CTIC Conservation Connector: Helping farmers discover local support for their operations

Breakout session Monday, February 10 at 2:30 p.m.

Precision Farming with Smart Soil Insights: How Advanced Soil Profiling Enhances Farm Economics and Ecology

As part of the ACTION Climate-Smart Commodities Partnership project being led by OpenTEAM, CTIC, Houston Engineering and The Nature Conservancy are leading development of the CTIC Conservation Connector, a new web app whose initial purpose is to allow farmers, ranchers, landowners and trusted advisors find conservation and climate-smart ag programs available to them, as well as service providers who can assist with the planning, implementation, and verification of incentivized practices.

Speaker: Dorn Cox, Wolfe’s Neck Research Center & OpenTEAM, Research Director, LeAnn Buck, MN Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts, Executive Director, and Drew Kessler, Houston Engineering, Inc., Project Manager & Principal and as moderator David Gustafson (Speakers), Conservation Technology Information Center

1. NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) 1

2. Panelists 2 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) Dorn Cox Farmer, NACD Board, Chief Advisor for Technology & Research, OpenTEAM NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025 Drew Kessler Project Manager & Principal Houston Engineering LeAnn Buck Executive Director MN Assoc. of Soil & Water Cons. Districts

3. The CTIC Conservation Connector is supported by a subaward on a federal grant funded by USDA under agreement number NR233A750004G032, a project led by OpenTEAM as an initiative of Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment . Support is also being received from the Walton Family Foundation and The Nature Conservancy. CTIC Conservation Connector Helping farmers discover local support for their operations Two directories: Programs & Service Providers Overall project (ACTION) led by OpenTEAM Free to all, consistent with OpenTEAM principles Primary funder: USDA Climate-Smart Commodity Partnerships, supplemented by TNC match and the Walton Family Foundation Development partners: CTIC, Houston Engineering, TNC 3

4. What is the need being met? The rapid growth in information around conservation programs is fragmented and confusing for everyone Producers have multiple incentive programs and service providers to consider, as well as (potentially * ) multiple buyers Buyers & Programs need to find producers in their target geographies/supply-sheds Farm Advisors & Service Providers have more customers looking for help with practices 4 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) * Unless they are 100% vertically-integrated NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

5. What is the Connector ? Launching as a web app to help producers and trusted advisors access : Locally relevant and up-to-date conservation incentive programs Markets & buyers for climate smart commodities Service providers to help implement practices >400 programs/resources and counting Free to all (no fee for use) Prototype Focus: Midwest, Northeast, California Expanding during 2025 to cover the entire US Program Owners & Service Providers to provide and update their information (simple on-line process) 5 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

6. Advisory Committee Role of the Advisory Committee Ensure the Connector meets the needs of target users Provide feedback on other initiatives with whom we should collaborate, and (if so) in what way Directly connect us with other relevant programs Quarterly virtual calls In-person gathering at 2024 Sustainable Ag Summit 6 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

7. Development Status Phase 1 development work launched in March 2024 Interns began populating registries in June 2024, through on-line work and interviews with program owners >200 Program offerings now listed in the system >200 Service Providers, mostly in the Upper Midwest Prototype released to Programs/Providers in Nov 2024 We will follow-up to request quarterly updates to info Phase 2 to begin later this year, following a release that targets producers (likely at the Farm Progress Show ) 7 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

8. Prototype Home Screen 8 NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

9. Programs Currently Listed in the Connector 9 NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

10. Service Providers Currently Listed in the Connector 10 Prototype focus: Upper Midwest Selected service categories: Cover Crops (83) Cons. Till. (49) Nutr . Mgt. (13) Habitat (10) Trees/Shrubs (8) NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

11. Panelists 11 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) Dorn Cox Farmer, NACD Board, Chief Advisor for Technology & Research, OpenTEAM NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025 Drew Kessler Project Manager & Principal Houston Engineering LeAnn Buck Executive Director MN Assoc. of Soil & Water Cons. Districts

12. How can you get involved? If you manage a Program or are a Service Provider, please login and enter your information URL: connector.ag (blocked by some VPN’s) If you have feedback on the prototype, please scan the QR code to access a 3-minute survey or use the on-line form within th e Connector to provide your suggestions THANK YOU! 12 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

13. BACK-UP SLIDES 14 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

14. Next Steps Continue conversations with additional potential partners Expand outreach to commodity groups and other key organizations (e.g. MWRCC, NFWF, NRCS, ARA, etc.) Raise funds needed to staff-up, with a focus on two areas: Communications & outreach to farmers Efficient and regular maintenance of the accuracy of the directories 15 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

15. Proposed Discussion Questions What other practical needs of producers could be met through additional functionality of the Connector ? What aspects of the way the Connector currently functions do you believe should be changed? What other types of Programs and Service Providers should be listed in the Connector ? What/who are the other initiatives with whom we should consider collaborating? 16 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

16. Trusted Farm Advisors are Critical to Conservation Retailers are highly trusted sources of agronomic info, but are not currently a major source of conservation assistance (Purdue Large Commercial Producer Survey, CTIC Cover Crop Survey) Increasing demand and investment in sustainability creates new business opportunities We can’t achieve the pace and scale needed without the entire agricultural system working together 17 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

17. Collaboration Strategy: Why? We are aware of multiple similar efforts, and there would be key benefits to coalescing around a shared database : Avoid fragmentation & confusion in the marketplace Pool resources to raise impact & streamline upkeep Access users outside our “wheelhouse” (e.g. dairy industry) Ideal scenario: Shared database hosted by OpenTeam /CTIC, with APIs to specific offshoots managed by collaborators e.g. Dairy Conservation Navigator , state or regional efforts, etc. 18 Dave Gustafson ( [email protected] ) NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

18. Explore Programs Screen 19 NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

19. Program Details (1 of 2) 20 NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

20. Program Details (2 of 2) 21 NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

21. Find Providers Screen 22 NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

22. Find Providers (map view) 23 NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

23. Provider Details (1 of 2) 24 NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025

24. Provider Details (2 of 2) 25 NACD Breakout Session, 10 February 2025