn Belt Project director, and a professor and chair of the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University, said, “Our goal is to plant the seeds for new opportunities for farmers that will enhance resilience of both individual farms and the agricultural landscape across our region.”
Focus groups have already been held to gather insight and ideas from farmers representing a range of ages, farm sizes and degrees of diversification. Members of the team are analyzing the initial data and plan to conduct more focus groups. The team also plans to collect data on farmer and agricultural stakeholder perspectives through a mail survey and individual interviews.
Reimagining Agricultural Diversity Teams will be a unique feature of the project. While focus groups will center specifically on farmers, Reimagining Agricultural Diversity Teams will include stakeholders throughout the agricultural value chain, such as crop advisers, bankers, processors, retailers, non-farming landowners and policymakers. The Reimagining Agricultural Diversity Teams will offer a chance for longer-term dialogue, exploration and visioning.
Click here to see more...