OACI Farmer Certification Program - Jordan Hoewischer, Ohio Farm Bureau, from the 2020 Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference, held March 3-4, 2020, Ada, OH, USA.

1. Farmer Certification and Assessment Programs

2. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
H2Ohio - 2020

3. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
H2Ohio
1. Identify top 10 BMPs to reduce
phosphorus loss from farm fields
2. Created by ODA and funded by state of
Ohio budget
3. Administered by SWCDs
4. Farmers will receive payments after
BMP(s) are completed and farmer is
enrolled in OACI Farmer Certification
program
OACI Farmer Certification
1. Voluntary program helps identify what
farmers have previously done and areas
of improvement
2. Created by commodity, conservation
and environmental groups with funding
from the collective organizations
3. Administered by SWCDs
4. Farmers will need to enroll into
program prior to receiving year 1
H2Ohio funding
Two Programs: One Objective

4. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
The Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative (OACI) is a first of it’s kind collaborative effort of
agricultural, conservation, environmental and research groups tasked with galvanizing Ohio
farmer’s on-farm nutrient management and conservation decisions.

5. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
• Establish a certification program that gives credit to farmers who are already
doing a good job
• Help farmers of all conservation levels shine a light on areas that can be improved
upon
• Identify education and funding opportunities for farmers to make nutrient
management and conservation improvements on their farm
• Farmers must be in the OACI Farmer Certification system prior to receiving
H2Ohio funding year 1 and become certified prior to receiving funding year 2
• Opportunity to partner with your commodity organization’s certification program
coupled with ODA’s resources of dollars, programs and SWCDs
Certification

6. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
Certification
• OACI Farmer Certification is for individual farms on a whole farm/operation level
• Farmers self-report info (<15% independent audit) in OACI system using OACI
website/app:
1. Fill out Farmer Profile thru website – As of 2/4/2020
2. Fill out Certification information thru website/app – End of Feb. 2020
• Participants will be evaluated in the following categories: Soil Testing, Nutrient
Application, Nutrient Placement, In-Field Management and Structural Practices
• Developed by OACI and data will be privately stored with aggregated information
reported out on a per county/watershed level with no farmer ID involved
• Administered by Ohio Federation of SWCDs and can be filled out in your county
office if needed

7. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
Certification
Go to www.OhioACI.org...
Add website screenshot

8. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
Items needed
Farmer Profile: Year 1 Requirement: www.OhiOACI.org
1) # acres farmed in total, broken down by crop and nutrient source applied
2) Nutrient recommendation source (Retailer, CCA, farmer, etc…)
3) Type of NMP if any at all
4) Fertilizer license and date if completed
5) Frozen/Snow covered application and if sensitive areas have been located
6) Manure storage capacity if applicable
7) Current cost share sources (EQIP, CSP, CREP, etc…)

9. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
Items needed
Certification: Year 2 requirement
1) Soil testing frequency (how often) and intensity (sample area)
2) How were your manure and or fertilizer recommendations determined? (590,
DLEP, Tri-state, etc…)
3) How were your manure and or fertilizer applications made per crop? (surface,
subsurface, split application, etc…)
4) If your acres were tilled, how were your acres tilled? (Conventional till, strip till,
no-till, etc…)
5) What type of cover cropping was done? (winter kill, overwintering)
6) Current adoption of structural practices (DWM structures, grassed waterways,
etc…)

10. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative

11. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative

12. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
Certification
• Those not meeting minimum criteria for OACI Farmer
certification will be able to take their results into their SWCDs
and determine programs/funding available to become certified.
• Will be able to compare scores to peers in the same area
• Farms meeting OACI Farmer certification will have a virtual
certificate included in the app to show SWCD when required and
will receive a sign to be posted on-farm if the farmer chooses
• Re-certification will be every 3 years and farmers can try to
become certified as often as needed if changes have been made
on their farm

13. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
Assessment
• SWCDs will survey fields, not farmers (although farmers are part of the process).
• Pilot survey to be conducted in the Lower Maumee Watershed (HUC8).
• OACI will identify 500 fields within HUC8 to be surveyed (expect 375 completed
surveys).
• OACI will contract with Iowa Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology
(CSSM) for final survey design.
• Survey will be conducted via provided tablet and data collection mobile app.
• Data will move from mobile app to cloud at OSU for aggregation and statistical
analyses. Data will be kept confidential.

14. Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative
Assessment
Practices & Considerations: Questions
• Land Tenure Arrangement
• Crop Rotation
• Soil Test Frequency
• Soil Test Intensity (Composite or Precision)
• Nutrient Recommendations
• Surface or Subsurface Placement (P and N)
• Fixed vs. Variable-rate Placement (P and N)
• Manure application and placement
• Tillage Practice
• Evidence of Erosion
• Cover Crop
Structural
• Blind Inlet
• Surface Inlet Buffers
• Grassed Waterways
• Alternative Ditch Design
(Natural Channel, 2-Stage, etc.)
• Controlled Drainage Structures
• P Filter/Bioreactor