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Evaluating the Effectiveness of Decision Support Tools, Training Methods and Implementation Approaches for the Useful to Usable (U2U) Project
  • Melissa Widhalm,
  • Linda Prokopy
Melissa Widhalm
Purdue University

Corresponding Author:mwidhalm@purdue.edu

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Linda Prokopy
Purdue University
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Abstract

Useful to Usable (U2U) was a 6-year USDA-funded research and extension project focused on improving the uptake of climate information by Midwestern U.S. farmers and agricultural advisors. Led by Purdue University, this interdisciplinary team from nine Midwestern universities developed five web-based decision support tools to examine production, financial, and environmental outcomes of different climate scenarios and management options. A dedicated team of Extension educators, marketing specialists, and program evaluators worked together to promote U2U products and collect, analyze, and communicate data to 1) help increase project impact and 2) to measure outcomes for accountability purposes. Since outreach began in July 2013, farmers and advisors have been reached at 165 outreach events and training sessions in ten Midwestern states and at least 6 regional webinars have been conducted. A four-round mailed and electronic marketing campaign reached an estimated 35,600 people from March 2015 – November 2016. Additionally, the team developed a variety of educational materials (user guides, fact sheets, presentations, etc.) to support U2U outreach and dissemination efforts. Throughout 2016-2017, the team evaluated the outcomes, impacts, and overall reach of the U2U project over the 6-year project duration. They conducted two large-scale surveys with farmers and agricultural advisors, conducted personal interviews with advisors in Iowa and Nebraska, gathered informal success stories from U2U team members and collaborators, and tracked website traffic using Google Analytics. This presentation will highlight the project’s evaluation design, results, and lessons learned, including evaluation of outreach and dissemination approaches and longer-term outcome/impact evaluation. Some key metrics include the likelihood of using U2U online tools, actual use of tools, use of tools to aid financial and environmental decisions, and willingness to consider climate information in the future (not limited to U2U tools).