Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience were socially disadvantaged farmers aspiring to become farmers, veteran farmers, students interested in becoming farmers. Most of the target audience were Hispanic, African American, Asian farmers intereted in learning farming practices and prodcution agriculture. We have targeted these participants through workshops, seminars, agroecology website, Cultivator newsletter, informal meetings at the farmers market, veteran organizations. Although Covid-19 pandemic hindered our program activities for about twoyears (from April 2020 to March 2022), were able to accomplish our program activities through online workshops and virtual meetings. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have organized four social events before covid to bring all participants to meet and share their knowledge. We have organized farm hop tour to visit several farms. Through farm hop tours, numerous workshops on various topics, training activities at the farm level, and at our organic garden, participants gainedpractical knowledge on farming activities. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated the BFRDP results through our Unviversity news media, webiste, Cultivator newsletter. We have also particpated several community events such as Grow Fest, Miami-Dade cattle and Horse show, Asian festival, farmers markets to disseminate the program's success stories. We are happy that we could able to make a change in these aspriring individuals to own a land and becomesuccessful farmers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. to establish a farm incubator for a group of 20 new BFNG who will have access to about 40 acres of prime agricultural land under a long-term lease agreement or cooperative farming agreement. Florida International University acquired a 30 acre farm - Possum Trot for BFNG participants training purpose. This 30 acre farm has been going through organic cultivation for decades and is rich in biodiversity of 350 different plant species including medicinal, ornamental, timber, tropical fruits, oil seeds etc. We have engaged more than 20 new begining farmers and nursary growers through several workshops on soil building processes, propagation techniques, seed germination, grafting techniques, economic analysis of the crop production. The program participants were assigned a pacel of land to cultivate vegetable crops. We also had access to 10 acre farm The Lion Fruits Farm adjacent to the Possum Trot Farm. Trainees were engaged in vermicopost production techniques to promote sustainable organic agriculture systems. We had to stop the farm activities during Covid-19 pandemic. 2. to recruit and retain 30 beginning farmers and nursery growers and provide them with individualized, need-based training on technical, managerial, marketing, legal, safety and regulatory aspects through a combination of workshops, on-farm demonstration, farm apprenticeship, and one-on-one consulting. We trained more than 30 BFNG in our proposed activities. Annual reports provide the details about regular and managerial apprenticeships. During the project period, there were more than two dozen workshops conducted for these partcipants. Each workshop is about 2 hours. Some of the workshops are farm finance, goat rearing and handling, sweet potatoe planting and cultivation, cover crops planting and management, introduction to horses and horse ownership, vegetative propagation, integrated pest management, bee keeping, produce safety rules and regulation, biodiversity and conservation practices, goat milking and cheese making, fundamentals of farm economics, composting, soil health etc, Some of the workshops were conducted inperson at the Possum Trot Farm before pandemic and after pandemic. We have conducted virtual workshops during pandemic. Both beginning and managerial trainees were divided into groups based on their travel distance and other factors and assigned to our collaborating farm training supervisors - Reland Ahead, Inc, St. Simmons Farm, Cool Running Farm, Tiny Farm, The Lion Fruits Farm. These farms provided training for each group for eight weeks at their farms. This training activities prepared the participants ready to own and farm. 3. to develop a web-based, farmer-to-farmer clearing-house for land, equipment and other farm inventory, and an information portal on farming-related issues. We have developed website for BFRDP. The website is a source for the participants to get information about leasing land for cultivation, farm equipment and other farm related postings. We have also created Covid-19 Response Facebook. This facebook has ~375 members, 100s of postings about faremers market, local food systems, food distribution centers during covid time. Our coordinator through assiatnce from Farm Sevice Agency in Homestead, helped three dozen farmers needing to apply for farm laons - microloan, restructuring loan, farm operation loan, disaster loans etc.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
We have developed and compiled various educational resources (extension articles, informative video guides, government program power points) for the apprentices and the general public interested in various agricultural topics. These educational resources are availablethrough the Agroecology program universitys website.
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:From September 1st, 2020 to August 31,2021, eight apprentices have continued into the program. Of these eight, two joined the advanced/managerial apprenticeship. Five apprentices completed the basic apprenticeship and four of these were promoted to the advanced/managerial position. The remaining three basic apprentices are currently still involved in basic training at three different locations throughout Homestead and the Opa Locka area. Below are the apprentices that were active during this reporting period. Apprentice Main Farm Location Status Hours Completed Tyra Phillips Verde Farms Basic 72 (Basic) Jacqueline Rosado Verde Farms Basic 0 (Basic) Nathan Harden Verde Farms Managerial 100 (Basic) 40 (Managerial) Jesus Pimentel Verde Farms Managerial 100 (Basic) 56 (Managerial) Kimberly Ocean Nason Verde Farms Basic 100 (Basic) Bridgette Kelley Tiny Farm Basic 100 (Basic) Alfredo Rivera Possum Trot Basic 26 (Basic) Richard Ramnanan Tiny Farm Basic 100(Basic) Charles Young Tiny Farm Basic 1 (Basic) The Project Coordinator assisted ten farmers seeking assistance with their farm ownership, farm operating loans applications, microloans, 2037 and 2038 under the USDA Farm Service Agency. Of these ten assisted, eight were Hispanic, two were Asian, five were women, five were male, and eight were aided in filling out the application completely in Spanish as per their requests. Due to the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, this assistance was provided through telephone meetings only. From these applicants, 5 received loans, and some re-structured their existing loans. Changes/Problems:During early March of 2019, major problems were encountered with recruitment and activities due to the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. Florida International University's policies followed Florida's State policies and cancelled all foreseeable on-campus/off-campus events, including the program's planned workshops (i.e. Introduction to Mushrooms, Advanced Farm Finance Workshop) which would have taken place on April 11th. Remote work policies were put into place and only recently (i.e. June 2021) were apprentices allowed to continue to proceed with their apprenticeships in the field and workshops were allowed to continue once again. All apprentices now follow strict CDC health guidelines and wear masks at all times while practicing social distancing and washing their hands. Workshops have been slow ongoing, however now they are picking, all while ensuring safety by having limited RSVP' spots or virtual workshop options. The program immediately set out to provide assistance to local South Florida farmers and consumers when the quarantine was imposed state-wide. We created a Facebook group page titled "FIU COVID-19 Local Food System Response" where we compiled information geared towards helping growers and ranchers. Federal and State Agency updates and resources on COVID-19 were summarized and posted along with various resources (SBA Loans, FSA COVID-19 disaster loans, etc.) that were made available to farmers. Local farmers also would send us updates on their produce sales and drive - thru pick up sites. This information was provided to the group page where at the time of this report hosts 378 members, the majority of them local South Florida consumers and members of the community. Finally, we had over 250 different posts since the group page's creation that shared Farmshare's Food Distribution daily drive-thru locations throughout all parts of Florida for consumers. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and resulting quarantine/state lock down, Florida International University policy guidelines dictated the cancellation of various events. As of August2021, we are now allowed to slowly go back on track and have continued basic apprenticeships in the field as well as workshops. Participants are gaining practical knowledge on farming activities as well as building relations with local farmers and integrating into the local grower community. Number of workshops, date and time, themes, copies of the workshops. Since September 1, 2020, we have organized two technical workshops covering animal and vegetative topics for apprentices. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and resulting quarantine/state lock down, Florida International University policy guidelines dictated the cancellation of two workshops and difficulties in proceeding with workshops during some months. ?Workshops Workshop Topic Date Apprentices in Attendance Detail Introduction to Horses and Horse Ownership December 12th, 2020 5 Hands-on technical workshop that teaches apprentices the introduction to horse ownership. This workshop includes the interaction with horses. This workshop took place at a private farm in Homestead, FL. Vegetative Propagation of Plants January 27th, 2021 5 A virtual workshop through zoom where apprentices learned the basics of vegetative propagation as well as grafting. Apprentice learned how various plants can be cloned and produced from leaves, roots, stems of an already established plant. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated the results through FIU News, the Cultivator newsletter, and have provided flyers of our program to the FSA as well as local farmers in the community. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue on going activities while ensuring that our farm host collaborators and apprentices are practicing CDC health safety guidelines (i.e. social distancing, masks, handwashing, etc.). We will be concentrating on managerial apprenticeship activities as well as providing various on-hands technical workshops with limited spaces for safety reasons and informative virtual workshops. We will also work on developing contact with land owners to lease parcel of lands to our trained participants so they can start their own farming activities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Farm activities are in progress at three farms. Two 5-acre farms and one 20-acre farms are being utilized for training apprentices. We have conducted one, one-hour workshop and one, two-hour workshop on various farm practices activities. Invited speakers to provide individualized, need-based training on various topics outlined in the project. With the help of Farm Service Agency, we have helped several veterans and beginning farmers on farming related activities.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
We have worked in creating and compiling various educational resources (extension articles, informative video guides, government program power points) to be utilized by apprentices and the general public interested in various agricultural topics. These educational resources have finished being assembled and are now in the process of being edited and undergoing installation through the universitys website.
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:This year our coordinator recruited 7 apprentices into the program. Of these seven, four joined the advanced/managerial apprenticeship. Three apprentices completed the basic apprenticeship and were promoted to the advanced/managerial position. One apprentice joined the managerial apprenticeship directly due to health concerns in relation to his heart as well as prior experience in working at a farm. One apprentice had to drop the basic apprenticeship mid-way due to life complications and having to move away. One apprentice had to drop the managerial apprenticeship due to similar issues and moved outside of the country. The remaining three basic apprentices are currently still involved in basic training at three different locations throughout Homestead and the Opa Locka area. Changes/Problems:We had to replace the program coordinator during the beginning of this report (July 2019), and she had to undergo several different trainings as well as network with private farms that host our apprentices. Although the process was slow at the beginning, her efforts during the start of the progress report led to some new recruitment and training activities for apprentices. During early March of 2020, major problems were encountered with recruitment and activities due to the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. Florida International University's policies followed Florida's State policies and cancelled all foreseeable on-campus/off-campus events, including the program's planned workshops (i.e. Introduction to Mushrooms, Advanced Farm Finance Workshop) which would have taken place on April 11th. Remote work policies were put into place and only recently (i.e. July 2020) were apprentices allowed to continue to proceed with their apprenticeships in the field and workshops were allowed to continue once again. All apprentices now follow strict CDC health guidelines and wear masks at all times while practicing social distancing and washing their hands. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have organized two social events to bring all participants to meet and share their knowledge. We had organized a farm hop tour to visit several farms for apprentices, however due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and resulting quarantine/state lock down, Florida International University policy guidelines dictated the event's cancellation. As of August 31,2020, we are now allowed to slowly go back on track and have continued basic apprenticeships in the field as well as workshops. Participants are gaining practical knowledge on farming activities as well as building relations with local farmers and integrating into the local grower community. Number of workshops, date and time, themes, copies of the workshops. During this year, we have organized five technical/hands on workshops covering a variety of different topics for apprentices. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and resulting quarantine/state lock down, Florida International University policy guidelines dictated the cancellation of two workshops. Apprentices attended a hands-on Farm Finance workshop where they learned the importance of record-keeping. They left with a better understanding of the basic economical skills needed to run an agricultural or nursery operation as well as different resources found online. Another workshop taught apprentices the various challenges and hurdles needed to be overcome in order to grow and rear goats in South Florida. That technical workshop also showed apprentices how to milk goats, care for overall health, trim hooves, apply injections, and check for common goat diseases. A small piece of land was allocated for apprentices to prepare the land, install irrigation, start seedlings, manage weeds, and ultimately harvest the crop. One social gathering was organized so apprentices could network with one another and share ideas with one another, and to provide feedback to program directors and collaborating farmers. Apprentices were also invited to a local grower's community event (Grow-Fest) where they were able to be introduced to various farmers as well as network. Workshops Workshop Topic Date Apprentices in Attendance Detail Farm Finance November 21st, 2019 3 This was a technical workshop that taught apprentices basic farm financial skills and how to keep important logs/records of their agricultural/nursery operation. Goat Rearing and Handling January 19th, 2020 1 This was a technical workshop that taught apprentices goat rearing and handling. Apprentice learned the challenges and difficulties found in raising goats in Homestead as well as how to milk, clean hooves, administer shots, and check for some common goat diseases. Advanced Farm Finance Workshop (Cancelled) March 2020 N/A University policy stated that all events on and off campus were cancelled until further notice. Coordinator followed along with policy guidelines and continued to plan for workshops once we were able to host events once more. Intro to Mushrooms (Cancelled) April 11th, 2020 N/A University policy stated that all events on and off campus were cancelled until further notice. Coordinator followed along with policy guidelines and continued to plan for workshops once we were able to host events once more. Sweet Potato Cultivation and Planting June 18th, 2020 1 This workshop took place once university policy allowed for events to carefully continue. Apprentice wore mask and practiced social distancing along with farm host and coordinator. Apprentice learned the benefits of growing sweet potatoes, nutritional inputs needed, when to rotate crops, how to cultivate, plant slips, and harvest potatoes. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated the results through FIU News, the Cultivator newsletter, and have provided flyers of our program to the FSA as well as local farmers in the community. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue on going activities while ensuring that our farm host collaborators and apprentices are practicing CDC health safety guidelines (i.e. social distancing, masks, handwashing, etc.). We will be concentrating on managerial apprenticeship activities as well as providing various summer workshops for apprentices with topics such as "Cover Crop Planting and Management" and "Vegetable Production in South Florida". We will also work on developing contact with land owners to lease parcel of lands to our trained participants so they can start their own farming activities. We will complete both internal and external evaluation of the project, prepare final report to USDA-NIFA-BFRDP.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Farm activities are in progress at three farms. Two 5-acre farms and one 20-acre farms are being utilized for training apprentices. We have conducted two-hour workshops on various farm practices activities on monthly basis. Invited speakers to provide individualized, need-based training on various topics outlined in the project. With the help of Farm Service Agency, we have helped several veterans and beginning farmers on farming related activities.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:This year our coordinator recruited 15apprentices into the program. Of these 15,fourjoined the advanced/managerial apprenticeship. Year one apprentices completed training and exploring to develop their own farming activities. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We have organized four social events to bring all participants to meet and share their knowledge. We have organized farm hop tour to visit several farms. Participants are gaining practical knowledge on farming activities. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated the results through FIU News and Cultivator newsletter. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue on going activities. Concentrate on managerial apprenticehip activities. Develop contact with land owners to lease parcel of lands to our trained participants and start their own farming activities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Farm activities are in progress at three farms. Two 5 acre farms and one 20 acre farms are being utilized for training apprentices. We have conducted two hour workshops on various farm practices activities on monthly basis. Invited speakers to provide individualized, need-based training on various topics outlined in the project. With the help of Farm Service Agency, we have helped several veteran and beginning farmers on farming related activities.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:This year our coordinator recruited 10 apprentices into the program. Of these ten three joined the advanced/managerial apprenticeship. Two apprentices completed the basic apprenticeship and promoted to the advanced/managerial position. One apprentice joined the managerial apprenticeship directly due to prior experience as a farm worker at a collaborating farm. The remaining seven apprentices are currently still involved in basic training at four different locations throughout homestead. Name Basic/Advanced Apprenticeship Primary Training Location(s) Hours completed Eduardo Marquez Advanced St Simon's, Possum Trot 300 Brendan Taggart Advanced Redland Ahead 100 Jose Luis Arrasola Advanced Redland Ahead 20 Olga Aybar Basic Cool Runnings, St Simons, Possum Trot 100 Yndira Diaz Basic Cool Runnings 15 Carlos Calle Basic Cool Runnings, Possum Trot 66 Mez Mervile Basic Cool Runnings 40 Marie Jerome Basic St Simons 43 Yve Jerome Basic St Simons 43 Andrew Diaz Basic Redland Ahead 100 Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Apprentices applied skills learned at collaborating farms to start a small patch of okra. A small piece of land was allocated for apprentices to prepare the land, install irrigation, start seedlings, manage weeds, and ultimately harvest the crop. A farm tour to ECHO Farms was organized for apprentices to learn about different methods of farming around the world with limited resources. Two social gatherings were organized so apprentices can network with one another and share ideas with one another, and to provide feedback to program directors and collaborating farmers. Event Name Apprentices in attendance Date and time FIU Farmers Social #1 2 May 25th, 2018. 5PM -- 9PM FIU Farmers Social #2 5 Sept 1,2018. 6PM - 9PM How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Training activities, workshop discussions have been posted at our agroecology website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We continue to recruit apprentices and managerial apprentices. We have established three farm level trainings for all apprentices for 8 weeks. In these farm level training, apprentices gain cultivation practices, marketing etc. We are in the process of completing web based farm to farm clearing house.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
A special lecture on small animal husbandy, specifically goats, was held on FIU campus on March 9th from 12PM - 1PM. The lecture covered the basics on goat care including feed, shelter, genetic disease, and weekly inspection for parasites. An online course covering Greenhouse 101 was offered from June 4th - June 29th. One apprentice signed up and successfully completed the course. Number of workshops, date and time, themes, copies of the workshops. During this year, we have organized eight technical/hands on workshops covering a variety of different topics for apprentices. Workshop Topic Apprentices in attendance Date and Time Fertilizers 1 Feb 17,2018. 2PM - 4PM Beekeeping 0 Mar 10, 2018. 9AM - 12PM Strawberry Evaluation 0 Apr 6, 2018. 10AM - 12PM Animal Husbandry: Goats 1 Apr 14, 2018. 10AM - 1PM Farm Service Agency - Microloans 0 Apr 28, 2018. 10AM - 12PM Auctions 2 May 19, 2018. 7AM - 9AM Plant Propagation 2 Jul 21, 2018. 9AM - 1PM ECHO Farms Tour 1 Jul 26,2018. 10AM - 12PM Farmer Tips & Tricks 5 Sep 1, 2018. 9AM - 1PM
Publications
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