Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This proposal includes ongoing training elements for BFRs, yearly activities that provide networking and individualized support, and an ambitious plan for changing the nature and perception of land access barriers in the region.Five core training elements support the achievement of this proposal's objectives. The training elements are available both in-person at the Old Fort and virtually through attendance at classes. The Farmer in Training (FIT) and Ranching Apprentice (RA) Programs,and the Summer Short Courses (SSCs)provide an effective hands-on training and education related to high elevation to production and raising livestock. The Incubator Program provides land access for local beginning farmers for up to five years, while the Farm Planning Course, a virtual, weekly spring course is open to farmers across the state and provides advanced crop and business planning content.The Farmer Training Convergence, as a core offering of the Training Network, provides an annual networking and educational opportunity. Training Network members, BFRscurrently participating in FLC's programs, as well as program graduates, regional farmers, and BFRs affiliated with other programs attend.Additionally, the Training Network will sustain connectivity among technical service providers in Montezuma and La Plata counties and will include NRCS and FSA offices, regional Conservation Districts, Colorado State University Extension, and other entities offering expertise to beginning farmers. In this way, professionals can more easily connect to share information and make appropriate referrals for a BFRs' unique needs.The SELA Collaborative, which includes FLC and MLC as anchor organizations, seeks to actualize commons-based and other innovative land ownership and access in the region within the project time frame and the Long-Term Land Access (LTLA) Project aims to create secure land tenure at the Old Fort, enabling land access beyond the incubator program. The LTLA Project consultant will help design a land access program at the Old Fort that provides 10-year renewable leases to qualified producers, with an emphasis on benefitting historically underserved communities.Mentorship and Peer Support Groups are also part of the proposal, engaging regional producers as mentors and linking regional BFRs with peers in similar stages of business development and growth. Mentors will receive training offered by the Program Manager at Valley Food Partnership,and will advice FLC on the development of a mentorship program, including documents, deliverables, and agreements. Peer Support Groups will be coordinated by the Farmer Training Program Assistant Director, matching past and future program graduates with peers with similar needs or interests, based on surveys specific to peer group formation.Efficiency supply incentives will allow participants to choose from a list of efficiency supply supplies, tools and/or equipment that the program will purchase to boost productivity and success for new farm businesses, such as key harvesting or processing equipment.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The project's purpose is to enhance the success of BFRs farming or ranching at high elevations, centered on 3 goals:Objective 1 aims to deepen support for BFRs with < 7 years of experience through improvements to the Farmer and Rancher Training Program that (1) offer high-impact hands-on training and education for aspiring and first-year BFRs; (2) provide easier access to technical assistance, mentoring, and peer support for BFRs in their second through sixth years; and (3) meet the cultural and individual needs of BFRs through work with Indigenous collaborators and other experienced farmers.Objective 1 Outputs: 45 farmers receive mentoring or engage in peer support activities; 200 individuals attend the Convergence; 320 hours of 1:1 mentoring provided to BFRs; nine hours of mentor training offered to 24 farmers; 30 program graduates and other regional BFRs participate in peer support groups; over 240 hours of field learning per person available to 42 BFRs; Farmer Training Convergence event offers over 80 hours of presentations and workshops; 12 hours of Indigenous food access workshops; 36 FIT program participants; six RA participants; 24 farmers participate in summer courses while working on other farms; over 20 USDA offices and farmer-supporting organization staff members provides resources for BFRs; six meetings of the Indigenous Farmer Training Working Group; 12 hours of Indigenous workshops.Objective 2seeks to reduce barriers for beginning farmers through (1) facilitating direct access to knowledge for beginning farmers, including providing six hybrid Summer Short Courses and a virtual Farm Planning course; (2) launching a new long-term land access program at the Old Fort; and (3) creating new land access opportunities within the region, along with regional partners.Objective 2Outputs: 60 hours of virtual instruction reaching 75 BFRs; 252 hours of hybrid instruction reaching 90 BFRs; 36 SELA collaborative meetings, resulting in the development of values, bylaws, stewardship guidelines and lease agreements for land access; 18 Long Term Land Access Project meetings, resulting in document development for LTLA Project, including farmer cooperative structure, program guidelines, and lease agreements; 6 meetings of the Beginning Farmer Working Group; 10 incubator farmers access at least 1/8 acre each; 15-30 efficiency supply incentives (micro-grants) are distributed to BFRs.Objective 3seeks to increase the reach and impact of opportunities offered by FLC and collaborator organizations through (1) increasing the number/success of program graduates continuing to farm over baseline data 2021-2024; and (2) increase engagement among existing farmer managers and owners within the region through targeted outreach to support knowledge sharing, mentorship, and access to classes among those working on farms.Objective 3Outputs: FIT/RAs/incubator farmers continue farming or ranching; 24 farmers working on farms participate in program classes; 24 regional farmers engaged as mentors through training; two producers access land at Fozzie's Farm; 15-30 efficiency supply incentives disbursed.
Project Methods
Project directors and participants will engage with the evaluator to implement evaluation throughout the grant period to generate information for USDA NIFA REEport and RVS tracking systems. Formative and summative evaluation measures will monitor on-going activities and short-term outcomes. Surveys and participant communications will also gather qualitative comments on lessons learned and successes. These "stories" offer insight in addition to more objective data. All additional data required by NIFA such as participants and audience served, as well as the number of such that we help to start farming, prepare to start farming, and help to improve their farming success will be recorded and reported on.Formative and summative evaluation tools will include a project tracking sheet, skills assessment, partnership agreement review and revision, participant surveys (in-season and post-season), Farm Planning class surveys, focus groups or interviews with beginning farmer participants, and annual participant surveys. Most methods of evaluation will include components that help clarify future directions or improvement and those that strictly evaluate program results.Seasonally timed participant surveys (short growing season and post-season surveys) will track certain outcomes both during the season or set of classes and at the end of the program. We will use a variety of questions, including Likert-type scales such as "As a result of this training, I now have a better understanding of ---(1) Strongly disagree; (2) Moderately disagree; (3) Neither agree nor disagree; (4) Moderately agree; (5) Strongly agree" (Perez et al. 2020). We will collect qualitative self-reports as well, thematically analyzing personal responses including stories.. Within the timeframe allowed for data collection and reporting, we will survey post-graduate participants to gauge short-term project impacts as well as their thoughts as to how the project will impact their farming over the long term.A skills assessment survey identifies participant strengths and weaknesses, tailoring educational material to trends in the group and encouraging participants to use these as a self-assessments. Participants will take this survey at the beginning and end of the program. Participants in the Farm Planning course will be asked to take Farm Planning surveys and participate in the annual participant survey. Participants in the Farmer Training Convergence will be asked to complete a convergence survey. Through the extensive reach of our partnerships, we anticipate being able to share the evaluation results widely in ways that benefit many groups that serve beginning farmers.