Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:We have targeted Idaho's beginning small acreage farmers (those farming or intending to farm on less than 179 acres) who use or plan to use sustainable and organic production practices and market through direct sales (grossing less than $50,000 a year). Forty-eight percent of Idaho's farms and ranches are smaller than 50 acres and another 20% are between 50 and 179 acres (USDA, 2012). Sixty-six percent of Idaho farmers have annual gross farm sales less than $25,000. The number of Idaho farms who report direct-to-consumer sales increased from 2,076 in 2007 to 2,420 in 2012 (USDA, 2012). Women operators make up a large proportion of our target audience--in Idaho, women are principal operators of 1,789 of the farms smaller than 50 acres and 652 of the farms between 50 to 179 acres (USDA, 2012). From 2010 to 2014, approximately 65% of participants in the beginning farmer courses coordinated by UI Extension were women. Changes/Problems:In year three we had multiple educators, four Co-PI's on the project, and one of our coordinators leave the university and the project. This slowed progress on some aspects of our project. New staff was hired and we were able to finish the project deliverables. We learned of the need for farmers market training for beginning farmers and supported vendors at various sites to learn farmers market display and marketing skills. We also learned of the need for farmers to learn and practice using various small acreage tools. Our team added some of these components at several sites to assist current Cultivating Success students and to meet the project objectives for farming success and improvement in the last summer of the project. Our beta version of Idaho Farm Link was not as functional as we needed it to be in 2017 and we hired an additional website developer to program it. Our subcontractor-partner Rural Roots had a staff vacancy for several months that also slowed progress on the website and farmer-mentor handbook but both were completed by the end of the grant period. We had low turnout for the formal farmer-mentor training so adjusted by engaging farmers in other ways such as for farm tours and training via the webinar series. We also saw the need for financial education but were surprised at the low number of students who signed up for financial classes. Joining the statewide Cultivating Success team together was challenging based on geographic distances. We would add more clarity for communication protocols and technology interruptions. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Extension and farmer-mentor team expressed that they learned a lot while implementing this project. In addition to the training for beginning farmers and ranchers, we also aimed to further develop and train new small farms Extension professionals within the State of Idaho. Specifically, we wanted totrain new Extension Educators in the Cultivating Success curriculum that utilizes hands-on training and farmer mentors to co-teach beginning farmers. We certified six additional Extension faculty as certified Cultivating Success instructors. We certified 15 farmer mentors and trained and coached over 50 farmers on various mentoring topics. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In the first two years of the project, the team presented at various regional and national conferences on various project topics. In 2018, the team received a National Association of County Agricultural Agents communication award for the learning module: Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm notebook binder. Team members presented some of the educaitonal topics at a regional farming conference in Fall of 2018. 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 year 3 of our BFR project we offered our beginning course, Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm throughout the state as well as advanced programing. We launched our webinar series that presented various in-depth topics and accompanying resources such as cover cropping, land access, capital access andmarketing. We had 172 participants in the webinars. We alsolaunched a statewide land matching site, Idaho Farm Link. Our program overall in three years resulted in 49 new farmers in the state. We also offered a pre-farming course for 'dreamers' so that they could assess their own interest level prior to any commitment. All of our courses were rated "very good" or "good" by the overwhelming majority of students (approximately 90%). All of the participants indicated that they learned something in the course or workshop they took. All of the students who participated in the mid-term evaluation indicated that they put new practices in place due to the program. Over half of mid-term respondents, 51% indicated they increased their farm income due to the program. Many students, 413, improved their farming operation because of our program. Post-course surveys asked participants to rate the quality of the respective course. Overall course ratings suggest, like in years 1 and 2, the project in year 3 was successful from participants' perspective, with most participants rating all courses "good" or "very good" (answer options were "very good," "good," "fair," "poor," and "very poor"). For example: Whole Farm Planning: 60% "very good" and 34% "good" (n=68). Sustainable Crop Production: 63% "very good" and 30% "good" (n=67). Sustainable Livestock Production: 60% "very good" and 38% "good" (n=50). Is a Small Farm in Your Future?: 71% "very good" and 29% "good" (n=17). Post-course surveys also asked for participants' suggestions for improving the course. Suggestions for improvement varied somewhat depending on the specific course; however, some themes in participants' comments were shared across multiple courses. The most salient themes across participants' suggestions for improvement included the need for more time to cover the amount of material, increased opportunities for interaction with the experienced farmers, and decreasing the technical challenges associated with the webinar component of the "Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm" courses: "I liked having and hearing from Emily, the farmer, that came in and shared her experiences--it's inspirational. More over [sic] that would be nice." -Is A Small Farm in Your Future participant "The most helpful aspect was hearing the experienced farmers present and answer questions. Our project had several unexpected results. We had 49 students indicate that they began farming as a result of the project! We were expecting 25 so that result was much higher. Our team was pleased with the high number of students and members of the public who accessed our websites: nearly 25,000. We also learned that there is a need for programs that specifically support U.S. military veterans to transition into farming. We were also very pleased with the access to all parts of Idaho due to the use of webinar technology. We were not expecting so many existing farmers to take the time to support new farmers but we had over 80 farmers participate as mentors to other farmers in various ways. What were the keys to success for your participants? In year 3 of our BFR project (2018), we offered our Cultivating Success™ "Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm" course series (involving three classes--Whole Farm Planning, Sustainable Crop Production, and Sustainable Livestock Production) via a hybrid learning model that combined online self-directed learning with in-person and webinar components that were offered simultaneously at multiple sites across the state. "Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm" students also had the opportunity to participate in in-person, local farm tours. In addition, we offered a course called "Is a Small Farm in Your Future?" at two sites and a series of webinars on various topics including: Land Access Cover Crops for Idaho Small Farms Farmer-Mentor Training Selling to Grocers and Restaurants Direct Marketing Access to Capital Funding for Farmers Idaho Farm Link Post-course evaluation surveys asked participants to rate (on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being not at all effective and 5 being very effective) the effectiveness of several delivery methods in helping them learn and understand the course material. For example, nearly all post-course evaluations asked participants to rate the effectiveness of PowerPoint presentations, in-class exercises and other activities, interaction with experienced farmers, interaction with UI Extension faculty and/or other professionals, and interaction with other class members. Consistent with evaluation results from years 1 and 2, the average ranking of all delivery methods across all courses were at least above "3 out of 5," with only a few "3s" and almost all average rankings "4 out of 5" or higher. While the majority rated all delivery methods as a "4 out of 5" or a "5 out of 5" in all 2018 courses, interaction with experienced farmers continued to stand out as the most highly rated by participants. Mid-term evaluation results. In addition to post-course evaluation surveys, in 2018 we conducted a survey of students who participated in our courses and workshops in years 1 and 2 (2016-2017) to evaluate mid-term outcomes (i.e., changes in skills, behaviors, and conditions). The mid-term evaluation involved two surveys (one for farmer-mentor course participants and another for aspiring/beginning farmers and ranchers) and four focus groups with aspiring/beginning farmers and ranchers who participated in the program from around the state (18 participants total). Mid-term evaluation focus group participants identified (1) new relationships (e.g., with peers, experienced farmers, and people from our BFR team), (2) development of new enterprises, (3) changed farm plans, (4) accessed land, (5) accessed new information, (6) scaled-back farming plans, and (7) creation of a business plan as among their greatest successes resulting from the involvement in our BFR program. Here are some examples of what focus group participants said: "I feel like we've had a lot of successes. Number one, just right off the bat, was networking with other farmers. During the class, we met a couple of experienced farmers....we're like, "I don't even know where to go for potatoes." So they hooked us up and they helped us get - source organic potatoes, so right out of the gate, that was a huge success, making those connections to the experienced farmers, who can give us the feedback and give us confidence, even about pricing questions. They're like, "Oh, call me anytime about pricing or those things that, as a new farmer, you just feel so clueless about." "I definitely had the challenge that I think a lot of people had in the room at Cultivating Success is wanting to do everything, 'I want to raise all these animals, I want to grow all these plants,' but I have ruled out dairy because of the demands, we're going to focus on meat and eggs.... So I think if there were one takeaway, it would be clarity." Focus group participants most often attributed their successes related to the program to the new relationships and networks they formed with their peers, experienced farmers, and the University of Idaho Extension team as a result of participating in the program. For example, one participant said the following: "So I think the success I've had so far has been partnering with another member - another couple in the class. I think that with a small operation like mine and trying to make it a full-time endeavor, partnerships are really key for me."
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Silkwood, G., Young, M., Dolecheck, S., Hamilton, M., Kinder, C. (2017). Blended Learning: Connecting Expertise and Building Networks in Rural Communities. Journal of Extension, 10 (1). Retrieved from https://www.nacaa.com/journal/index.php?jid=733
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
DePhelps, C., Golden, L., Newman, S., Mayes, I. (2018). Using Hybrid Learning to Improve Educational Programs for Small-acreage Farmers in Idaho. Journal of Extension. Manuscript submitted for publication.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Mayes, I., Agenbroad, A., Werlin, J., Jensen, J., Graf, S., (2018). Sustainable Small Acreage Farming in Idaho: Land Selection, University of Idaho Extension. In review.
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:We have targeted Idaho's beginning small acreage farmers (those farming or intending to farm on less than 179 acres) who use or plan to use sustainable and organic production practices and market through direct sales (grossing less than $50,000 a year). Forty-eight percent of Idaho's farms and ranches are smaller than 50 acres and another 20% are between 50 and 179 acres (USDA, 2012). Sixty-six percent of Idaho farmers have annual gross farm sales less than $25,000. The number of Idaho farms who report direct-to-consumer sales increased from 2,076 in 2007 to 2,420 in 2012 (USDA, 2012). Women operators make up a large proportion of our target audience--in Idaho, women are principal operators of 1,789 of the farms smaller than 50 acres and 652 of the farms between 50 to 179 acres (USDA, 2012). From 2010 to 2014, approximately 65% of participants in the beginning farmer courses coordinated by UI Extension were women. Changes/Problems:Post-course surveys asked participants to rate the quality of the respective course. Overall course ratings suggest the project in year 2 was successful from participants' perspective, with most participants rating all courses "good" or "very good" (answer options were "very good," "good," "fair," "poor," and "very poor"). For example: Farm Financial Fitness: 38% "very good" and 62% "good" (n=21) Hosting Interns & Mentoring Beginning Farmers: 89% "very good" and 11% "good" (n=9). Is a Small Farm in Your Future?: 82% "very good," 9% "fair," and 9% "poor" (n=11). Land and Resource Evaluation: 65% "very good," 30% "good," and 5% "fair" (n=20). Post-course surveys also asked for participants' suggestions for improving the course. Suggestions for improvement varied somewhat depending on the specific course; however, a couple themes in participants' comments were shared across multiple courses. The most salient themes across participants' suggestions for improvement were related to the amount of information presented and requests for more time to cover the material: "There was so much information. Hard to grasp it all."--Financial Fitness for Farmers participant "Activity time extended."--Farmer Mentor training participant "More time for developing lesson plans."--Farmer Mentor training participant "Longer workshop."--Land and Resource Evaluation participant Participants' suggestions to improve the Land and Resource Evaluation course, specifically, reinforced the consistent finding across our Beginning Farmer/Rancher project course evaluations that students gain a lot from and appreciate opportunities to interact with experienced farmers and ranchers. For example, Land and Resource Evaluation participant suggestions included these statements: "More farm stories" and "more direct testimony from farmers themselves." What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In year 2 of our BFR project, we offered eight different courses at sites throughout Idaho (most were offered at multiple locations): (1) Financial Fitness for Farmers; (2) Food Safety Assessment On-Farm Workshop; (3) Growing Success Wholesale, Direct Marketing, & Food Safety; (4) Hosting Interns & Mentoring Beginning Farmers; (5) Is a Small Farm in Your Future?; (6) Land and Resource Evaluation; (7) On-Farm Food Safety: Mitigating Your Legal Risks; and (8) Sustainable Farm Law 101. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Project educators and farmers have presented program design at various conferences such as the National Small Farms Conference, National Agricultural Agents and State of Idaho Agricultural Agents. Program design and successes have also been presented at the Beginning Farmer Rancher Development Program Project Director's annual national meeting. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In 2018 our landlink website will be launched designed to connect farmers who need land with land owners who have land. We will offer Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm in Idaho at 8 sites throughout Idaho. Several sites are offering Farmer-mentor training and a preliminary farming workshop: Is a Small Farm in Your Future? We will offer farmer-mentorships to selected Cultivating Success students who qualify.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During planning for the second year of the grant funded program Cultivating Success Idaho, it was identified that program offerings were needed for experienced beginning farmers including the yearone cohort. Courses were developed in partnership with Farm Commons, Family Farmed and our existing pool of experienced farmer-educators. Objective 1. Regarding building awareness of programs, over 6,100 individuals went to projectwebpages for information and resources. Class participants totaled 220 with many increases in knowledge indicated on post-course evaluations. Examples include what is required to start a small farm: 4.60, (scale of 1-5 knowledge increase); how to evaluate resources: 4.67 and potential market garden enterprise: 4.50. Objective 2. In the land resource evaluation course, participants indicated that they had increased their knowledge on topics such as evaluating natural resources on land they are interested in buying (4.5) and evaluating physical assets on property (4.38). Objective 3. Producers indicated that they did implement new practices they learned in the 2017 courses. In the 8-10 month follow-up interviews, 48% of students had evaluated landthey hoped to purchase, 52% implemented new planning strategies and 40% implemented new production strategies. One student reorganized their farm-share (CSA) program to make it more profitable. Objective 4. Eight students indicated they entered formal mentorships with farmers. It is likely that more students were involved in apprenticeships that was not captured. Many networking opportunities were provided for students to connect with farmers. It is expected that mentees learned production practices that they will implement on their own farms. These results will be reported in the next reporting cycle due to the lag in mentorship and implementation of new practices.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Agenbroad, A., Mayes, I., Williams, C., DePhelps, C. Cultivating Success" Idaho: a collaborative, multi-dimensional
approach to growing a new crop of small acreage sustainable farmers and ranchers statewide. 7th National Small Farm
Conf., Virginia Beach, VA. Sept. 19-22, 2016.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Agenbroad, A. and Mayes, I., Cultivating SuccessTM Idaho, National Association of County Agriculture Agents (NACAA) Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, July 11, 2017.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Mayes, I., Increased Local Food Access, New Farmers and Tribal Youth Development Result from Community Collaborations, National Association of County Agriculture Agents (NACAA) Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, July 11, 2017.
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Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:We have targeted Idaho's beginning small acreage farmers (those farming or intending to farm on less than 179 acres) who use or plan to use sustainable and organic production practices and market through direct sales (grossing less than $50,000 a year). Forty-eight percent of Idaho's farms and ranches are smaller than 50 acres and another 20% are between 50 and 179 acres (USDA, 2012). Sixty-six percent of Idaho farmers have annual gross farm sales less than $25,000. The number of Idaho farms who report direct-to-consumer sales increased from 2,076 in 2007 to 2,420 in 2012 (USDA, 2012). Women operators make up a large proportion of our target audience--in Idaho, women are principal operators of 1,789 of the farms smaller than 50 acres and 652 of the farms between 50 to 179 acres (USDA, 2012). From 2010 to 2014, approximately 65% of participants in the beginning farmer courses coordinated by UI Extension were women. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Cultivating Success: Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm in Idaho, registered a total of 170 participants at nine locations. The course was scheduled over three full day Saturday sessions, one each in January, February and March, 2016. An evening wrap up/potluck event finished the classroom portion of the course in late March, and farm tours (focused on crop and livestock production) were scheduled by facilitators for each of the nine sites between March and June. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Project Team members have presented at multiple conferences including the national Beginning Farmer Rancher Development Program Project Director's conference (St. Paul, MN, August 2016), the National Small Farms Conference (Virginia Beach, VA, September 2016), the Idaho Sustainable Ag Conference (Boise, ID, December 2016), the Women in Agriculture Conference in Portland, OR (December 2016). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In 2017, we are offering various programs at each of the origninal project site locations. Topics include Farm Law 101, Marketing Success, Business Financial Reporting, Farmer-Mentor training, and land evaluation. These in-depth topics were selected based on the needs of the beginning farmers from the 2016 program as well as some of the advanced beginners located around the state.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In Idaho, the Cultivating Success™ Sustainable Small Farm Education Program has been working to meet the educational needs of beginning farmers and ranchers for more than 15 years. In early 2016, with current funding from the USDA-NIFA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, Cultivating Success Idaho broke new ground, launching a statewide effort to deliver education for new farmers, facilitate access to land, capital, and decision-making tools, and strengthen farmer-to-farmer mentoring. The first project was a concurrent, multi-part hybrid course, delivered live via webinar, in-person facilitation and farm tours at nine different sites across the state, the largest Idaho expansion of the program to date. Using a collaborative approach to assemble a team of Extension Educators, program coordinators, nonprofit advocates and farmer experts, we planned a web-enhanced, intensive short course series focused on whole farm planning, sustainable crop production and sustainable livestock production. The course was based on existing Cultivating Success curriculum for the course Sustainable Small Acreage Farming and Ranching Overview, which has been taught in-person and online as an academic and community based course for many years, but never in the multi-site, hybrid format designed for 2016. This new iteration, Cultivating Success: Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm in Idaho, registered a total of 170 participants at nine locations. The course was scheduled over three full day Saturday sessions, one each in January, February and March, 2016. The majority of instruction for these sessions was conducted via live, concurrent webinars delivered at nine hosted locations (eight at an Extension facility). Each of the nine sites was hosted by a project team member with assistance from area farmers. Grant funding allowed us to compensate all host and presenter farmers for their time, which was key to their commitment to the project. Program attendees viewed live webinar lessons with breaks for questions, group discussion and individual work on activities designed to help them develop whole farm plans. Program attendees also had full access to an online course website on a Moodle platform, hosted by www.campus.extension.org, to provide additional information, readings, discussion boards and continued support from Extension Educators, farmer mentors and project partners between sessions. An evening wrap up/potluck event finished the classroom portion of the course in late March, and farm tours (focused on crop and livestock production) were scheduled by facilitators for each of the nine sites between March and June. Summary of Student Data and Accomplishments Overall our program was very effective in delivering content. Students rated the course very good (69%) and good (27%). Many measures showed that students learned valuable information and made meaningful connections with fellow students and farmers.After taking the winter workshops, 34 students indicated they were very likely to start farming in 2016. Fifteen (15) people acquired or leased a farm property and 66 received certificates for completing all aspects of the course. While 55% of the students have farming experience, few have used planning documents to help guide their business. Students who responded to the end of course survey (n=51) stated that they had an increase in knowledge in all of the 14 areas queried. The three top scoring categories on a scale of 1-5 were: components of a whole farm plan (4.18), factors to consider when choosing a farm enterprise (4.08), and techniques for developing farm goals (4.06). Survey results indicate that 96% of the students in the first year course considered the course good or very good. Many of the first year students have college degrees or some level of higher education. Over 60 students identified one or more practices that they will implement as a result of the course and 25 students began farming this year. Year one evaluations are being used to implement more targeted and advanced courses for the second and third years. The Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm course series we offered in 2016 involved multiple components, including webinars; in-class discussions and activities; interaction with experienced farmers, extension educators, and other students; online discussion forums; farm tours; and course assignments and readings. Course participants were asked to rate the usefulness of all course components on a scale from one (not at all useful) to five (very useful) at helping them learn the course topics. While participants rated all course components higher than 3 out of 5, the three components with the highest average ratings were *"interaction with experienced farmers at workshops" (4.68 average rating out of 5; 76% of respondents rated this component 5 out of 5, n = 50); *"interaction with extension educators and/or other professionals at workshops" (4.42 average rating out of 5; 62% of respondents rated this component 5 out of 5, n = 50); and *"live webinar presentations at workshops" (4.42 average rating out of 5; 60% of respondents rated this component 5 out of 5, n = 50). The value of interacting with experienced farmers to learn course topics also came up as a common theme across participants' answers to open-ended evaluation survey questions. Respondents on the end-of-course evaluation survey made the following comments, for example: "[The Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm course] helped me figure out realistic goals/expectations. Hearing from experienced farmers how they do things gave me confidence I am on the right track and I can do this too." (Boise/Caldwell, Idaho) "Hearing from experienced farmers gave us an insight as to how to manage our farm." (Sandpoint, Idaho) "Hearing tips from other farmers on what works & what doesn't. Trying to avoid making their mistakes!" (Sandpoint, Idaho) Related to success factors, many end-of-course survey respondents also commented on the value of the course in helping them develop planning and recordkeeping tools from which to begin, strengthen, or expand their farming enterprises: "[The Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm course has] given me much more realistic perspective and tools to plan and evaluate and choose wisely." (Sandpoint, Idaho) "[The Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm course] has helped tremendously in setting priorities and making decisions." (Moscow, Idaho) "[The Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm course has] helped with budgeting, book keeping and evaluating resources and feasibility of a potential enterprise." (Caldwell, Idaho) "The [Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm] course showed me options and opportunities that I was not even aware of or thought possible previously. Helped me to set goals and plans and to start moving in the direction, albeit cautiously. (Caldwell, Idaho)."
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Agenbroad, A., Mayes, I., Williams, C., DePhelps, C. Cultivating Success" Idaho: a collaborative, multi-dimensional approach to growing a new crop of small acreage sustainable farmers and ranchers statewide. 7th National Small Farm Conf., Virginia Beach, VA. Sept. 19-22, 2016.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Young, M., Mayes, I., Agenbroad, A., Williams, C., Newman, S., Painter, K., Jensen, J., Ruiz, R., Hamilton, M., Golden, L., Graf., S., (2016) Cultivating Success: Starting Your Sustainable Small Farm. Idaho Association of County Agriculture Agents., Lewiston, ID. June 10, 2016.
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