Agency staff became more proficient in explaining program rules related to organic farming, organic transition, and certification processes. An interview with the NRCS Program Leader (with whom we worked to arrange the training) indicated that one year later he was still seeing the results of the training in relation to field staffs’ understanding.
In terms of success, Nebraska was one of the top ten in the EQIP Organic Initiative in the country with signups when it was rolled out in 2009. Nebraska was also number 3 in terms of contract dollars and number 5 in terms of number of contracts, landing in the top 5 in the country.
Though this training cannot claim all of the success in the number of Nebraska’s organic EQIP signups, contract dollars, and numbers of contracts, it is fair to say that this training, the field tours, and the attention that the training brought to organic practices and policies had an impact.
