Intentional Learning: Interplay between farmers and service providers

Target 10 is a statewide dairy industry extension program delivered through the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Victoria, Australia. Over 40 % of dairy businesses in the state have been involved in Target 10 and such success has resulted in pressure for continued innovation and development in the area of dairy extension. The Learning Plan Project has been commissioned by the Dairy Research and Development Corporation to look at the intentional learning behaviour of farmers as it relates to grazing management, with the belief that this understanding will have significant implications for the future design and delivery of extension in Victoria. This paper discusses the project as a research in progress report. A discussion of the methodological challenges to exploring the learning of dairy farmers leads into a review of the results gained thus far, and looks toward the potential uses of this research for extension. Finally we discuss the next steps of the project – an action research stage that is exploring the interplays between extension and farming practitioners. This study has identified the need for a systems approach to extension and has developed a generic learning plan process that describes the intentional learning of farmers in south-west Victoria