One Good Idea is an online clearinghouse of videos and podcasts that feature farmers sharing their experiences with implementing soil and water conservation practices. Created by a multi-state team of university Extension professionals and farmers, One Good Idea was designed to help farmers learn from each other about how to do practices such as cover crops, conservation tillage, rotational grazing, and nutrient management to improve their soil, land, and profitability. All content on One Good Idea is crowdsourced, and we are always seeking contributions of videos and/or podcasts from Extension professionals who are working with farmers to implement conservation practices.
If you produce videos or podcasts that feature farmers – or have an interest in doing so – One Good Idea provides you an additional platform to amplify their stories and reach more farmers, particularly those beyond your state. We believe our content criteria also provides a framework for how to produce videos or podcasts in a way that can lead to practice adoption among farmers. To learn more about how to contribute, visit https://goodideafarm.org/share.
One Good Idea is focused on providing farmers practical, evidence-based information to help minimize the risk of trying something new on their operations. Evidence includes both research and a farmer’s real-life experience, and all submitted content goes through a vetting process to ensure it meets One Good Idea’s criteria. There are over 300 videos and podcasts in the clearinghouse to date, representing contributions from university Extension, nonprofits, commodity groups, government agencies, farmer-led watershed groups, and individual farmers. One Good Idea also serves as a tool Extension professionals can share with farmers who are interested in trying something new on their operations to address problems such as soil erosion, compaction, and nutrient loss.
Through One Good Idea, we hope to leverage the power of peer learning and help social normalize conservation practices among farmers. The vision for the platform is to become a go-to place for farmers who want to improve the resilience of their operations and to ultimately help create a culture of conservation. Join our efforts to realize this vision, by contributing videos or podcasts and sharing One Good Idea with the farmers in your network. You can also subscribe to our email list and follow One Good Idea on Facebook and Twitter.
One Good Idea is the product of a collaboration among the SERA-46 institutions of Mississippi State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Kentucky, University of Arkansas, and University of Illinois. SERA-46 is a committee of land grant universities in the Mississippi River Basin that is focused on research and extension to improve water quality and combat hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. Funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made One Good Idea possible.
Jennifer Seifert
Watershed Outreach Specialist
University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension
Email: jenny.seifert@wisc.edu