Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project overall and in Year 3 was aspiring and beginning fruit and vegetable farmers operating on a small scale (generally 0.25 to 20 acres) with less than 5 years produce farming experience. This included English speakers in our core program and Hispanic workers in separate classes taught in Spanish. We also provided professional development opportunities to Extension educators and other educators who will continue to work with beginning farmer audiences. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?62 educators (Extension educators, high school or community college agriculture teachers, and urban farming coordinators, 21 of whom were registered students in the program) attended one or more sessions to gain additional knowledge. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A teaching curriculum comprised of 40 Power Point presentations with audio and associated online references was developed and refined. It is available to our students and accessible to all beginning farmers and the public at www.newillinoisfarmers.org. Participants also received paper copies of Power Point presentations and numerous other materials. Information was distributed regularly to participants via email messages on a list-serve, and that list-serve also provided networking opportunities for participants. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We held classes and provided hands-on and in-field experiences in English at three locations (north, central and south) in Illinois for 3 years. Three cohorts of students completed the 1-year program at each location. At each location, classes were held one Saturday per month, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (108 classes over the 3-year period). 222 participants (new farmers, aspiring farmers, and educators) completed this program. Spanish-language programming also was offered at 3 locations (north, central and south) per year using flexible schedules to meet the needs of participants at each location. 47 participants completed the Spanish-language program. 27 participants used incubator plots to gain hands-on farming skills. 67 educators (Extension educators, high school or community college agriculture teachers, and urban farming coordinators, 21 of whom were registered students in the program) attended one or more sessions to gain additional knowledge. A teaching curriculum comprised of 40 Power Point presentations with audio and associated online references was developed and refined. It is available to our students and accessible to all beginning farmers and the public at www.newillinoisfarmers.org. Participant responses to questionnaires over the three years combined indicated that as a result of this program. 99% experienced a change in knowledge, abilities, skills, and/or farming intentions. 86% plan to start farming or are currently farming and plan to continue. 90% of those currently farming plan to increase the scale of their farming operations. 5% decided not to start farming or to discontinue their initial efforts. 59% changed their attitudes about how to operate a successful small farm business. 63% adopted plans or practices to increase their production efficiency. 51% adopted plans or practices to increase their environmental sustainability. 82% plan to increase their participation in future educational programs for fruit and vegetable producers. Participants from the 3 years combined will grow at least 90 acres of high-value fruits and vegetables in 2016. They also will grow fruits and vegetables in the equivalent of ten or more 30'X96' high tunnels. Nearly all produce will be sold direct-to-consumer, and the resulting annual gross sales for 2016 production by participants in this program is estimated to exceed $1.1 million. Participants were asked, "To what extent did this program meet your expectations?" Responses (averaged over 3 years): Exceeded = 48% Completely = 30% Mostly = 21% Mostly not = 1% Not at all = 0% Participants were asked, "How much did this program help you in developing your farming plans? Responses: A great deal = 67% Just what I needed = 17% Somewhat = 16% Very little = <1% Not at all = 0% Participants were asked to indicate which of the following documents they had completed at the end of the course. Responses: Business plan = 62% Production plan =52% Marketing plan = 43% Financial plan = 41% While a significant portion of participants had not completed all these documents at the end of one year's training, many were still planning their farming enterprises, and the fact that they had not completedall of these plans is probably evdence that they recognize how much they still had to investigate after a year of classes before assuming they could present a business or financial plan that would be accurate enough to matter. Participants were asked to indicate if at the end of the course they knew how to .... Responses: Access USDA programs and services (NRCS, FSA, etc.) = 92% Access markets = 83% Access business management support (SBDC, etc.) = 83% Access production information (seed catalogs, newsletters, production guides) = 97% Access grower networks = 82% Access credit = 83%
Publications
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Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: 77 participants (new farmers, aspiring farmers, and educators) completed our Year 2 program offered in English at 3 locations each month for 12 months. In this audience:14% are characterized as historically socially disadvantaged; 14% self-identified as Limited Resource farmers; 2% are immigrants; 6% are African-American; 5% self-identified as farm workers; 56% are female and 44% are male; and 7% are U.S. military veterans. The age range of participants was 21-67, with an average age of 43. Spanish-language programming also was offered at 3 locations (north, central and south) using flexible schedules to meet the needs of participants at each location. 15 participants completed the Spanish-language program. All are Hispanic; 27% female and 73% male. Changes/Problems: We plan to complete the work of this project as it is summarized in the objectives of our original proposal and with the existing overall budget. We will request revisions within our University of Illinois budget to use funding originally allocated to certain lines for other lines to efficiently complete the project by August 30, 2015. This will not change our overall budget. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? 34 educators (Extension educators, high school or community college agriculture teachers, and urban farming coordinators, 13 of whom were registered students in the program) attended one or more sessions to gain additional knowledge. All the curriculum materials developed for this course will be made available to all educators who can use or adapt them for additional training programs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The teaching curriculum comprised of more than 30 Power Point presentations and associated online references developed in Year 1 was revised, and presentations were made available to students as YouTube videos online before each class meeting date so that class time could be used for more in-depth discussions and hands-on experiences. Participants also received paper copies of Power Point presentations and numerous other materials. Information was distributed regularly to participants via email messages on a list-serve, and that list-serve also provided networking opportunities for participants. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The course curriculum has been re-examined and modified for Year 3. Recorded Power Points (with audio) and resource lists will be available for all curriculum topics and made available for open public access by summer of 2015. All presentations will also be translated into Spanish and made available for open public access on the program's website as well. Spanish-language resources and references will provided in support of all curriculum topics. English-language classes (with hands-on opportunities and access to incubator plots) will be held monthly on Saturdays at 3 locations per month (north, south, and central) from winter, 2014, through fall, 2015. Approximately 90 participants are enrolled over the three locations. Applications greatly exceeded our capacity for on-site attendance in central and northern Illinois, so approximately 45 applicants who we cannot accommodate for on-site physical attendance will receive access to all on-line videos, Power Points, and references, as well as networking access via the program’s list-serve and other communications. Spanish-language classes will be held at three locations as well -- in the north, one evening per week from January through April, 2014, in central IL one Saturday per month from January through August, 2014, and in southern IL two evenings per week from January through March, 2014. Enrollment remains open for these programs.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We held classes and provided hands-on and in-field experiences in English at three locations (north, central and south) in Illinois in Year 2 of this project. At each location, classes were held one Saturday per month, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 77 participants (new farmers, aspiring farmers, and educators) completed this program. Spanish-language programming also was offered at 3 site locations (north, central and south) using flexible schedules to meet the needs of participants at each location. 15 participants completed the Spanish-language program. 7 participants used incubator plots to gain hands-on farming skills. 34 educators (Extension educators, high school or community college agriculture teachers, and urban farming coordinators, 13 of whom were registered students in the program) attended one or more sessions to gain additional knowledge. The teaching curriculum comprised of more than 30 Power Point presentations and associated online references developed in Year 1 was revised, and presentations were made available to students as YouTube videos online before each class meeting date so that class time could be used for more in-depth discussions and hands-on experiences. Participant responses to questionnaires indicated that as a result of this program: 100% experienced a change in knowledge, abilities, skills, and/or farming intentions. 86% plan to start farming or are currently farming and plan to continue. 90% of those currently farming plan to increase the scale of their farming operations. 5% decided not to start farming or to discontinue their initial efforts. 59% changed their attitudes about how to operate a successful small farm business. 55% adopted plans or practices to increase their production efficiency. 43% adopted plans or practices to increase their environmental sustainability. 82% plan to increase their participation in future educational programs for fruit and vegetable producers. Participants estimated that they will grow approximately 40 acres of high-value fruits and vegetables in 2015. Participants were asked, "To what extent did this program meet your expectations?" Responses: Exceeded = 43% Completely = 32% Mostly = 25% Mostly not = 20% Not at all = 0% Participants were asked, “How much did this program help you in developing your farming plans?" Responses: A great deal = 68% Just what I needed = 9% Somewhat = 23% Very little = 0% Not at all = 0% Participants were asked to indicate which of the following documents they had completed at the end of the course. Responses: Business plan = 57% Production plan =47% Marketing plan = 36% Financial plan = 43% Participants were asked to indicate if at the end of the course they knew how to …. Responses: Access USDA programs and services (NRCS, FSA, etc.) = 95% Access markets = 90% Access business management support (SBDC, etc.) = 86% Access production information (seed catalogs, newsletters, production guides) = 97% Access grower networks = 81% Access credit = 86%
Publications
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Aspiring farmers, farmers with less than 5 years experience, educators, commodity farmers wanting to expand, and nonprofit community agriculture leaders. In YearOne: 74 participants completed our standard (English) program. Of these, 11 are bilingual and will assist with Spanish-language programming in Year Two. 6 Hispanic participants completed the Spanish-language program. 8 participants used incubator plots to gain hands-on farming skills. 36 educators (faculty, Extension educators, high school or community college agriculture teachers, and urban farming coordinators) attended one or more sessions to gain additional knowledge. Changes/Problems: In general, most approaches used in Year One and planned for Year Two have followed the plans outlined in the project proposal. We were able to provide Spanish-language instruction in only one portion of the state in Year One while educators were trained and curricula developed. We will expand to provide Spanish language instruction in all three regions of the state (north, central, and south) in Year Two. We have altered the scheduling of Spanish-language programming for northern and southern Illinois to meet the needs of the local target audiences. Instead of holding these classes monthly on Saturdays for 12 months, they will be held more frquently during the evening and span only January through March or April to better match the availability of potential participants. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? 36 educators (faculty, Extension educators, high school or community college agriculture teachers, and urban farming coordinators) attended one or more sessions to gain additional knowledge. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Power Point presentations and links to online references were disseminated as paper copies to all participants at classes and provided on a Wikispaces site for which all participants had access. Press releases, news articles, and newsletters have been used to recruit Year 2 participants and inform target audiences of this educational opportunity. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The course curriculum has been examined and modified for Year Two. Recorded Power Points (with audio) and resource lists will be completed for all curriculum topics and made available for open public access on the program's website. All presentations will be translated into Spanish and made available for open public access on the program's website, and Spanish-language resources and references will provided in support of all currculum topics. English-language classes (with hands-on opportunities and access to incubator plots) will be held monthly on Saturdays at 3 locations per month (north, south, and central) from December, 2013, through November, 2014. Approximately 90 participants are enrolled over the three locations. Spanish-language classes will be held at three locations as well -- in the north, one evening per week from January through April, 2014, in central IL one Saturday per month from January through December, 2014, and in southern IL two evenings per week from January through March, 2014. Approximately 30 participants are enrolled over the three locations.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We held classes and provided hands-on and in-field experiences in English at three locations in Illinois in Year One. At each location, classes were held one Saturday per month, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 74 participants completed our standard (English) program. Of these, 11 are bilingual and will assist with Spanish-language programming in Year Two. 6 Hispanic participants completed the Spanish-language program at Carbondale. 8 participants used incubator plots to gain hands-on farming skills. 36 educators (faculty, Extension educators, high school or community college agriculture teachers, and urban farming coordinators) attended one or more sessions to gain additional knowledge. A teaching curriculum comprised of Power Point presentations and online references was developed to cover all topics presented. Power Point presentations and references were made available to participants via a Wikispaces classroom. Participant responses to questionnaires indicated that as a result of this program: 97% of participants experienced a change in knowledge, abilities, skills, and/or farming intentions. 76% changed their farming practices or plans. 71% adopted practices that increased their productivity. 50% adopted practices that increased profitability. 59% adopted practices that increased their environmental sustainability. 74% broadened their farming networks and support systems. 52% changed their business practices or plans. 66% developed a new farm plan. 48% changed their marketing practices or plans. 81% plan to increase their participation in future educational programs for fruit and vegetable producers. Participants were asked, "To what extent dis this program meet your expectations?" Responses: Exceeded = 47% Completely = 29% Mostly = 22% Mostley not = 2% Not at all = 0%
Publications
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