Symposium Session Slides Putting Farmers at the Center of Regenerative Agriculture Engagement Planning – Deborah Carter McCoy, Rebecca Bartels, and Suzy Friedman with the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative, Trust In Food, and the WWF will lead a planning process based on insights from their behavior change research to accelerate regenerative agriculture acceptance by producers. The panelists will be Deborah Carter McCoy from Environmental Initiative, Rebecca Bartels from Trust In Food, and Suzy Friedman from the World Wildlife Fund. Wednesday, February 14, 8:30 - 11:00 a.m.

1. Putting Farmers at the
Center of Regenerative
Agriculture Engagement
Planning

2. Partnership

3. Expected Outcomes
▸As a result of this workshop,
participants will:
‣ Learn a methodology to more rapidly
generate interest in conservation
agriculture practices
‣ Identify strategies for engaging with
differentiated groups of farmers
‣ Understand how to connect drivers of
behavior to outreach approaches

4. Overview

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Project Map
5

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Understanding
• Are they aware?
• Do they
understand?
• Can they see how
it would fit in their
operation?
Value
• Do they see
value in the
change?
• Does the
change
provided align
with their
personal interests
and identity?
• Does it align
with their
operational
values?
Enabling
Environments
• Do they feel
capable of
making the
change?
• Do they have
what they
need to do so?
• What are their
objections and
barriers
(perceived or
real)?
Gateway
Action
• What is the
right first or next
step for them?
• What would
help them take
the next step?
• Who can best
support them in
taking this
step? How?
A change on the ground is the culmination of a producer’s change journey.
Human Dimensions Support

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Engagement Snapshot: Establishing
Goals
7

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Engagement Snapshot: Establishing Goals
Goal: learn how data and insights can accelerate a farmer’s journey to voluntary conservation agriculture
practice adoption.

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What key questions do we
believe this project will answer?
• How can we help producers understand
and see value in regenerative agriculture?
• How can we help producers understand, see
value, and feel capable of participating in a MRCC
member voluntary cost share practice program?
Establishing Goals:
Planning with the end in mind
What will we measure to show successin
answering these key questions?
Two primary measurement instruments: individual
producer data and pre/post survey
• Engagement levels changes with curated content
• Change in sentiment via survey
• Change in cohort level segments measured
"readiness level" (understanding, value, feeling
capable) via producer data
• Change in interest in receiving information about a
program they are eligible for via survey and via
engagement data

10. Exercise 1

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Iowa Cohort
1 2
26,203
Total Records
787.6 Average Acres
493.7 Average Corn
388.2 Average Soybeans
613.0 Average Beef
359.7 Average Dairy
65.15 Average Age
$1,077,296 Average Gross Farm Income 28.30%
15.94%
14.89%
13.10%
13.09%
5.62%
6.12%
% practice Min / No Tillage
% are New Tech
% have Succession Plan
% use Fungicides
% use Seed Treatments
% Irrigate
% sell Seed
Corn (66.39%) Soybeans (61.97%)
Hay (25.95%) Wheat (9.32%)
Alfalfa (19.08%) Oats (14.70%)
Sorghum (1.53%) Rye (0.18%)
Sunflowers (0.05%) Vegetables (0.24%)
Fruits & Nuts (0.08%) Cotton (0.05%)
Potatos (0.04%) Tobacco (0.02%)
At least 1 acre of:
22.10%
At least 1 head of:
% have Horses 0.72%
% have Dairy 1.44%
% have Pigs 7.15%
% have Beef
John Deere
Case / IH
AGCO
Other 319
91
Tractor
brand preference
4,593 Massey Ferguson 107
2,580 Challenger
330 Kubota 21
Operations
Self
Reported
Indicators

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Nebraska Cohort
1 3
19,886
Total Records
991.3 Average Acres
622.2 Average Corn
442.3 Average Soybeans
797.4 Average Beef
1,281 Average Dairy
63.94 Average Age
$1,556,404 Average Gross Farm Income 29.31%
15.40%
14.63%
11.81%
12.40%
26.12%
5.95%
% practice Min / No Tillage
% are New Tech
% have Succession Plan
% use Fungicides
% use Seed Treatments
% Irrigate
% sell Seed
Corn (66.39%) Soybeans (61.97%)
Hay (25.95%) Wheat (25.85%)
Alfalfa (26.55%) Oats (15.01%)
Sorghum (18.68%) Rye (1.61%)
Sunflowers (0.83%) Vegetables (0.39%)
Fruits & Nuts (0.09%) Cotton (0.05%)
Potatos (0.06%) Tobacco (0.01%)
At least 1 acre of:
29.07%
At least 1 head of:
% have Horses 0.85%
% have Dairy 1.76%
% have Pigs 4.18%
% have Beef
John Deere
Case / IH
AGCO
Other 164
46
Tractor
brand preference
3,551 Massey Ferguson 48
1,822 Challenger
219 Kubota 3
Operations
Self
Reported
Indicators

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Illinois Cohort
1 4
22,143
Total Records
891.1 Average Acres
556.7 Average Corn
497.4 Average Soybeans
- Average Beef
302.9 Average Dairy
65.73 Average Age
$971,856 Average Gross Farm Income 24.01%
14.61%
14.54%
13.58%
12.13%
6.57%
6.32%
% practice Min / No Tillage
% are New Tech
% have Succession Plan
% use Fungicides
% use Seed Treatments
% Irrigate
% sell Seed
Corn (61.96%) Soybeans (61.15%)
Hay (19.07%) Wheat (28.88%)
Alfalfa (9.07%) Oats (4.99%)
Sorghum (3.65%) Rye (0.24%)
Sunflowers (0.63%) Vegetables (0.76%)
Fruits & Nuts (0.12%) Cotton (0.06%)
Potatos (0.05%) Tobacco (0.00%)
At least 1 acre of:
12.04%
At least 1 head of:
% have Horses 0.30%
% have Dairy 1.39%
% have Pigs 2.86%
% have Beef
John Deere
Case / IH
AGCO
Other 202
71
Tractor
brand preference
3,500 Massey Ferguson 88
1,909 Challenger
226 Kubota 28
Operations
Self
Reported
Indicators

14. M R C C - T R U S T I N F O O D W O R K S H O P
R E G E N E R A T I V E A G R I C U L T U R E I N I T I A T I V E
C O N F I D E N T I A L © 2 0 2 3
Engagement Snapshot:
Understanding Producers
The MRCC Producer Cares about
Legacy/Leadership and Protection
Sept. 26, 2022 Recommendation
From the Human Dimensions of Change Toolkit
completed in Phase 1, we highlighted several
engagement themes for focus in the creative
based both off of the self reported goals of the
cohort, as well as their core values as indicated by
behavioral and psychographic research.

15. Exercise 2

16. M R C C - T R U S T I N F O O D W O R K S H O P
R E G E N E R A T I V E A G R I C U L T U R E I N I T I A T I V E
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Engagement Snapshot:
Developing Messages
Producers with Predominant Values
Engaged with their Tailored Material
Trust In Food tagged producers by their dominant set of
values, including a group of producers with the highest levels
of legacy/leadership, and a group of producers with the
highest levels of interest in asset protection. All producers
were served all material, but metrics show that they chose to
engage with the material most closely aligned with their
tagged values.
The material featuring that value most strongly was most
likely to inspire action amongst the correlated producer set.
M R C C O u t r e a c h A N A L Y S I S
2023 Outreach Result
CTR

17. Exercise 3

18. M R C C - T R U S T I N F O O D W O R K S H O P
R E G E N E R A T I V E A G R I C U L T U R E I N I T I A T I V E
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Engagement Snapshot:
Choosing Engagement
The MRCC Producer Indicated
They’d Prefer Printed Engagements
M R C C O u t r e a c h A N A L Y S I S
Sept. 26, 2022 Recommendation

19. M R C C - T R U S T I N F O O D W O R K S H O P
R E G E N E R A T I V E A G R I C U L T U R E I N I T I A T I V E
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Engagement Snapshot:
Choosing Engagement
As a result of the research we dedicated Outreach
efforts to printed mailers to the MRCC Outreach.
The producers were served material across platforms,
but as the study indicated, direct mail outperformed the
next most common tactic at eliciting action by nearly
double the next most productive tactic.
Key Note: We were not aiming for leads.
We were specifically targeting the mid-level regen
readiness producers in order to support them in
becoming more ready. Direct mail that was sent was
informational.
M R C C O u t r e a c h A N A L Y S I S
2023 Outreach Result

20. M R C C - T R U S T I N F O O D W O R K S H O P
R E G E N E R A T I V E A G R I C U L T U R E I N I T I A T I V E
C O N F I D E N T I A L © 2 0 2 3
Engagement Snapshot:
Choosing Engagement
The MRCC Producer Indicated They
Need an Informational Approach
M R C C O u t r e a c h A N A L Y S I S
Sept. 26, 2022 Recommendation
The September 2022 behavioral analysis
indicated that priority producers have a lower-
than-average trust in communications that feel
like advertising.
As a result, our Outreach strategy recommended
that MRCC make sure all images/language are
positioned as an opportunity for learning/FYI
rather than selling an idea or product – “learn
more” as CTAs, etc.

21. M R C C - T R U S T I N F O O D W O R K S H O P
R E G E N E R A T I V E A G R I C U L T U R E I N I T I A T I V E
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Engagement Snapshot:
Choosing Engagement
The MRCC Producer Interacted when
they could Learn
As a result of the research we recommended that MRCC take an
informational approach, ensuring that placements look as little
like advertisements as possible.
From a performance standpoint, the tactic that is most
traditionally informational – native advertising, which is
designed to look like editorial content – performed at a
clickthrough rate of 1.1%
Average clickthrough rate for native placements across
agriculture are benchmarked at .31% MRCC’s data driven
placements engaged farmers at a rate more than 3x industry
average.
M R C C O u t r e a c h A N A L Y S I S
2023 Outreach Result

22. Exercise 4

23. Questions?

24. Made possible by:
More Information
Deborah Carter McCoy
dcartermccoy@environmental-initiative.org
Office: 612-334-3388 ext. 8106