Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:The main target audience is dairy goat producers to assist them to increase productivity, improve dairy product safety, boost farm profit and enhance farm sustainability, particularly for small scale dairy goat farms. Other potential audiences include farmer educators (e.g., extension/outreach personnel), academicians at a variety of levels who may wish to use content in instruction, and members and leaders of clubs/organizations such as FFA and 4-H. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The web-based certification program, printed handbook and e-book version will provide training and professional development opportunities for dairy goat producers, extension personnel and other clientele. The desired results of project activities are dairy goat farmers with increased production and milk safety knowledge; changes in production methods that improve efficiency and farm profit; and better goat dairy product safety for consumers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The full Dairy Goat Production Handbook, Dairy Goat Production Basics, and Producción de Cabras Lecheras Conceptos Básicos are printed and available to dairy goat producers. The on-line web-based certification program will be freely available to all persons interested in increasing their knowledge of dairy goat production and the safe creation of wholesome goat milk products.This grant has ended but work will continue. The books will continue to be distributed. The on-line certification course will be formatted and made available to the public. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This grant has ended but work will continue. The books will continue to be distributed. The on-line certification course will be formatted and made available to the public.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Dairy Goat Production Handbook has been completed and published. The book has 475 pages of information on all aspects of dairy goat production. A total of 3,500 books were printed, split evenly between case-bound and spiral-bound formats. The books are available to the public through the Institute website and through personal contact with Institute scientists. In addition to the full handbook, select chapters were put into a bulleted format for easy reading. These chapters contain illustrations to explain concepts given in the text. The book is called Dairy Goat Production Basics and is targeted for clientele that may not wish to go through the full text. These groups would include youth groups such as 4-H or FFA, students, and producers. The Basics book is spiral bound and is 176 pages in length. As an addition to the project, the Basics book was translated into Spanish and the Producción de Cabras Lecheras Conceptos Básicos is available. Questions for the on-line certification program have been completed. Formatting is underway for the on-line test. E-books have been made for all publications and a method for distributing the ebooks is being devised.
Publications
- Type:
Books
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Dairy Goat Production Handbook. 2016. R.C. Merkel, T.A. Gipson, and T. Sahlu (Eds). E. (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research, Langston University, Langston, OK. ISBN: 978-1-880667-07-1. 475 pp.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Dairy Goat Production Basics. 2016. 2016. R.C. Merkel, T.A. Gipson, and T. Sahlu (Eds). E. (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research, Langston University, Langston, OK. ISBN: 978-1-880667-08-8. 176 pp.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Producci�n de Cabras Lecheras Conceptos B�sicos. 2016. R.C. Merkel, T.A. Gipson, T. Sahlu, A.A. Rodr�guez, and J. Fern�ndez Van Cleve (Eds). E. (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research, Langston University, Langston, OK. ISBN: 978-1-880667-09-5. 176 pp.
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Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:The main target audience is dairy goat producers to assist them to increase productivity, improve dairy product safety, boost farm profit and enhance farm sustainability, particularly for small scale dairy goat farms. Other potential audiences include farmer educators (e.g., extension/outreach personnel), academicians at a variety of levels who may wish to use content in instruction, and members and leaders of clubs/organizations such as FFA and 4-H. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The web-based certification program, printed handbook and e-book version will provide training and professional development opportunities for dairy goat producers, extension personnel and other clientele. The desired results of project activities are dairy goat farmers with increased production and milk safety knowledge; changes in production methods that improve efficiency and farm profit; and better goat dairy product safety for consumers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The production handbook will be printed and be made available to dairy goat producers. The on-line web-based certification program will be freely available to all persons interested in increasing their knowledge of dairy goat production and the safe creation of wholesome goat milk products. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The printed handbook will be sent for production in December 2015. Currently, the website of the American Institute for Goat Research is undergoing renovation. The new website is undergoing testing. Formatting of the web-based program has begun and is on-going.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
All chapters have been received, reviewed and edited and formatted for print. Current activities are creation of the book index and cover prior to sending the book for printing. Formatting for the web-based portion of the grant has begun and is on-going.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Farmer educators such as extension personnel, NRCS, outreach specialists, representatives of breed organizations, and producers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Langston University held training meetings in 2011, 2013, and 2014 with a total of 76 persons attending. Also, the presentations made at the final meeting as described above were the subject of 2 webinars on the website of the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center. Seventy persons attended the first webinar. The number of attendees at the second webinar is unknown. Finally, mortality composting was presented at AIGR’s annual Goat Field Day in 2012, 2013, and 2014. The presentation paper was included in the proceedings that were given to 250 and 235 attendees in 2012 and 2013, respectively. In 2014, the 63-page proceedings of the final meeting “What Farmer Educators Need to Know about Mortality Composting – Beyond the Basics” were included in the proceedings that were given to 325 attendees. Florida A&M University included mortality composting in its Master Goat and Sheep Certification Program and trained 25 and 16 producers in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Plans are for this module to be a permanent part of the certification program. Virginia State University held 5 statewide trainings in 2013 and 2014 and trained 290 and 115 persons, respectively, for a total of 405 individuals trained. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Langston University has posted an updated factsheet on mortality composting on the website of the American Institute for Goat Research at http://www2.luresext.edu/goats/extension/AIGR_ExtBull_Mort_Compost.pdf. A training module on mortality composting was created and has been posted in the on-line training and certification program for goat producers of AIGR (http://www.luresext.edu/goats/training/mortcomp.html). Module questions were created and have been posted for those producers who select this optional module for completion. A chapter on mortality composting has been added to the second edition of Langston University’s Meat Goat Production Handbook scheduled to be published in 2015. Mortality composting was presented at AIGR’s annual Goat Field Day in 2012, 2013, and 2014. The presentation paper was included in the proceedings that were given to 250 and 235 attendees in 2012 and 2013, respectively. In 2014, the 63-page proceedings of the final meeting “What Farmer Educators Need to Know about Mortality Composting – Beyond the Basics” were included in the proceedings that were given to 325 attendees. All proceedings are posted on the AIGR website for permanent access. Proceedings from the final meeting held at Langston University are posted on the AIGR website. The mortality composting article and presentation created at Langston University was adapted and used by Florida A&M University in the Master Goat and Sheep Certification Program and by Virginia State University during its training program. The Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center (www.extension.org) held a two-part webinar series on the final conference at LU. These webinars are archived for viewing. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In 2010, a meeting of 1890 institution extension leaders and breed organization representatives occurred to discuss mortality composting and the regional training opportunities. Mortality composting demonstration sites were built at Langston University, Virginia State University, and Florida A&M University. Training programs were conducted at LU in both 2013 and 2014. FAMU conducted training as part of its Master Goat Producer Program in 2013 and 2014, training 41 people. Virginia State University held 5 statewide trainings in 2013 – 2104 and a total of 405 people were trained. In April, 2014 LU held a conference entitled “What Farmer Educators Need to Know about Mortality Composting – Beyond the Basics” that included basic information on mortality composting and more in-depth information on particular aspects given by national leaders in the topic of mortality composting. A total of 51 persons attended the conference, 32 males and 19 females. Attendees represented producer organizations, universities, USDA/NRCS, extension organizations as well as individual goat producers. The proceedings of the conference were given to each participant as well as included in the proceedings of AIGR’s annual goat field day that were distributed to roughly 300 field day participants. The papers from this final conference are attached. An additional output from the final conference was interest in it by the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center, hosted on extension.org, that included an announcement of the final workshop in its newsletter and subsequently set up a two-part webinar series in which the presenters from the final workshop presented their papers live on-line as webinars. These were held August 15 and September 19, 2014. Approximately 70 people participated in the on-line webinar and discussion on August 15. These webinars are archived and available for anyone to view. A training module on mortality composting was created and has been posted in the on-line training and certification program for goat producers of AIGR (http://www.luresext.edu/goats/training/mortcomp.html). Module questions were created and have been posted for those producers who select this optional module for completion. A chapter on mortality composting based upon the on-line chapter was written and formatted for publication. This chapter will be included in the Meat Goat Production Handbook, 2nd Edition and the first edition of the Dairy Goat Production Handbook. Both handbooks are scheduled for publication in 2015. The chapter as it appears in the Meat Goat Handbook, 2nd Edition is attached.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Proceedings of a conference entitled What Farmer Educators Need to Know about Mortality Composting Beyond the Basics. Published by Langston University. 2014.
Merkel, R. and T. Gipson. 2015. Goat Mortality Composting. In: Meat Goat Production Handbook, 2nd Ed. R. Merkel, T. Gipson and T. Sahlu, eds. Langston University, Langston, OK (In press).
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The main target audience is dairy goat producers to assist them to increase productivity, improve dairy product safety, boost farm profit and enhance farm sustainability, particularly for small scale dairy goat farms.Other potential audiences include farmer educators (e.g., extension/outreach personnel), academicians at a variety of levels who may wish to use content in instruction, and members and leaders of clubs/organizations such as FFA and 4-H. Changes/Problems: The University of Wisconsin – Madison has withdrawn from the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The web-based certification program, printed handbook and e-book version will provide training and professional development opportunities for dairy goat producers, extension personnel and other clientele. The desired results of project activities are dairy goat farmers with increased production and milk safety knowledge; changes in production methods that improve efficiency and farm profit; and better goat dairy product safety for consumers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Dairy goat production in the U.S. is a growing industry with the number of dairy goats having increased by 11.5% since 2008 from 323,000 to 360,000 head. There is no web-based certification program for dairy goat producers for education or certification or comprehensive site for information on dairy goat production. Langston University (LU) will partner with Fort Valley State University in creating a web-based certification program for dairy goat producers. Producers will take pre- and post-tests to become certified. The objective of this grant is to establish a comprehensive, single source of production information for dairy goat producers to assist them to increase productivity, improve dairy product safety, boost farm profit and enhance farm sustainability, particularly for small scale dairy goat farms. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Remaining chapters will be received, reviewed, edited, and revised. All image and illustration files will be created. Formatting for the web-based certification course will begin. Format for the printed and e-book formats will be decided and work begun on formatting.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During the past year 20 chapters were received from invited authors. Each chapter was reviewed and edited and sent back for revisions, if necessary. Images for certain chapters were taken and edited. A professional illustrator was hired to develop illustrations based on author’s recommendations. The work of reviewing, editing, creating image and illustration files is on-going. Further, two chapters are still outstanding and authors have been contacted.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Dairy goat production in the U.S. is a growing industry with the number of dairy goats having increased by 11.5% since 2008 from 323,000 to 360,000 head. There is no web-based certification program for dairy goat producers for education or certification or comprehensive site for information on dairy goat production. Langston University (LU) will partner with Fort Valley State University and the University of Wisconsin in creating a web-based certification program for dairy goat producers. Producers will take pre- and post-tests to become certified. The objective of this grant is to establish a comprehensive, single source of production information for dairy goat producers to assist them to increase productivity, improve dairy product safety, boost farm profit and enhance farm sustainability, particularly for small scale dairy goat farms. Grant collaborators, along with an Advisory Board comprised of dairy goat organization and producer representatives, will meet to decide upon content. Industry leaders will be contacted to author content that will be peer-reviewed, revised, and formatted for the web-based certification program. Collaborators and the Advisory Board will review the website prior to its launch. A printed handbook and e-book will also be developed. The web-based program, handbook and e-book will dramatically strengthen the capacity of LU in serving dairy goat producers. The web-based certification program will be unique among U.S. universities. Publishing an e-book is a new endeavor for AIGR staff and will build capacity in the skills needed to produce such items. PARTICIPANTS: Langston Unviersity: Dr. Roger Merkel, Project Director, American Institute for Goat Research; Dr. Terry Gipson, Co-Investigator, American Institute for Goat Research; Dr. Steve Hart, Co-Investigator, American Institute for Goat Research. Fort Valley State University: Dr. Young Park,Co-Investigator. University of Wisconsin-Madison: Dr. Claire Mikolayunas, Co-Investigator. TARGET AUDIENCES: The objective of this grant is to establish a comprehensive, single source of production information for dairy goat producers to assist them to increase productivity, improve dairy product safety, boost farm profit and enhance farm sustainability, particularly for small scale dairy goat farms. This production information will be delivered to clientele via a web-based certification program, printed handbook and e-book version. Other potential audiences include farmer educators (e.g., extension/outreach personnel), academicians at a variety of levels who may wish to use content in instruction, and members and leaders of clubs/organizations such as FFA and 4-H. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Products to be realized through grant activities include the web-based certification program, printed handbook and e-book version. The desired results of project activities are dairy goat farmers with increased production and milk safety knowledge; changes in production methods that improve efficiency and farm profit; and better goat dairy product safety for consumers.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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