A farmer learning circle: The sugar creek partners, Ohio

Abstract

Agriculture is the principal source of impairment in the highly degraded Sugar Creek watershed in Northeast Ohio. The Sugar Creek Partners is a farmer-led grass roots watershed group in Upper Sugar Creek that has voluntarily pursued education and taken collective responsibility to implement conservation and remediation practices in their watershed. Social research on the Partners reveals the group's structure, scope and connection to the community and the stages by which the group took ownership of agricultural impairments and their responsibility to take action on their own farms. Beliefs and core values of their local community are critical elements in addressing water quality issues by a consensus, grass roots process. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.