Extension virtual workshop about cattle breeding sustainable management

Abstract

Agricultural extension implies a complex process of interaction between agricultural education and research, and farmers. MAS-PASTO (FAUBA) is an extension project based on the participative discussion as regards knowledge between professor-researchers, producers and professionals. The virtual workshop in 2020 aimed to help producers, who had previously participated in in-presence workshops with the group, consolidate their knowledge through practice on their own farm. For this, each farmer worked on one of the following topics: 1) sowing of pastures and annual forage; 2) management and improvement of grasslands and 3) design of forage circuits. All farmers calculated their farm meat production, regardless of the topic chosen. For 6 months, cooperative work was performed between producers, professors and a young professional agronomist. The work as regards the chosen topic was performed individually.  Finally, a meeting in which each farmer shared its work, difficulties and  findings with  their peers was carried out through a virtual platform. The workshop was assessed through surveys to participants and a SWOT analysis. The results showed that the workshop allowed them to put prior knowledge into practice and to incorporate them into their farms management. It also consolidated an effective as well as replicable method, for the generation and transference of process technologies from FAUBA to the productive sector.