Abstract #80

# 80
Research and educational priorities of California’s North Bay dairies.
R. Black*1, 1University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, Santa Rosa, CA.

California’s North Bay region contains predominately organic, pasture-based dairies, likely requiring different educational resources and research compared with other California dairy regions. The objective of this research was to determine the educational and research needs of California’s North Bay dairies. In September 2018, surveys were mailed to 124 dairy producers in Sonoma, Marin, and Mendocino Counties. Surveys asked producers to rank educational and research priorities in the areas of animal health, organic certification, nutrition, business, and general management from 1 to 5 (1 = not a priority, 5 = high priority) and information sources and methods for distribution of future educational information from 1 to 5 (1 = no value, 5 = a lot of value). Forty-one dairy producers responded (33.1%), with 34 managing dairy cattle and 7 managing small ruminants. Of the respondents, 27 were certified organic (68.9%). Dairy producers’ highest ranked priorities for research and education included (1) pasture management, (2) disease prevention, (3) state and federal funding opportunities, (4) labor management, and (5) water quality. Organic producers ranked (mean ± SD) aspects of organic certification to be medium-high priority, including the certifier’s dairy knowledge/expertise (4.3 ± 0.8), compliance with pasture access regulations (4.1 ± 1.1), and their ability to report dry matter intake for pastured animals (3.9 ± 1.2). Dairy producers found greatest value in information from veterinarians (4.1 ± 1.1), University of California Cooperative Extension (3.9 ± 1.0), and other dairy producers (3.6 ± 1.2), and less value in information from webinars (2.1 ± 1.2), podcasts (2.1 ± 1.2), and social media (2.7 ± 1.3). The preferred methods of education delivery for future extension materials included on-farm demonstrations (3.7 ± 1.2), educational meetings (3.7 ± 1.2), and individual farm visits (3.5 ± 1.3), with the majority of producers preferring quarterly (39.0%) or twice per year (31.7%) meetings. Survey results inform extension and allied industry professionals in ways to best assist North Bay dairy producers through future programing and research.

Key Words: needs assessment, cooperative extension, dairy