Despite the United States' agricultural abundance and economic success, many Americans lack a fundamental understanding of the origins and value of their food, clothing, and shelter (Kovar & Ball, 2013; Mercier, 2015). To address this, public and private organizations offer formal and nonformal agricultural education programs. The Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) program is the largest U.S. organization engaged in the agricultural literacy professional development of K-12 teachers (Mercier, 2015). In a 2020 survey, 57% of AITC program leaders said they would encourage their PreK-12 educators to complete an online course about the complexities of the agricultural system if one were available (National Agriculture in the Classroom, 2020). In response, the Agricultural Literacy Certification (ALC) was developed. This asynchronous, 8-module online course provides a comprehensive overview of agriculture, from farm to consumer. After completion, including a pre-test, post-test, and capstone activity, participants receive a digital microcredential.

From launch in October through December 2024, 1,025 people enrolled, representing 48 U.S. states, two territories, and one Canadian province. During this time, 401 people completed, with nearly another 100 at 40% completion or better. The pre-and post-tests presented 15 questions from the National Agricultural Literacy Outcome assessments, a previously validated and published instrument (Judd-Murray et al., 2024). Pre-test scores (M = 12, SD = 1.71) indicated most (54%) enrollees began with a practical and applicable agricultural proficiency. Post-test scores (M = 13, SD = 1.10) indicated participants saw some gain in understanding throughout the course, with less variation among responses. Most participants gained 1.5 points (SD = 1.94) from pre- to post-test. Questions most frequently missed on both tests were related to technology use in agriculture. While becoming agriculturally literate will take more than one intervention, these results indicate the ALC course is moving participants toward an increased proficiency in agriculture.