ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER RESEARCH 23 gain insights not only from university research but also from each other, often reevaluating their own on-farm practices as a result. Interviewees described TAPS as a “gamechanger” in how extension builds both technical capacity and social learning among producers. It exemplifies how well-designed extension initiatives can move beyond oneway knowledge transfer toward co-creation of solutions with stakeholders. Despite these strengths, the broader extension system in the United States is under pressure. Inflation-adjusted funding for core programming has declined, with states increasingly reliant on competitive grants that can fragment service delivery and favour well-resourced institutions. This has started to create a gap in services to farmers, and the rise of commodity board agronomists, private consultants, and agribusiness advisors has created a more pluralistic advisory landscape. As land-grant university leadership focuses more heavily on research outputs and global rankings, the role of extension as a public service is, in some cases, being deprioritized. THE NETHERLANDS The American extension system continues to play a critical role in connecting science to practice in agriculture and rural development. However, maintaining its relevance and impact will depend on renewed investment, structural adaptability, and clarity of purpose in an increasingly complex advisory landscape. In contrast, the Netherlands has moved away from a public model and pursued a model that prioritizes privatized extension. The Dutch extension system has undergone significant changes since the mid-1980s. Initially government-run, extension services have since become heavily privatized and diversified. Public funding has shifted toward research and innovation projects, with private consultants, input suppliers, and farmer organizations now playing central roles in extension. One of the primary benefits of this privatization was increased flexibility and responsiveness to farmers' needs. It enabled the emergence of farmer-funded research and development through commodity board mechanisms and the proliferation of private extension services that helped bridge the gap between research, policy, and practice. BO Akkerbouw is a levy-funded knowledge organization for arable farmers in the Netherlands. They fund research and knowledge transfer projects through farmer levies and matching funds from publicprivate funding schemes. Their system includes farmer-driven priority setting, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and strong integration with research institutions to ensure projects are both scientifically valid and relevant to their farmer members. Through initiatives like these, farmers gained more influence over setting research priorities, empowering them to shape agendas. This privatized extension system has encouraged a more demand-driven and entrepreneurial culture, particularly among innovative and business-oriented farmers. While the shift to privatized extension has brought greater efficiency and responsiveness in some areas, it has also introduced challenges related to equitable access and the fragmentation of advisory services. The system tends to benefit larger, more innovative, or entrepreneurially minded farmers, while potentially sidelining smaller or less-connected producers. As one farmer noted in a study by Klerkx and Leeuwis (2009), “You have to be good at networking to find what you need…the information is out there, but the road to it isn’t clear.” These issues have been acknowledged within the sector, and efforts are underway to address fragmentation and improve farmers’ access to relevant knowledge. Annemarie Bruekers, Associate Director at TKI AgriFood, a foundation that distributes federal funding for research and innovation in the agri-food sector, cited another challenge with an entirely privatized extension system is the lack of a direct feedback loop from growers to policymakers, saying “There is an increasing number of people in the government that have expertise in policy and processes much more than agriculture and food. There is no direct responsibility for the Dutch government to stay up to date on producer concerns and industry challenges.” Recent initiatives have been created to address these issues. In 2022, BO Akkerbouw established the Sustainable Practice Network for Arable Farmers. As the coordinator of the country’s largest body of producerfunded research and knowledge transfer, and with strong ties across industry, academia, and government, BO Akkerbouw is wellpositioned to serve as a platform for farmers to exchange ideas and access support. “In my experience, it doesn’t take much more than a cup of coffee or a cake to facilitate a group. Just start with a topic, and the experiences and questions of everyone will start flowing,” says Lotte van Duren den Hollander, BO Akkerbouw’s knowledge coordinator. “In addition to the farmers learning from each other, we can use these insights at BO Akkerbouw to provide feedback to researchers on what topics and research are resonating with growers. The difficult thing is continued on page 24 Ash Weise, Laura Bennet, Shannen Davies and Lauren Benoit (all 2024 Nuffield Scholars) in Perth, Australia at the Western Austrailia Nuffield Luncheon.
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