Summary: Farmer Advocates for Conservation will align the work of four major non-profits with the western Lake Erie basin (WLEB) Partnership and government programs to train 60 farmers in the Maumee River Watershed to become technical experts and community leaders for sustainable agriculture. Each Farmer Advocate will use peer to peer methods to reach late/middle adopters with the result of at least 12,000 more farmers directly educated leading to adoption of best management practices to improve water quality. This Farmer Led Outreach will be evaluated by a social science research program to both quantify participation and measure success by changes in attitudes and practices.
More information about the farmer advocates can be found on the main project website.
A final project report summarizing the program evaluation can be found here: Jalil et al.2025.TNC Advocate Final Report.
Funding provided by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative via The Nature Conservancy.