There have been major changes to the grain soil fertility recommendations contained in AGR-1: Lime and Nutrient Recommendations. I was responsible for getting the word out to interested stakeholders (county agents, farmers, grower/commodity groups, consultants/retailers, regional professionals). To date, I count about 1050 individuals as having learned, directly from me, about the changes and the science behind those changes.

The outreach/educational program response has involved both oral presentations (in-person/zoom) and written efforts (newsletter articles and meetings proceedings papers). My partners included my extension colleagues, Drs. Edwin Ritchey and Brad Lee. Numerous county agents have assisted in getting the word out. In the past year, I presented the "AGR-1 Update" information at two regional ANR/Hort agent updates (135 attendees), the UKREC summer grain/tobacco field day, two county meetings (37 attendees), the annual IPM and Kentuckiana (150 attendees) meetings and the North Central Extension-Industry Soil Fertility Conference (NCEISFC; 158 attendees). I wrote two articles for the Kentucky Field Crops newsletter (150 readers each) and a proceedings paper for the NCEISFC. This past March I taped a podcast, sponsored by the fertilizer manufacturer/retailer Nutrien, on our AGR-1 changes. Further, I have had numerous individual phone conversations on this subject.

The outcomes/program impacts have been several, though most are testimonial. The IPM meeting (116 total attendees) and the UKREC field day (153 total attendees) provided better evaluation data - over 70% indicated that the new recommendations would be valuable in planning future grain nutrient management programs. Most all the county agents valued the effort to reach out to them, personally, with this update education effort - they especially appreciated learning about the science behind the changes/how the "sausage was made", as one put it. Crop consultants were also very supportive of the effort, as they often use our guidelines to justify their recommendations to their clients. Both the Kentucky Corn Growers Association and the Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board were publicly supportive of our efforts - both commodity groups desired a revisit of AGR-1 recommendations.

I think my publicity program has been successful, given the number and variety of program components and the variety of audience interests and numbers.