DEVELOPING RESEARCH AND EXTENSION COLLABORATIONS TO SUPPORT CLIMATE ADAPTATION BY MIDWEST ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCERS

The long-term goal of this proposal is to support Midwest organic vegetable growers' adaptation to a rapidly changing climate. We aim to do this through a "network weaving" engagement process to define research and outreach priorities for this audience, allowing us to write a well-coordinated full proposal to OREI in 2024.Our objectives are to:Coordinate a series of structured meetings to assess research, extension and outreach needs and efforts across the Midwest region on climate adaptation for organic vegetable producers, identifying priorities for future collaborative work;Develop and publish two peer-reviewed papers outlining research, education and extension priorities to support organic growers in developing climate resilient diversified food production systems; and,Develop and submit an Integrated Project proposal to the USDA NIFA OREI program in 2024 addressing research and extension priorities identified in OREI program objectives 1, 6 and 7.