Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Farming is a business that yields products that sustain life, and is in and of itself a way of life. HDFFA strives for our Agricultural Support Program to meet the holistic needs of our region's BFRs. Our project will work collaboratively with partners such as OSU Extension, our regional DMO Visit Central Oregon, COIC, DRC, and the nonprofit Warm Springs Community Action Team to strengthen business practices and build connections and resilience in our agricultural community. We will build the technical support capacity in the region by hiring a full-time Agriculture Technical Assistant who will provide one-on-one and group technical assistance to 80 producers. We will build cohort learning groups for BFRs to learn business strengthening skills while reducing feelings of isolation. We will promote and support greater accessibility and inclusion at 30 BFRs agritourism locations and annually reach 35,000+ visitors through a print and online High Desert Food Trail brochure. We will improve 60 BFRs' ability to be resilient and advocate for themselves, particularly those who have been affected by drought, wildfire and/or irrigation district water reallocation. We will expand support for tribal BFRs in partnership with the Warm Springs Community Action Team to support food sovereignty and in particular the implementation of WSCAT's Shuwiyasha 2024 Business Plan: Growing Community, Connection, Food, and Entrepreneurs at the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
This project meets the priorities identified by USDA including basic livestock and crop farming practices; entrepreneurship and business training; natural resource management and planning; marketing strategies; curriculum development; mentoring, apprenticeships, and internships; resources and referral; and improved nutritional security for socially disadvantaged communities (particularly on the Warm Springs Reservation).Objective I: Build the technical support capacity in the region by hiring a full-time Farm Support Technical Assistant who will provide one-on-one and group technical assistance in collaboration with OSUx and OSU Center for Small Farms and Community Food Systems.Objective II: Establish a curriculum to provide a six-month long, annual cohort and mentorship program where BFRs learn skills as identified by the cohort on operating a successful business, and to reduce isolation in both group settings and one-on-one peer support.Objective III: Promote and support greater accessibility and inclusion (focus on people experiencing a disability or mobility challenges) at beginning farms and ranches for existing and operating agritourism locations.Objective IV: Improve BFR's advocacy skills and resiliency (with a focus on those most affected by drought, wildfire and/or irrigation district water reallocation) through biannual convenings, quarterly educational workshops with topic experts in collaboration with the AAC, Deschutes Basin Water Collaborative (DBWC), and Deschutes River Conservancy.Objective V: Expand support for tribal BFRs by providing pass through funds and technical assistance to the Warm Springs Community Action Team to support food sovereignty.
Project Methods
Objective I methods:HDFFA's Program Director will hire a full-time Agriculture Technical Assistant that is trained by HDFFA's Program Director, Agricultural Manager and OSU Extension staff members in 2025, who will work collaboratively with the Agricultural Support Manager and OSUx staff to address gaps in technical assistance provided in Central Oregon.Utilizing existing 2020 Tri-County Action Plan, Agriculture Technical Assistant, with support from Agricultural Support Manager and OSUx will facilitate 45 BFR (10-15 per county) to identify updated topics for new and developed farms and ranches, knowing that ongoing topic areas of need include: business planning, selling to wholesale markets; pasture management, soil health (assume further specificity will be identified as an outcome of the SWOT); Evaluate process and disseminate results.Update 3-year plan for regional workshops based on identified topics and specific from SWOT (timing, location, etc.); OSUx and HDFFA to plan curriculum, identify outside consultants if needed; Together, implement 4 workshops per year; Evaluate each workshop pre/post; All agencies disseminate results.Develop and implement one-on-one technical support plan for Agriculture Technical Assistant, in collaboration with OSUx and utilizing existing relationships with BFRs and producers; conduct farm visits in Tri-county area and discuss and document individual BFR goals to identify individual and collective need for ongoing support and development of program; HDFFA to follow-up with participants and identify and distribute resources and referrals with producers as needed.Evaluate activities through established evaluation rubric.Objective II methods:Develop farm mentor training program based on existing BFR models from farmanswers.com, previous HDFFA mentorship program, recruited "advanced" farmers that will serve as mentors, and AAC input, focusing on marketing and business strategies and personal and professional development (as identified by existing AAC goals) in first year of development.Recruit BFR cohort members through application period through existing network of HDFFA Partners, OSUx email listserv, and 200 BFRs receiving HDFFA newsletter; 15 cohort members will be selected per year based on application criteria and diversity of business operations.Implement mentorship cohort, including two in-person networking events per cohort term and monthly meetings; individual one-on-one check-ins offered by three mentors; monthly topics executed; Resources and education topics shared among cohort.Cohort members graduate with improved knowledge and connectivity with other BFRs and experienced producers; evaluate activities and learned outcomes through established evaluation rubric.Objective III methods:Ongoing engagement with existing agritourism businesses, including 10 farm businesses engaged on the High Desert Food Trail (HDFT) and BFRs interested in or currently offering agritourism operations; engagement in both busier tourism season (summer) and off-season (winter) varies, but includes engagement workshops, marketing opportunities, and dissemination of educational resources and opportunities on agritourism.Collaborate with identified contractor (Wheel the World) that specializes in agritourism accessibility and inclusion; audit process to be conducted based on existing criteria.Promote accessibility audit opportunity to farm and ranch partners throughout Central Oregon through existing communication pathways, including social media and Facebook group, listservs, HDFFA network, HDFT network, and existing VCO connections; at least 10 BFRs elect to participate in opportunity per year to gain better understanding of improvement opportunities.Update High Desert Food Trail brochure and marketing materials, including print and online versions, in English and Spanish, and interactive online elements/searchability; include indicators for farms that complete the audit process; additional marketing opportunities for engaged BFR businesses available through VCO, TO, and contractor.Measure change through estimated participated counts, anecdotal information on sales by farmers/ranchers, and website/social media hits.Objective IV methods:Convene 30 BFRs 2x/year (at least 60 during project period) to discuss priority areas for advocacy and education topics; work with other organizational stakeholders (DRC, COIC, etc) to facilitate and guide discussions, understand priorities, and help identify opportunities; results of discussions to be shared among group and stakeholders.Facilitate quarterly education topics, as identified by BFRs and AAC, understanding that existing areas of interest include topics like water banks, lateral piping, and pressurized delivery systems (additional topics likely to be identified).Working in collaboration with BFRs involved in group and through outreach to BFRs, AAC, and irrigators outside of network (as identified in collaboration with OSUx, DRC), develop farmer advocacy priorities at local, regional, and state levels; work with farmer cohort and HDFFA Partners to identify interest, capacity, and level of action including but not limited to regional action at Irrigation District Board meetings and Deschutes Basin Water Collaborative meetings, and state action at the capitol.Organize farmer advocacy trips based on farmer priorities.Measure change in BFR knowledge of topics annually.Objective V methods:Year one: Purchase start up equipment for Warm Springs Community Action Team (WSCAT)'s 3,000 square foot greenhouse that will be installed in 2024: Growing benches and shelves, 2 wheelbarrows, gardening tools for 3 staff and 15 youth (handforks, pruners, gardening twine, trowels, weeders), 20 modular raised bed kits, seed starting trays (wood), compost tumblers, and soil and soil amendments. Years two & three purchase ongoing gardening tools (handforks, pruners, twine, trowels, weeders).Years two and three, provide funding for WSCAT's Shuwiyasha Program Manager (.25 year two and .4 year three).HDFFA staff work with WSCAT's Shuwiyasha Program Manager and ED to support implementation of Shuwiyasha: Growing Community, Connection, Food, and Entrepreneurs at the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Business Plan. Includes creating a space for produce production for the tribe, designing a farm/ranch training program for future farmers, develop a youth programming model to instill the importance of good food, foster and encourage horticultural therapy, promote a first foods program to educate the Tribe, and grow native seeds for fire and erosion control on range ground.