Source: ORGANIC SEED ALLIANCE submitted to
EXPANDING IMPACTS IN ORGANIC SEED PRODUCTION TRAININGS AND NETWORKS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1020269
Grant No.
2019-49400-30069
Cumulative Award Amt.
$789,219.00
Proposal No.
2019-03597
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2019
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2023
Grant Year
2021
Program Code
[BFRDA]- Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, Standard
Recipient Organization
ORGANIC SEED ALLIANCE
210 POLK ST STE 1
PORT TOWNSEND,WA 98368-6739
Performing Department
Research and Education
Non Technical Summary
Organic seed production presents a lucrative opportunity for beginning farmers. Currently, the supply of high-quality commercial organic seed lags behind demand, and seed companies cite the lack of skilled seed producers as a primary factor. Beginning farmers are increasingly interested in producing seed as a primary enterprise, element of income diversification, or to ensure specific varieties remain available for on-farm use. High-quality seed production requires specialized skills not commonly available in beginning farmer training programs. The seed production internship program developed in BFRDP #12671 began to meet this need, but participants in that project have requested more intensive seed production instruction and assessment, enhanced networking opportunities, and increased internship support to fully prepare them to enter the seed market. This project responds to these requests by 1) creating an online facilitated seed-production course open to program interns and other beginning farmers; 2) increasing opportunities for peer- to- peer and in person learning for participants (regionally and nationally); 3) delivering seed production intensives and networking events in target regions to facilitate national program expansion; and 4) providing professional development support for interns upon program completion. This program is expected to reach 650 beginning farmers in the three-year project period. OSA and MESA will leverage combined decades of experience in farmer educational programming, organic seed production and project management to design, implement and evaluate this project.
Animal Health Component
80%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
80%
Developmental
20%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
51152403020100%
Knowledge Area
511 - New and Improved Non-Food Products and Processes;

Subject Of Investigation
5240 - Seeds and other plant propagules;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goals of this project are to a) increase the quantity and quality of organic seed available to organic farmers, b) increase the number of beginning farmers producingorganic seed for contracts or on-farm use, and c) improve beginning seed producers' practices to increase their profitability and decrease their financial risk.The primary goals of this project are to a) increase the number of beginning farmers producing organic seed for sale or on-farm use, b) build beginning farmer capacity to produce high quality seed of diverse species to support enterprise success, c) strengthen the network of beginning farmers, experienced farmers, seed mentors and educators available to share resources and provide continued peer to peer learning as beginning farmers' needs for specific information evolve.
Project Methods
On-farm Seed Production Internship ProgramOSA and MESA will facilitate an on-farm, one-season seed production internship program that provides beginning seed growers with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience at established seed farms. Host farms will compensate interns and work with interns to set expectations for the experience according to their standard of practice. A bilingual internship coordinator, James Sarria of MESA, will support hosts and interns in establishing terms that work for everyone. Host farms will belocated throughout the United States and have been vetted by the project team for quality business practices and at least five seasons of organic seed production experience. Host farmers will serve on the project Advisory Board, which provides feedback on the internship program and online course. Advisory Board participation also allows intern hosts to learn from each other and share best practices for mentoring beginning seed growers. The Advisory Board will meet remotely every spring and fall and will have an in-person listening session at the Organic Seed Growers Conference in the winters of 2020 and 2022.The internship coordinator will conduct an intake interview with each intern to ascertain prior experience level and professional development goals. If important knowledge gaps are identified, the coordinator will recommend particular resources from the "expected knowledge" section of the program website, which includes basic information on plant families, flower and fruit structure, seed biology, and plant genetics. Interns will be expected to attend the lessons and complete the required assignments for the course (described below) in addition to their on-farm duties. The internship coordinator will follow up with each intern midway through the season and will advise them on the completion of a professional development plan at the end of the program. The professional development plan will include a detailed statement of the individual's goals as a farmer, and a plan for further education, connections, or resources needed to achieve those goals. The coordinator and intern host will follow up with each intern 6 months after the completion of the internship to support implementation of the professional development plan. Types of support may include review of business plans, letters of introduction to seed companies for contracts, advising on job searches for on-farm work, additional advanced training opportunities, or other individualized needs.This meeting may also engage members of the Advisory Board, or other seed professionals willing to share information or connections relevant to the intern's goals.Interns and intern hosts will also be invited to participate in in-person learning opportunities designed to strengthen relationships with other beginning and experienced seed producers. Interns and hosts from around the country will be invited to participate (with no conference registration fee) in the 2020 and 2022 Organic Seed Growers Conference, which OSA hosts in Corvallis, Oregon. These conferences will each feature a "beginning farmer track" with two workshops and one networking event oriented toward beginning farmers and their mentors. Each conference will also include project Advisory Board listening sessions, where project participants and the Advisory Board can meet to discuss project progress and any needed adjustments. OSA and MESA staff will facilitate this meeting. Host farms and interns in Western Washington and the Bay Area of California will also participate in one "regional hub gathering" per season with other hosts and interns in their region, to facilitate co-learning and networking among participants. Project staff will serve as hub coordinators in WA (OSA) and CA (MESA) to facilitate the engagement of a regional host farmer network and communicate with hosts and interns about what kind of gathering structure would be most useful to them. OSA and MESA staff will also conduct regional outreach promoting the internship program, online course and regional hub gatherings.Seed Production Online CourseThis project will create a six-month course within MESA's"virtual campus".This unique platform allows farmers in different regions to find each other, interact and learn together or on their own schedule. Cohorts of participants will start and end together to support collaborative learning. The curriculum development team (including MESA and OSA staff, with input from the Advisory Board) will develop a series of publications and webinars that include pre-internship "expected knowledge," such as plant families, flower and fruit structure, seed biology, and basic genetics.The team will develop monthly facilitated lessons with learning objectives and applied homework assignments that participants can share with each other, their hub coordinator and mentor farmer. These lessons will be facilitated by the course coordinator (Healy). The new course will expand on existing educational materials to include more information on seed crop and business planning, managing growth and scale of operations, yield and profitability forecasting, growing and managing stock and foundation seed, inventory management, quality assurance for germination, disease, and pest management, and how and when to make smart capital investments. These topics will be added in response to feedback from previous participants, and expert consultants will be engaged as needed to design and deliver curriculum.Nathan Corym of Living Earth Foundation and Travis Greenwalt of Highland Economics have already agreed to serve in this function for one lesson each.Following the flow of the season, the lesson topics will include enterprise budgeting and economics, field planning, business planning, variety trials, seed selection, disease and pest management, seed harvesting, seed cleaning/processing, inventory management and seed storage.Seed production intensives and conference workshopsOSA and MESA will partner with three regional organizations in the Northeast (NY), Southeast (NC), and Hawaii to host one-day seed intensives and workshops in conjunction with established agricultural conferences targeting beginning farmers. These trainings will be delivered over the three-year project period, one per year. OSA will partner with the regional organizations for event planning, agenda development, and promotion. The partner organizations will be NOFA- NY, the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, and GoFarm Hawaii. Partner organizations will provide logistical support and leverage their communications to reach beginning farmers within their region who might not be aware of OSA's trainings.Regions are selected to target areas with high interest in organic seed production and events that target beginning farmers. The training events will include a half-day training on basic considerations and techniques for organic seed production, as well as basic economic considerations for beginning contract seed production. The seed production training will introduce the online curriculum and follow the basic outline of the course content, while directing participants to the internship and additional resources for ongoing independent learning.Beginning farmers who have not (yet) participated in an internship or the online course will also be invited to participate in the "beginning farmer track" at the Organic Seed Growers Conference (OSGC) in 2020 and 2022. This track will include two workshops and one network event specifically targeted toward beginning farmers and their mentors. Specific workshop topics will be chosen in conjunction with the project advisory board and interns based on priority needs for additional information, context for seed work, or particular skills. Organic Seed Alliance will offer 20 beginning farmer scholarships and 14 host farm scholarships for each year of the OSGC, to facilitate attendance from these groups nationwide.

Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:This project provided training, networking and financial support for begining farmer seed producers across the US with emphasis on targeting underserved farmers and Spanish speaking participants. Over four years 140 begining farmers gained intensive training and mentorship through a 6 month long hybrid course including online modules, peer to peer learning, applied hands on seed production and mentorship from a newtork of 55 experienced seed producers. Many participants were begining farmers growing vegetable row crops and grains who expanded their production and income from growing seeds. Others were students new to farming who had prior gardening or farm worker experience. All students had access to land and were actively growing seed as a compoent, and requirememnt of the course. Each year 30-50 students were selected out ofup to 250 applicants in a given year ensuring a high level of committment and likelyhood of program impacts. The project partners Viva Farms and Ujamaagreatly aided in recruiting and reaching farmers of color in the course and the conference participation. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The seed coursehad the expanded impact of training, not only begining farmers, but providing trainings forfuture trainers in seed systems. Several graduates of the organic seed production course went on to become seed educators as part of their farming operation, diversifying their income. Two graduates are now trainers in the Ujamaa Seed Acadamy, sharing seed skills with other BIPOC seed growers nationally. Another is now teaching a seed course in California for Spanish speaking begining seed farmers. Onegraduate went on to complete a MS degree focused onanthropology and cultural connections in seed systems and also completed an appliedinternship position with Organic Seed Alliance further expanding their skills in seed production and seed systems research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Resources and program opportunities developed by this project are posted on the FarmAnswers.org website https://farmanswers.org/Organization/Record/organic_seed_alliance. This project is also featured on the Farm Answers podcast, May 2023, interview with Micaela Colley. https://farmanswers.captivate.fm/episodes/4#showEpisodes. The project results and program opporutnties arealso promoted routinely through the Organic Seed Alliance website, newletters, and list serve. The OSA blogpost/ newsletter reported on the course and conferences multiple times. See: Seed Course/ Internship Announcement:https://seedalliance.org/seed-internship-program-organic-seed-production-course/Seed Course newsletter:https://seedalliance.org/2023/closing-a-cycle-with-our-organic-seed-production-course/Organic Seed Growers Conference:https://seedalliance.org/conference-agenda-session-details/ All 33 of the workshops in the 2022 Organic Seed Growers' Conference are disseminated through eOrganic as webinar recordings:https://eorganic.org/node/35373 And select sessions of the 2020 in person confernece:https://eorganic.org/node/33991 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This project expanded the number of begining farmers producing and selling seed as part of their farming operations. A total of 140 begining farmer students gained technical knowlege, economic training, and market access through participation in an in-depth 6 month training and mentorship program. The program included online educational modules, peer to peer knowlege exchange, applied on-farm seed production, and mentorship from a network of 55 experienced seed producers across the US. More than 200additional seed producers gained access to seed production educationthrough a self paced online tutorial. Twenty fivegraduates of the program received $3,000 business stipends to invest in their seed production operations.Additional project participants received seed production and econommics trainings through regional seed intensives deliverred in conjuction with agricultural conferences in NY, HI, and NC. Stipend recipients reported that the investments had a signficant influence in their ability to further their seed enterprise stating that it was "a game changer" or that it "moved things forward". Over 1600participants gained trainings, networking, and peer to peer learning by attending two national Organic Seed Growers' Conferences (2020 in person and 2022 online) and based on evaluations 66% of these participants were begining farmers. The conference delivered 33 workshops on seed topics and recordings are available on eOrganic (https://www.eorganic.org/node/35373). Results of an external review identified that48% of participants who reported on impact surveys rated the benefit of their experience to their seed production as "signficant" and 33% as "some value". The majority of respondents identified new relationships, networks, and seed production knowelge as important tangible outcomes. 50% of survey respondentssaid that they were growing more seed as a result of the information and trainings gained and 43% got new organic seed production contracts as a result of attending the conference. 100% reported that they benefitted professionaly from new contacts made a the conference.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

    Outputs
    Target Audience:This project provided training, networking and financial support for begining farmers and interns in seed production. In 2021,50 students and in 2022, 40 studentsparticipated in the online seed production course and applied on-farm internship/mentorship program. All students in the program learned through applied seed growing, peer to peer mentorship, advising from experienced seed mentors and trainings through online tutorials, guest lectures and group discussions. In February 2022, the Organic Seed Growers' Conference reached 1203 registrants, representing 48 states of the US and 49 countries internationally. Participants gained access to workshops and networking sessions delivered across 7 days and available post event as recorded webinars.In evaluation surveys 32% of conference respondents self-identified as begining farmers. Other participants included seed companies, seed advocates, researchers, and other seed stakeholders.The project targeted Latinix begining farmers through outreach in partnership with three farm incubator programs, Viva Farms, Huerta del Valle and ALBA and Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance. An on-farm intensive training in Hawaii US engaged more than 25participants co-hosted by Go-Farm Hawaii. Changes/Problems:This project spanned over the course of Covid-19. Fortunately we've been able to navigate impacts in ways that allowed still reaching the core project objectives.The combined on-line and applied in-person training turned out to be a great benefit as the project supported launch and expansion of an online learning and social networking community. This community of seed growers, companies, advocates and others now includes over 1000 members from at least 48 states of the US and. 49 countries internationally. One of the challenges we faced was the ability to foster more farm to farm site visits as we had initially envisioned developing regional hubs of student host farms where students could meet eachother more easily face to face. In the virtual space we have been able to instead create regional synergy groups where students and others can network, communicate and share questions and resources on a regional basis as well as across regions. Fortunately Covid has not greatly impacted the feasiblity of the one-on-one mentorship and this aspect of the program brought postitive impacts beyond what we'd initially imagined. Fortunately in this final year we've been able to again host more on-farm workshops and farmer to farmer visits. In some regions students and mentors have self organized cross visits without the project coordinators involvement. This is promising indicator of regional relationships expanding as a result of the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training is the core objectiveof this project reaching all project participantsas described in previous sections of this report.In addition, over 100 students in the 6 month long program (2020-2022) recieved one-on-one mentorship from more than 40experienced seed producers which aided in improving their seed growing skills and social newtorking opportunities in seed growing.In 2022 a prior student from North Carolina, inthe 2021 course, took on an internship position with Organic Seed Alliance to expand seed research skills with the intent to apply those skills in seed research with a NC-based non-profit (Utopian Seed Project).Thirtystudent alumni developed a business plan/ proposal and gained $3,000 each to apply toward expenses directly related to lauching their seed production business (provided through covid releif funds).The course instructors gained professional mentorship in course facilitation from participation of a professional instructor working as a contractor. The program team greatly benefited from learning newstrategies and tools from workingwith a professional external program evaluator who has worked with other BFRDP projects including the GREW Project (https://agroecology.ucsc.edu/education/bfrdp/tips/eval-plan.html). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project is routinely promoted through OSA's website, newsletters, social media as well as through the Organic Seed Commons networking website (www.seed commons). The seed course, confernece, intensives and on-farm workshops were also promoted through partnering organizations to aid in reaching a diverse and inclusive audience including partners at Ujamaa Farming Collective, Huerta del Valle, Alba, Viva Farms, Go-Farm Hawaii, Caroline Farm Stewards Association and NOFA New York. Project resources and opportunities are also promoted through the Farm Answers website. See:https://seedalliance.org/seed-internship-program-organic-seed-production-course/ We recently recorded a podcast sharing the results of this project with the BFRDP team and look forward to co-promoting the podcast once released in early 2023. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?2023 is the final year of this project, with a 1-year no-cost extension. The students of the 2022 co-hort are wrapping up their course projects and completing exit interviews with instructors. We do plan to continue offering the course again in 2023 inspite of BFRDP funding ending in Septemer. We're currently exploring models for ongoing sustainability of the course as delivered at the previous level of intensity of student engagment. The mentorship aspect has made major impacts on student lives and we plan to explore ways to continue building the mentorship network and funding experienced farmers for their time in training the next generation of seed growers. In the final year we also plan to expand direct mentorship to Spanish speaking Latinix begining farmers. The course now holds extensive pre-recorded content and will continue to provide training resources into the future. In the final year we plan to conduct the final, summative evaluation in preparation for the final report with emphasis on documenting impacts after 3 years of programing. We will work with a professional external evaluator through this process who has already aided in implimenting evaluation tools for tracking impacts and participant feedback to date.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? This project is expanding the number of begining farmers producing seed as part of their farming operations. In the past two years 51 students (2021) and 40 students (2022)gained technical knowledge in seed production skills through a 6 month long intensive training and grew seed on-farm with mentorshipfrom a network of 22 experienced seed producers in 2021 and 12 in 2022. Additional participants gained access to seed production information through a self-paced, online self-guidedtutorial. Students applied economic tools to assess the profitability of their seed crops and gained training on economics including production planning and financial projections. Beginning farmers gained trainings, networking opportunities and peer to peer learning by attending the 11tth Organic Seed Growers' Conference. Of the 1203 registrants approximately 33% were beginning farmers based on evaluation surveys. Thirty three participants were past student course alumni. These beginning farmers gained opportunities to network with seed companies that contract directly with seed growers providing business opportunities. In addition begining farmers participated in regional synergy groups developing relationships with other seed growers, seed companies and seed advocates in their region.The 7 day event included 33 sessions recorded and available post event. Workshops addressed priority topics for begining seed growers including "Seed Production for Market Growers", "Labor in the Organic Seed Movement", "Small to Medium Scale Seed Equipment", "Building Your Seed Brand", "Understanding Seed Intellectual Property", and "Protecting Seed Diversity". Participants described the 11th OSGC as, "inspiring", "transformational", "connective/community-building", and "well-run". 97% of resondents to the evaluation survey (6% return rate) rated the overall event as excellent (54%) and very good (43%).Begining Seed Producers in Hawaii gained access to training, peer to peer learning, and market opportunities in the 2-day long Hawaii Seed Summit, co-hosted with Go-Farm Hawaii, and Hawaii Seed Networkin March 2022. Spanish speaking, Latinix begining farmers, gained access to the seed course, conference and on-farm workshops through translation from English to Spanish and Spanish to English. Two Spanish-speaking students expanded their seed production business by accessing seed growing and processing equipment through the project expansion (covid relief) funds. Both producers (in WA and CA) expanded the economic returns of seed on their farm in 2022 and shared their seed growing experience with other Latinix farmers in their community through on-farm workshops/ field days. Thirty begining seed growers gained $3,000 eachto lauch or expand their seed business through covid-relief funds.Additional begining farmers (targeting Latinix farmers)gained access to small scale seed processing equipment (supported by covid relief funds) through farmer-incubator programs including Huerta del Valle (So. CA), ALBA (central CA), and Viva Farms (WA).

    Publications


      Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

      Outputs
      Target Audience:This project provides support to begining farmers entereing into seed production as part of their business. To date the project provided tools and resources to three begnining farmer incubator programs, Viva Farms, Huerta del Valle, and Alba. These tools will benefit begining farmers in the 2022 seed growing season. The project also provides financial support to begining farmers who will benefit ecnomnically in 2022. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next period this program will deliver a 6 month long course on seed production that provides online education, peer to peer learning and mentorship from experienced seed growers. 30 student graduates from prior courses will recieve financial stipends to support their seed production businesses.Three farmer incubator programs will partner to promote the course and provide acceses to seed processing tools for the beginingfarmers in their programs. These three incubator programs, Alba, Viva Farms, and Huerta del Valle,target Latinix begnining farmers. Two Latinix, women-owned, seed producers will also recieve financial stipends for expanding their seed growing busineses and providing on-farm workshops for other begining farmers in their communities.Course access and training will also be extended to black farmers across the US through partnership with a black farming seed cooperative, Ujamaa.

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? This project provides financial support, training and access to tools and resources for begining seed produceres. In the first six months of the project students in the seed production course and mentorship program were provided the opportunity to apply for financial stipends for costs related to their seed production businesses. More than 50 students gained access to the application and 30 will be selected for funding in early 2022. This project also provided seed processing tools for three begining farmer incubator programs. The programs will gain training in use of the tools in early 2022 and be accessible to farmers in the 2022 growing season.

      Publications


        Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

        Outputs
        Target Audience:The primary target audience is begining farmers and farming internsstarting or expanding seed production. The project also prioritizes addressing needs of Latinix begining farmers and interns. The first year of the project foucsed on outreah to expand participation in an online seed internship matching platform and recruitment of interns to participate in an online course on seed production. Outreach also delivered education and networking opportunities to beginning farmers, interns and agricultural students at the Organic Seed Growers Confernece including scholarships for begining farmers. Changes/Problems:The project aims to targetLatinix begining farmers for inclusion in the online course and internship program. However project partners have enountered that it is often challenging for many Latinix begining farmers toparticipants(finanically and logistically)in on-farm internship programs. In addition many lack access and training needed to engage in online educational programs.While we will continue to promote the internship program and the course for Latinix participation we are also exploring the best method for delivery and how we may modify to best accomodate this group. For example we may integratemore pod casts or physically mail thumb drives of webinars if necessary. We are also exploring possiblities of delivering through project partners physical locations so students could simply meet on a given day and watch webinars together. In addition we are exploring the potential of establishing mentorships with existing seed farmers and Latinix begining farmers to subsitute for the on-farm internship experience. All substitute modes of delivery will be developed with the aim of best accomplishing the proposed outreach and impact targets. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provides the valuable opportunity for the education team at Organic Seed Alliance to work closely with education specialist, Natalia Pinzon, to develop the course curriculum. Pinzon holds formal training and is a PhD candidate in the field of educational development and course pedogogy. She also brings valuable expertise in online course delivery and facilitation. The relationship between Pinzon and Kitt Healy, OSA Research and Education Specialist, to co-manage the course development and delivery has servedas a valuable professional development training opportunity. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project is announced and promoted on OSA and MESA websites, see:https://seedalliance.org/seed-internship-program-organic-seed-production-course/ The project promotion and outreach to recruit participants included three primary modes, 1) OSA's communications (web announcments, newsletters, and list serves), 2) promotion through project partners communications (Viva Farms, MESA, NOFA NY), and 3) networking and promotion at the Organic Seed Growers Confernece including distribution of a printed card promoting the internship program and matching site. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The experience and all evaluations from the first year will be applied to improving the online course and delivering the second year. In December 2020 course instructors will interview each course participant to asess outcomes, andprovide one on one feedback to advise students to help each meet their seed-relatedaspirations. Students will also complete an online evaluation survey. The course advisory committee will also convene to provide feedback on the on-farm experience and provide suggestions for course improvements. The second year course will run from May-October 2021 and this year will include a Spanish speaking cohort. Recruitment of students including Latinix students is underway and will continue through online and event promotions as well as networking through project partners (Viva Farms and MESA) who lead Latinix outreach programs. A Spanish speaking course facilitator will assist in exploring optimum modes of delivery to this cohort to ensure accessiblity and to provide personalized mentorship and translation services thorughout the course. In the first year the course was delivered on Farm Campus site to facilitate ease and timliness of delivery. In 2021 anew online platform specifically for delivery of seed specific training and networking. This site will serve todeliver the second year course and support ongoing networking and outreach activities including continued engagement of past interns and host farms. The online matching platform will migrate to the OSA website from MESA's site and incorporate into the existing Seed Producer Database. Outreach and recruitment of new host farms will work to expand the network and provide greater national internship opportunities. Hubs of farms in CA and WA will be engaged to explore opportunties for regional networking and exchange to develop Covid appropriate activities for 2021. The NOFA NY Organic Seed Confernece is planned for January 16-24th, 2021 to virtually deliver trainings on organic seed production and networking sessions to promote the seed internship and online course.

        Impacts
        What was accomplished under these goals? Major activities in the first yearincluded establishing systems for project management, convening the farmer advisory committee, launching the online seed production course, recruiting host farms and interns, and hosting theOrganic Seed Growers Confernece, Feb 14-15, 2020. The project advisory committee of 14 farmers convened to provide orientation to the project and initial advisory input on 2020 plans for the course and on-farm internships. Begining farmers, students and interns partiicpated in 20 workhops and networking sessions at the conference including opportuniteis to connect host farms and interns. 30 begining farmers attended on scholarship. Promotion of the seed internship program and online course recruited new host farms and connected host farms and interns through the online matching platform. There are currently 18 participating farms and there were at least 23 interns placed on-farm in 2020. The online course launched in April through the website Farmer Campus. The course included 6 monthly modules delivered through synchronous and asynchronous engagment. Instructors included the proejct team along with 10 guest instructors. Guest instructors included seed producers, seed company representatives and agricultural economists. 23 students joined the course and 18 completed the full 6 month program. Completion of program included finishing season long projects focused on tracking crop production and economcis and reflecting on their personal professional pathway in seed. All particpants were interviewed throughout the couse including asessments after each module to provide feedback to instrutors and midterm and final evaluations to guage progress and provide program impact assessments. The final evaluation was just recently distributed and will be included in the next project reporting cycle. Evaluations of the monthly modules guaged usefullness of the information in supporting their seed growing success and overall the student evaluations were between 4-5 on a scale of 1-5 for usefulness. Nine host farms provided applied internship positions to the student partiicipants. Host farms recieved stipends to support their involvement in the project including facilitating internship particpation in the course and serving in a project advisory role. Education and outreach is planned for the NOFA NY Organic Seed Conference in January 2021. Workshops on organic seed production and networking events are in development of the event to train begining farmers. A networking session is also planned to promote the internship matching platform and online course and to facilitate connection between hosts and interns. Support of BFRDP will also be acknowledged.

        Publications

        • Type: Websites Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: https://seedalliance.org/seed-internship-program-organic-seed-production-course/