Recipient Organization
ORGANIC SEED ALLIANCE
210 POLK ST STE 1
PORT TOWNSEND,WA 98368-6739
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Organic seed production represents a lucrative and growing specialty agricultural market. The specialized skill set required to produce high quality organic seed serves as a barrier to entry into this market. Beginning farmers need specific production and business knowledge in order to take advantage of thisopportunity.This project will train beginning farmers in organic seed production through seed intensive workshops, written manuals, and by facilitating internships on established organic seed operations.The long term goals of this project are to a) increase the number of beginning farmers who grow organic seed, and to b) improve beginning seed producers' practices to increase their profitability, decrease their financial risk, and improve their conservation practices. To support these goals, this project will train at least 350 beginning farmers in organic seed production by a) providing a bilingual day-long organic seed intensive workshop and additional organic seed workshops at 3-day conferences in 2013 and 2014 and bilingual recordings post events, b) providing print and on-line copies of written manuals on organic seed production, c) supporting structured seed internships on seed farms, and d) conducting six webinars on seed production. These goals and objectives support BFRDP priority topics by providing beginning farmers with production, business, marketing, and conservation strategies. Our target audience includes limited resource beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged Latino beginning farmers, and immigrant and other farm workers. 35% of the budget is dedicated to reaching and serving this target audience. The project team has worked extensively with beginning farmers in the past, delivering multiple Organic Seed Growers Conferences, introductory seed production workshops, training manuals, and an online database linking organic seed producers with seed purchasers.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The long term goals of this project are to a) increase the number of beginning farmers who grow organic seed, and to b) improve beginning seed producer's practices to increase their profitability, decrease their financial risk, and improve their conservation practices. To meet these needs and accomplish our goals, the objectives of this project are to prepare at least 380 beginning and prospective farmers to succeed as organic seed producers by: a) delivering manuals, seed intensives and workshops to train beginning farmers in production practices at two conferences, b) delivering manuals and workshops to train beginning farmers in business planning and marketing at two conferences, c) deliver two on-farm intensives on seed production and marketing; d) providing Spanish translations and post-event audio recordings of intensives and workshops, e) supporting structured seed internships on seed farms, and f) conducting six monthly webinars on seed production. The anticipated impacts of this project will be a) 30 beginning and prospective farmers beginning to produce organic seed, and b) 30 beginning organic seed producers (less than 5 years experience) increasing their incomes from seed by 20%.
Project Methods
Materials and intensive training on seed production at two conferences. Organic Seed Alliance will host the 8th biennial Organic Seed Growers Conference in early 2016 and 4th biennial Organicology conference in 2017. At both events an all-day intensive on organic seed production will be taught the first day of the event and workshops on key seed production and economic topics will be offered throughout the second and third days of the conference. Scholarships will be made available to cover registration costs for 30 beginning farmers, including 10 Latino / Hispanic farmers, at each conference. eOrganic staff will record the intensive sessions and convert them into web-based multimedia presentations. These webinars will be made available on eXtension.org, the online hub of the Cooperative Extension System. Simultaneous Spanish translation will be provided for all intensives and workshops to facilitate participation of beginning Latino / Hispanic farmers. All sessions will also be taped and made available to beginning farmers in both Spanish and English post event.Seed production intensives. Organic Seed Alliance and MESA will deliver two-day seed production intensives in California in 2016 and 2017. These intensives will benefit Spanish-speaking and beginning farmers in the region who may not be able to attend the conferences in the Northwest. These intensives will cover the fundamentals of seed biology, climatic considerations, production practices, seed harvesting, seed cleaning, managing isolation distances, crop specific guidelines, seed economics and marketing, managing seed borne diseases, and managing pollinators. Simultaneous Spanish translation will be provided for Spanish-speaking attendees during the intensives.Structured seed internships. Organic Seed Alliance will facilitate a structured seed internship program to provide beginning seed growers with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience at established organic seed farms, while continuing to receive formal education support. The structure of the program will be as follows:Organic Seed Alliance will create and host an internship website, which will include a listing of seed internship opportunities at seed farms. High Mowing Seed Company, Southern Exposure Seed Company, Nash's Organic Produce, and Sierra Seed have already committed to participating in this program. We anticipate having internship opportunities on at least 10 seed farms.Interns will apply directly to the seed farms. MESA will assist in internship assessments with the Spanish-speaking participants. In order to be eligible for the conference scholarships, applicants must apply for an internship.At the conferences a "speed-dating" networking session will be held where prospective interns and farmers can meet face to face.Beginning farmers selected by the participating farms for the internship program will be required to complete the following activities as part of the internship program:Maintain a weekly "seed log", wherein all of the seed related activities the intern engages in are recorded. A template for this log will be posted on the internship website.Attend the six monthly webinars on seasonal seed production tasks (see Webinars below).The interns will pick one seed crop to track and collect data on to prepare a production report at the end of the season. The report will include background research on the species and variety, climate and soil information, field layout, timing of tasks and plant phenology, yields, pricing, and expenses. The reports will be reviewed by the seed farm and Organic Seed Alliance and will be posted to the internship website.At the completion of each internship season Organic Seed Alliance will conduct a written evaluation and an interview with each host farm and intern to determine if the intern has completed the program and to assist with tracking outcomes and providing constructive feedback for future internship arrangements.For interns who successfully complete the program, OSA will provide recommendations for those interns who wish to contract with seed companies, and certify them as having completed the training.Webinars. In addition to the webinars produced at the conference, Organic Seed Alliance, in conjunction with eOrganic, will host monthly webinars from May through October of 2016 and 2017. These webinars will review seed related topics appropriate to the season, beginning with production planning and marketing, followed by pollination and selection, seed diseases and pests, harvest and processing. During the live, interactive webinars, interns will be able to get advice on any specific seed issues they are facing and will be able to share their experiences with other interns. The webinars will subsequently be made available on eOrganic, reaching additional beginning farmers nationally.2015 Activities: September-December: Initiate project, convene project partners and farmer stakeholders for input on internship, workshops, and promotion plans; continue planning Organicology conference; finalize workshops and invite speakers; intensively promote conference, internship program and scholarships to beginning farmers; Create internship website with listings. Review scholarship applications.2016 Activities: January: Host seed production intensive, seed workshops, and internship networking program at the OSGC Conference. Evaluate impact and outcomes of event through evaluation forms.February-June: Disseminate follow-up evaluation forms online to conference participants to maximize capture of input.March: confirm final 2016 internship placements. Review internship structure and obligations with interns and farms.May - October: Host monthly webinars, review seed logs, and provide individual mentorship for interns.July: Deliver two-day California seed intensive.August: Conduct program assessment with stakeholder advisory group and adjust program plans accordingly. Report progress to NIFA-BFRDP.August-December: Track internship progress and conduct closing evaluations at end of each internship. Review and post production reports to internship website.2017 Activities: January: Host seed production intensive, seed workshops, and internship networking program at the Organicology conference. Evaluate impact and outcomes of event through evaluation forms.February-June: Disseminate follow-up evaluation forms online to conference participants to maximize capture of input.March: confirm final 2017 internship placements. Review internship structure and obligations with interns and farms. Post seed log template and seed crop report format to internship website.May - October: Host monthly webinars, review seed logs, and provide individual mentorhsip for interns.July: Deliver two-day California seed intensive.August: Conduct program assessment with stakeholder advisory group and adjust program plans accordingly. Report progress to NIFA-BFRDP.August-December: Track internship progress and conduct closing evaluations at end of each internship. Review production reports and post to internship website.January-December: Participate in Organic Seed Growers Conference (OSGC) conference planning with conference co-hosts and engage in agenda development; confirm and coordinate speakers for seeds intensive and seed-related workshops; intensively promote conference, internship program and scholarships to beginning farmers. Create internship website with listings. Review scholarship applications.2018 Activities:February-July: Conduct closing evaluations with stakeholder advisory group prior to close of grant period. Compile final outreach numbers and prepare final report for NIFA-BFRDP.