Meat & Livestock Australia Awareness & Adoption KPI Evaluation 2008

Summary

A previous evaluation of the performance of the LPl communication programs was undertaken in 2005 using a comprehensive sampling approach and detailed questionnaire. The KP12006 & 2007 Survey's have been based on a revised methodology that concentrates on the assessment of LPl's Adoption & Capacity KPl's.
This involved quantifying the level of awareness that existed amongstlivestock producers of MLA courses and programs, as well as the rate of adoption by producers of innovations and management practices being promoted within MLA learning activities. MLA's annual On-Farm Adoption & Capacity KPl's were to:
1.1ncrease the uptake of MLA's tools and information by targeted producers by 5% 2.1ncrease the participation of targeted producers in MLA learning activities by 5% 3. Encourage increased adoption of alleast one key management practice by 65% of producers that participated in MLA learning activities The 2007 KPl survey stratifies responses from a sample of MLA's main producer segments of Northern Beef Producers, Southern Beef Producers and Southern Sheep or Lamb Producers to a 90% confidence interval for each segment based on an overall sample of n=493. This was splitinto two segments to address the KPl's: Tier, was constructed to evaluate program awareness amongstthe general livestock producer population, it included n=206 producers randomly selected from FARMbase , a database of over 80,000 livestock producers across Australia. Tier2 provides a measure of the level of adoption of management practices amongst MLA's extension program participants. In 2007 a sample of n=287 producers were obtained. This was a sample of producers who participated in extension programs since the last survey
undertaken in July 2006 (including 3,418 attendees of EDGE, More Beeffrom Pastures, PIRDS, CoP, Prime Time and Beef-Up courses). The Tier 2 sample in 2006 included a sample from the 3,080 course participants from July 2005 to June 2006, this survey also included a top-up sample from the 5,041 producers who participated in MLA programs prior to July 2005. In 2007 the measure of producers adoption of, or changes to, management practice has been calculated using two sample sets - the first being from participants who attended MLA learning activities during the 2006-2007 financial year, and the second being an aggregated
sample which included management change data obtained from the 2007 survey as well as the previous 2 survey intervals, This aggregated sample included data obtained from 3 separate samples, these included the 2007 and 2006 sample as well as the sample of course participants who participated in MLA courses and programs prior to July 2005. This aggregated sample provides a cumulative picture of management practice adoption amongst known course participants of the specified programs since 2001, The contents of this report outlines the 2007 and combined 2005-2007 sample results, these are represented in detailin two data files provided separately from this report.