As of 1997 this program has improved crop and pest management on over 154,000 acres. Discussions of crop management include soil fertility, plant populations, crop records, and timely harvest. TAg agendas are flexible to address topics of local interest and concern, such as water quality protection and management of dairy filth flies. TAg sessions can also seize timely educational opportunities during a given season, such as identifying unique pests or adjusting planting and harvest schedules. During the meetings team members learn to correctly identify the causes of problems encountered and to effectively manage these problems using economically and environmentally sound strategies.
Teams also discuss how to minimize or avoid similar problems in the future.
Evaluations Soil Fertility Manure Spreader Calibration Meetings last approximately 2 hours, but are conducted at times that least interfere with farm operations. Meeting location is rotated among the member farms throughout the season to enable teams to address farm specific questions and to apply their problem solving skills to different field situations. It is important to note that individual TAg Teams are only formally together for one season. This system enables participating extension field staff to reach a larger audience with new clients in the program over time. The primary product the TAg Team program produces is an informed participant, one able to directly apply a variety of IPM and ICM skills to their farm enterprise or to better seek, identify, and critically evaluate these management aides from their local agri-service providers.