Could the influence of monitor farm programmes on practice change be BETTER? Lessons from sheep farmers and advisors in Ireland

ABSTRACT

Purpose:

To examine the influence of monitor farm programmes on practice change using the Irish BETTER farm sheep programme as a case study.

Methodology:

A mixed methods approach combining 16 semi-structured and 69 structured interviews with benchmarking data analysis.

Findings:

Provision of intensive, tailored advice helped support practice change on the participating monitor farms. They increased productivity through changes in management practices, which positively impacted on financial performance. Monitor farmers also positively influenced members of their associated discussion groups to make practice changes.

Practical Implications:

Practical recommendations for similar programmes are discussed such as the need for different and additional extension approaches to influence and support the adoption of more complex practices and the potential for greater input from farmers into the design and implementation of extension programmes.

Theoretical Implications:

From a practice change perspective evaluating the influence of a more structured participatory extension programme (PEP) on a participating farmer is easier than the evaluation of the influence of the PEP on the wider farming community, particularly when the evaluation is not incorporated into the original programme design.

Originality:

Adding to the relatively small number of PEP evaluations in developed countries, the influence of monitor farm programmes on both the monitor farmer and their associated discussion group peers is examined for a wide range of practices using a mixed methods approach.

KEYWORDS:

• Extension
• monitor farms
• demonstration farms
• discussion groups
• practice change

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participating farmers and their advisors who contributed to this research. The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the advisory team in Teagasc Athenry, as well as the contributions of Michael Diskin, Philip Creighton, Ciaran Lynch, Frank Campion, Kevin Connolly and Kevin Heanue to the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Ireland) providing advisory, education and research to the agri-food industry.

2 Business, Environment and Technology through Training Extension and Research (BETTER) farm programme.

3 One of the eight discussion groups was omitted as the group members had not visited the BETTER farm yet (as he was a new entrant to the BFSP).

4 Two of the farmers were omitted due to their participation on the BFSP dating back to the inception of the programme while the third had not yet completed three years on the BFSP.

5 A prolific sheep breed developed by Teagasc

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Teagasc Walsh Scholarship Programme [Grant number 2015302].

Notes on contributors

M. J. Mulkerrins

Martin Mulkerrins is a Teagasc employee that has worked as a dairy discussion group facilitator on the Teagasc/Aurivo Joint Programme and now lectures at Mountbellew Agricultural College and the Atlantic Technological University (ATU).

M. Gottstein

Michael Gottstein is the head of the Sheep Knowledge Transfer Programme with Teagasc. Michael has B. Agr. Sc in Animal and Crop Production and a Master’s degree in Animal Nutrition from University College Dublin (UCD).

M. Gorman

Dr Monica Gorman is a lecturer in agricultural extension and innovation in UCD’s School of Agriculture and Food Science. She has developed and coordinates postgraduate programmes for agricultural science graduates who want to work in farm advisory and agricultural education roles.

T. Russell

Dr Tomás Russell is an Assistant Professor in Agricultural Extension and Innovation at UCD’s School of Agriculture and Food Science. His research interests are in the area of farmer behaviour change, advisory strategies, digital agriculture and farm succession and inheritance.

M. Ryan

Dr Mary Ryan is an Environmental Economics researcher with Teagasc focusing on economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture and forestry in Ireland, with particular focus on cost effectiveness and adoption of water quality and biodiversity protection and enhancement measures.

M. B. Lynch

Dr Bridget Lynch is a Senior Research Officer in the Teagasc Crops, Environment and Land Use Programme. She is the former Associate Professor of Grass and Forage Science in the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science. Her research focuses on grassland agronomy and technologies and the knowledge transfer of same.