Source: VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
NATIONAL URBAN AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE USDA TRAINING -PRODUCER EDUCATION BRIDGING THE GAP - THE FUTURE OF USDA IN URBAN AGRICULTURE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1032699
Grant No.
2024-67024-43187
Cumulative Award Amt.
$50,000.00
Proposal No.
2024-04969
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 15, 2024
Project End Date
Aug 14, 2026
Grant Year
2024
Program Code
[A1601]- Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities: Small and Medium-Sized Farms
Recipient Organization
VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
PETERSBURG,VA 23803
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Virginia State University - Small Farm Outreach Program (VSU-SFOP) will host a National Urban Agriculture (NUag) conference in Detroit, in August 2024. This conference will intentionally increase awareness and transparency about USDA programming and opportunities for urban producers. Our priority is to "bridge the gap" that has historically impacted the relationship between USDA and urban producers and organizations. While addressing the needs of this community of small farmers, VSU plans to create a space for them to learn about USDA programs, processes and procedures; as well as opportunity to give feedback and recommendations. The information shared and collected will be a critical part of our USDA program recommendations and evaluations at the end of the project. The NUag conference will bring these stakeholders together for training, networking, resource connecting, and relationship building.The evaluation survey from the National Urban Ag Kickoff Meeting indicated that some main principles and goals should be magnified in that national conference.Our main objectives are: 1) Strengthen the relationships and networking between USDA and urban producers and organizations; 2) Increase producer knowledge in understanding, applying, and successfully utilizing USDA programs; 3) Increase stakeholder engagement and combat historical mistrust in USDA processes by providing space for program and engagement feedback and meaningful conversation; 4) Amplify urban agriculture efforts and history by honoring what has already been done in this space by resilient communities and what can be done in the future.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
60160303020100%
Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management;

Subject Of Investigation
6030 - The farm as an enterprise;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
The NUag Conference in Detroit will serve as a national opportunity to celebrate the advancement, investment, and dedication to urban agriculture. While addressing the needs of this community of small farmers, Virginia State University (VSU) plans to create a space for them to learn about USDA program processes and procedures, as well as be able to give feedback and recommendations. The information shared and collected will be a critical part of our USDA program recommendations and evaluations at the end of the project.Our main objectives are: 1) Strengthen the relationships and networking between USDA and urban producers and organizations; 2) Increase producer knowledge in understanding, applying, and successfully utilizing USDA programs; 3) Increase stakeholder engagement and combat historical mistrust in USDA processes by providing space for program and engagement feedback and meaningful conversation; 4) Amplify urban agriculture efforts and history by honoring what has already been done in this space by resilient communities and can be done in the future.
Project Methods
The Approach is to conduct this three-day conference through several major arrangements: General Sessions, Breakout Sessions, Farm Tours, and Receptions.Day 1: Pre- Pre-Conference Farm Tours / Network Reception On day one of the conference we will have Pre-Conference farm tours and a networking reception to welcome everyone to the conference.Farm ToursTwo farm tours are planned for this conference. The tour should fit 100 people on each tour. The purpose is to enlighten producers and USDA staff on current urban growing and climate-smart practices. These tours will enhance their productivity and understanding of barriers and concerns that apply specifically to urban producers. Expected outcomes are increased knowledge of new production techniques, and appropriate farm equipment and tools that are designed for small farms.i)Networking ReceptionThe networking reception will kick off the national conference by facilitating relationship-building and connections before the conference starts. Expected outcomes are increased comradery, networking, and resource sharing.Day 2: General Section & Break Outs USDA Programs & Training This conference will have a strong USDA presence and training component. There will be breakout sessions and panel discussions on USDA programs, policies, processes, and eligibility. These programs will encompass a wide range of NRCS, FSA, and OUAIP programs. There will also be sessions for USDA exclusively to hold planning and strategy meetings. The outcomes are: that producers will have an improved awareness of USDA programs and practices. USDA will also have time to hold nationwide productive planning.Feedback SessionsAs an outcome of the sessions in Atlanta, the team will prioritize space for individuals to give open feedback on their experience and interaction with USDA and USDA programs. The outcomes are: This will allow stakeholders to feel involved in the evolution of urban ag programming.Farm Bill updatesThis breakout session will focus on the changes and current state of the farm bill as they relate to urban producers. Producers will also receive information from the farm bill policy, on how to access programs that could benefit their farming. The outcomes are: that producers will acquaint themselves with the current state and changes in the farm bill. They will have increased knowledge on how to access and utilize the policy addressed in the farm bill.Day 3: Panel, Breakouts, and Activities Climate Smart Practices This track of breakout sessions will be designed to introduce producers and stakeholders to farming practices that increase climate resiliency and impact climate change positively. These practices will be urban agriculture-focused to inform urban producers what practices can be applied to urban production. These will include vertical, hydro & aquaponics, and conservation growing practices. The outcomes are increased producer knowledge of climate-smart practices and how to apply them to urban production.Stakeholder engagement Stakeholder engagement plays a large part in the historical gap between underserved/urban producers and USDA. Evaluation results show the desire for USDA to be more direct in engagement and make it a priority to shape programming around actual producers' needs. This track of stakeholder engagement will provide space for USDA and other stakeholders to learn how to better interact and understand the barriers they face.Farmer resiliency The farmer resiliency track will be specifically for farmer connections, community building, and operational sustainability. There will be a range of topics covered but all focused on the farmer resiliency objectives. Sessions will include topics around market expansion, business marketing, grant writing, solutions to barriers, nutrition security, and zoning. The outcomes will be increased producers' knowledge of recourses, and knowledge that will increase resiliency and sustainability.Virginia Tech Networking Exchanges One of Virginia Tech's deliverables for the NUag project is to facilitate several learning exchanges with USDA Cooperators and collect evaluation information from all of them. They will now be holding the exchanges quarterly and are already underway. The project cooperators have expressed gratitude for a facilitated space to learn about each other's project and be able to share processes and recourses. We plan to hold one of those sessions at the Detroit conference on an important project topic such as mini-grants, programming, outreach, policy involvement, and equity. The outcome of this is the cooperators will increase their understanding of their projects and what other cooperators are doing to tackle the same objectives. By sharing resources and ideas, the cooperators will expand their networks and increase resiliency when it comes to executing their projects.Cornell Education Curriculum As a part of the grant deliverables, Cornell is developing a curriculum empowering USDA to better understand and adapt to urban agriculture. This includes topics like community building, employee empowerment, and urban ag expertise. Cornell with use this session to collect feedback on training and slides. They will also take time with producers to collect feedback on what they think is important to add to this education

Progress 08/15/24 to 08/14/25

Outputs
Target Audience:Urban agriculture growers/producers and organizations, and small scale farmers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project allowed training opportunities for all stakeholders in this project. Stakeholder engagement sessions were conducted byVirginia Tech and Cornell University. They facilitated several learning exchanges. These sessions allowed for sharing resources and ideas, and expanding their networks. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been dissiminated via email, newsletter, social media, National Urban Ag website, newsletter and via our other VSU online platforms. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The National Urban Ag Conference took place on August 4-6, 2024 in Detroit MI. Approximately 700 participated in this event. The attendees comprised ofurban ag producers, USDA Staff, urban ag Cooperators,and Extension staff. The project goal of bridging the gap betweenurban agricultural producers,urban ag communitiesandUSDAstaff was accomplished.The funds awarded by this project allowed Virginia State Universityto provide $1000 scholarships to 40 participants to assist them with getting to this event(costs included lodging, travel, and registration). These funds were also used toward other conference costs such asprinting necessary conference materials and compensating farm tour hosts. There were networking opportunities scheduled all throughout the event. There were engaging learning exchanges and producer/USDA educationalopportunities fostering engagement and feedback. Farm tours conducted gaverealistic overviews of the type of work and operation that urban ag producers conduct and how they impact the farming community. All of the project objectives were achieved and the overall impact is significant. Urban Ag Cooperators helped urban producers navigate the complexities of land acquisition and, by helping them to press for favorable zoning laws in their communities, to increase farming opportunities and work on soil remediation strategies to ensure urban farmers have access to land that is fertile for growing crops. The results of these efforts have already been realized in several cities. Urban farmers have been able to secure long-term leases which allows them to invest in their land confidently. These urban farmers are also able to improve access to fresh food in their communities and reduce reliance on external and emergency food sources. FSA, together with local partnerships, supported urban farmers with funding such as micro-grants, to restore land and implement sustainable practices. These partnerships enable farmers to build infrastructure, purchase equipment, scale their operations, and engage in modern agriculture practices such as hydroponic farming, soil regeneration technologies, and the use of greenhouse systems using 90% less water while extending the growing season. To remain competitive, urban farmers need technical assistance and training in programs like FSA's Conservation Stewardship Program and Hydroponics Projects. Both initiatives provide essential skills that helped farmers transition to more efficient, resilient agricultural methods. Farmers learned about hydroponics, organic farming, and water conservation which led to increasing crop yields and year-round production capability. This also led to increased profitability. Building capacity in communities is also a benefit that was realized as a result of this project. Cooperatives offered mentorship and helped to develop infrastructure that helps smaller community organizations access federal funding. These efforts aligned local stakeholders under shared goals and strengthened urban agriculture networks to improve the sustainability of local food production and helping small-scale farmers develop sustaining businesses. With almost 700 people from across the nation who participated either in person or virtually, an evaluation summary highlights participant outcomes and experiences. 74% of participants agreed that their understanding about what FSA is doing to support urban agriculture has increased. 95% of participants felt they made relevant connections with urban ag cooperators and FSA that will lead to adopting technologies and increase profitability. 73% agreed that they now know what USDA resources are available to assist them in making informed decisions and providing the means to sustainable business practices.

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