Progress 09/01/18 to 09/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:According to Iowa's State Refugee Coordinator, over 3,000 individuals have been resettled to Central Iowa through the US Refugee Resettlement Program over the last 5 years. He estimates that an additional 2,000 have moved here from other states in the same time period due to family relations, quality of life, and work opportunities. Many of these most recently resettled groups of refugees were farmers prior to being resettled in Iowa, hailing from the rural areas and farming communities of Burma, Burundi, Rwanda and Bhutan. They have expressed a strong desire to begin farming again here in their new home. They farmed sustainably in their home countries however they now find themselves in a new context. They have asked for assistance in adapting their farming experiences and knowledge to their new setting in order to establish profitable farming businesses. The primary barriers they face include access to land, linguistically and culturally appropriate training, financial resources, minimal network of family and friends, and understanding the business and marketing context of farming in the United States. Lutheran Services in Iowa's (LSI) Global Greens program was created in response to this need. The projectfocused on 28farmers that were supported through this project to acheive their goals of starting and growing a farm enterprise in order toassist these beginning farmers to adapt their farming skills and experiences to their new context and help them make informed decisions in order to create farming opportunites of the appropariate size and scale for their individual situation. 24farmers workedon a farm incubator and more than4farmers that graduated to their own land were supported, to increase and improve producution and sell to markets increasing their sales signficantly over the project period. Changes/Problems:The largest challenge has been land in Iowa. The LSI GG program is working towards addressing this challenges through advocacy and publicity and has had some result recently in finding land owners with interest in assisting socially and economically disadvantaged farmers locate land. LSI GG's is also addressing this issue through its work on a new 2501 grant and other complementary funding which will be implememnted over the next 3 years and by joining collaboratives with other organizations in Iowa working to address this issue, such as the Sustainable Land Trust and Practical Farmers of Iowa. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Objective 2continued from above: During the farm orientation in May of 2021, a food safety for markets refresher class was offered to farmers. Staff also made an orientation video for the Global Greens Farmers' Market and a video about how to do crop planning with certain markets in mind. These videos were viewed 25 times and have helped significantly to ensure that farmers understand these concepts. Output: Provide one-on-one in-field training and technical assistance at least three times with 8 families and at least once with 24 families Global Greens staff members provided 1-1 technical assistance to 22 farmers during the course of 2021 and 3 times or more with 10 farmers. Technical assistance sessions included: working with farmers to identify farmers markets in the area and assisting with applications to these markets, connecting farmers to restaurants or grocery stores in the Des Moines Metro to sell their vegetables to, giving farmers feedback about the quality of produce they should be providing for wholesale markets such as the CSA, meeting farmers at farmers markets the first time they attended the markets to ensure they were comfortable and found their booth, and giving feedback about how their farmers market booths looked. Objective 3:LSI will provide culturally and linguistically appropriate training and technical assistance for farmers in establishing business plans and appropriate financial and record keeping practices. Accomplishment:Provided record keeping training virtually to 5 farmers on 12/19/2020to set up for the 2021 season, which included customized materials based on their needs, focusing on transitioningfarmers who were keeping records for the first time. In addition, LSI's Business Development Specialist provided individual technical assistance sessions to farmers on record-keeping and finances. At the end of each year, conducted an end of season evaluation with all farmers reviewing their use of the materials provided for record keeping and analysisand noting their suggestions based on their use to improve and update for the 2022 season. In 2022, the Business Development Specialist provided Goal setting training using the SMART Goals system to 11 farmers, in a hybrid class on 9/18/2021 which will continue on an on-going basis with tracking of farmer goals and accomplishments. Objective 4:LSI will facilitate community resource connections, such as farmer loans, equipment sharing, and land access for business sustainability. Output: 4-6 farmers will apply to enroll in the Savings Incentive Program. Accomplishment:6 farmers applied to the Savings Incentive (SIP) program at Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) with the help of LSI and3 Farmers were accepted tobegin work with it in 2022, which will greatly improve their business planningand decision making capabilities. 2 farmers will be completing their SIP match requirements allowing them to invest in their farms this year. These same 2 farmers were also the 1stto be accepted in LSI IDA Business savings match and are scheduled to complete their requirements by the end of 2022in an effort to boost their farming capacity through business investments close to $13,000 each. In previous years several farmers have received and used their savings match to purchase hand held tractors and other small farm equipment to improve their farm businesses. Training and Professional Development: Each year of the project, LSI assisted five to eight farmers to attendthe Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) Conference in the winter.In the first yeareight farmers also attended the Emerging Farmers Conference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota and after that participated virtually due to COVID considerations. These conferences allowed farmers to learn from others, present and gain hands on practical knowledge from other farmers. In addition, LSI's Food Hub and Markets Supervisor joined a Food Hub Manager Working group across the State to support and generate ideas on growing local food sales throughout the state. Output: 8 farmers will attend the Minnesota Immigrant and Minority Farming Conference (annual) 4 Farmers attended the Minnesota Immigrant and Minority Farming Conference (now called the Emerging Farmers Conference) in 2021 and each of the previous years Farmers attended as listed in progress reports. The conference was held virtually in 2021, which limited the number of farmers who wanted to attend and were able to attend. Output: 2 technical assistance sessions with other similar Iowa initiatives (annual) Global Greens staff members provided technical assistance for 3 other projects in Iowa and 1 project just across the Iowa border into Nebraska. These projects were: Iowa City Compassion (Iowa City, IA), the University of Northern Iowa's Center for Energy and Environmental Education (Cedar Falls, IA), Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska's Global Roots program (Omaha, NE) and Tapestry Farms (Davenport, IA). Staff members met with each of these projects virtually during the course of the year. Three of the four projects visited Global Greens during the year: Iowa City Compassion, the University of Northern Iowa, and Lutheran Family Services, while Tapestry Farms planned a visit for shortly after this grant year ended. Technical assistance provided to these projects included: discussing what it looks like to start an incubator project, how to navigate a growing program, creating contracts, programming for existing incubators, and market access for farmers. Output: 5 farmers will attend the PFI Annual Conference (annual) 6 farmers attended the PFI Annual Conference in 2020 and attended in previous years. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Outcomes Achieved: Outcome 1: Twenty-Four beginning farmers will increase knowledge and skills necessary to start and/or expand their sustainable vegetable farming enterprises. All together LSI worked with 28 beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers over the project period. All farmers demonstrated increased knowledge by implemented what the learned to increase their sales significantly over the 3 year period as well as their production. Total Beginning Famer Beneficiaries supported with training, technical assistance, broken down as: Farmers on Training Farm: Beginning Market Farmers with 1/8 of an acre to 3/16 of an acre plots: 18 Advanced Market Farmers with 1/4 acre plots: 6 Graduate farmers on own land (1/2 acre to 6 acres): 7 -LSI partnered with many organizations to host a series of 5 virtual meetings and discussion sessions with farmers on land access. These partners include Des Moines partnership (DSM chamber of commerce) who dedicated a group of fellows to study the issue, Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and People's Company. These conversations have led to partnerships with Land For Good, Farm Commons, SILT, Drake University Law Clinic, and PFI that will further a more targeted effort to create viable legal options and plain language resources on group land tenure and improved legal resilience for farmers with the goal of empowering farmers to overcome barriers to land access and to collectively create new opportunities for beginning farmers both in Des Moines and abroad.. Outcome 2:Twenty-Four beginning farmers will use their new knowledge and skills to increase profits earned from a new or existing farm business. From 2020 to 2021, 20 farmers increased their income from a new or existing farm business. A few farmers saw sales go down in 2021 after record sales in 2020 during the early part of the pandemic. Global Greens farmers are uniquely positioned to continue to expand their businesses by appealing to the growing refugee and immigrant populations who are moving to Des Moines, while still supplying American-born customers with the vegetables they are used to. Collectively, income increased by about 65% for program participants from 2020 to 2022 with participants earning $309,764 in 2020 and $510,002 in 2021. Revenue in 2018 and 2019 was $140,914 and $157,047 respectively. Outcome 3:Eight beginning farmers will transition from the training farm and continue to operate their farm and markets independently. Land continues to be an extremely challenging issue for small famers in Iowa. Much of the land in and around Des Moines is being rezoned for development or is at far too high a price point for most farmers. In 2021, LSI started to explore cooperative land options and sought land owners with a social cause. This has resulted in some results including a long term lease on the 12 acres of land at Pleasant Hill and another opportunity with a private land owner going forward. Several graduate farmers rent land on short-term leases but the situation is precarious for farmers as the leases can end at anytime. Altogether,4 farmers were able to transition off the training farm or transition to market farming and continue their farms. Another farmer was able to find land on her own to farm outside of the training farm, but participated in Global Greens trainings and markets. Due to a connection made in 2021, we expect 5 farmers to move from the incubator in 2022 onto 15 additional acres. The precedent set by current graduated farmers and the loss of land of two of them due to development which made front page Des Moines Register news is helping create awareness and community support to grow. Outcome 4:Establish a farm mentor program where graduate farmers will mentor and teach upcoming beginning farmers from their communities. Farmers are learning a lot from the successes of each other in individual visits, and conversations at the farm and market, especially between Advanced or Graduate Farmers and those just joining market farming are more evident over the 3 years of the project.Farmers meet each other at the farm for convenience and also enjoy visiting each others' plots to see best production practices on their own and support each other with technical issues or for joint purchasing of supplies. One Global Greens graduate had two other farmers (one from another part of Iowa and another from Missouri) visit his farm and work with him for a day so that they could learn more about what it takes to run a successful farm business. One of those farmers created a relationship with the land owner and rented his own ½ acre there. Another farmer in Carlisle is mentoring his long-time employee. He has helped her find land near his land so that she can continue to learn from him. The woman enrolled in GG 2022 classes. Dissemination Activities: In 2021 only, LSI GG staff presented or shared tools and resources related to the project over 20 times with various groups throughout Iowa, this included other incubator farming initiatives and with food and interest groups. LSI also regularly shares its work with a National Community of Practice of Incubator farms that submits work to NIFTI, Farm Answers and other farmer resource collectives The largest challenge has been land access in Iowa which is suitable for specialty crop production. A summary of barriers include suitable infrastructure, lot size, affordability, and development pressure. The LSI GG program is working towards addressing these challenges through advocacy and publicity and has mobilized land owners and partners to assist socially and economically disadvantaged farmers locate land. See article about this from the perspective of an LS GG farmer and organizations working to assist socially disadvantaged farmers in Iowa here: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.desmoinesregister.com%2Fstory%2Fmoney%2Fagriculture%2F2021%2F07%2F27%2Fland-access-barrier-for-des-moines-iowa-refugee-farmers-global-greens-lutheran-services-produce%2F7998745002%2F LSI GG's is also addressing this issue through its work on a new 2501 grant and other complementary funding which will be implemented over the next 3 years and by joining collaborative with other organizations in Iowa working to address this issue, such as the Sustainable Land Trust and Practical Farmers of Iowa. Looking forward past the pandemic, preparing for markets and projecting sales for future years is a major challenge. The pandemic was a major driver of increased sales for small farms and understanding whether or not sales will continue to grow or will taper off is hard for farmers. Farmers are uncertain as to how big of investments to put into their businesses and which markets they can rely on in the future. Communication during Covid-19 was a challenge throughout the last half of this grant. Trainings that normally were held in person had to be moved to virtual methods of delivery. This worked for some farmers, but for many others, having access to and using technology was a major barrier. Also, many farmers learn best from in person, hands on activities. The opportunity for this type of workshop was limited. However, it has shown us the need to develop improved "stand-alone" visually-based materials that farmers can access at any time using virtual formats and we have begun to record our workshops into videos. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: LSI will provide culturally and linguistically appropriate training and technical assistance for farmers in order to increase their production knowledge and skills. Accomplishment: Output:Provide one-on-one in-field training and technical assistance at least three times with 8 families and at least once with 24families.Each year LSI provided in-field training and technical assistance to all 28 families on a variety of topics based on eachfarmers need and supported at least 8 families 3 times. Some results of this assistance included: -Farmers learned to make their own seed orders each winter. -LSI met with each Farmer at the end of the year to conduct evaluations to get their feedback on how to improve the work and also conducted a Skills and Knowledge Assessment to measure change in behavior and skills.Farmers use these assessments to set business goals in upcoming years. -LSI met with 20 farmers for in-field mid-season checkins to review production and marketing goals -Over theCOVID-19 pandemic technical assistance plans shifted to assisting with the adjustment of farm and market infrastructure to handle social distancing and state and local protocols for the market, farms and community gardens, for all 28farmers which resulted in their ability to continue to operate and sell local vegetables throughout the period at a time when local food was in high demand. -LSI also worked to ensure that education and technical assistance materials could benefit the farmers after the project ended by developing translated instruction materials and videos for market procedures in a variety of languages were developed. Short videos were also created for farmers to view via video link on their phones via the WhatsApp application on relevant topics translated into several languages.The program made use of Zoom and other technical platforms to continue to conductlive trainings and technical assistance sessions during the pandemic. -Staff spent a significant amount of technical assistancetime on infrastructure and budget planning, infield training, project management and implementation to support three graduate farmers on a new 12 acre land site in Pleasant Hill. -LSI staff, with support from graduate farm mentors, conducted annual in-field workshops on topics of importance to farmers such as garlic planting, using a walk-behind tractor (BCS), weed suppression, pest management, water conservation, and crop planning. All of these workshops with mentor farmer visits have a focus on creating good habits and systems on smaller plotsthat can be scaled to a full-time farm business. -20 Farmers were provided with 1-on-1 assistance once a week in seasonon pest identification and management. 12 farmers have purchased their own sprayers or can use the community sprayer independently. -20 farmers were provided 1-1 assistance to have the farm manager assist them to set up drip tape systems. -20 farmers were provided 1-1 assistance to access and learn how to use the BCS and John Deere utility tractor. 7 of these farmers have gained significant skill and can now use it independently. -LSI began a partnership with St Timothy's Episcopal Church who provided greenhouse space in town to grow over 50,000 plants. 15 farmers were accompanied by the Farm Manager to put in over 100 hours of mentored time. -LSI partnered with a number of other entities, such as theMinnesota Food Association in 2019, to provide additional assistance to farmers on a variety of topics, including irrigation to conserve waterandgreenhouse transplant production so farmers could grow their own seedlings. The result of these activities allowed for a significant increase in farmers production and sales over the project period and further independence at the training farm, allowing 4 farmers to graduate to their own land. All farmers demonstrated an increase in knowledge on topics listed. Output:Facilitate 4 field day visits with an average attendance of 6 farmers (annual) Each year of the project LSI staff took farmers to field days and to farming conferences. Most of the field day cross visits were organized in collaboration with Practical Farmers of Iowa. Altogether LSI took over 15 farmers to more than 20 field days (either virtually or in person due to COVID restrictions) over the life of the project. Field days and virtual or in person cross visits focused on vegetable production in high tunnels, conservation agriculture practices, and different methods of vegetable cultivation. Translation was provided at in-person visits and LSI workedwith PFI to translaterecorded field day visits into a variety of languages for future reference. These videos can be shared with other similar incubator farmers in the region serving former refugees and immigrants Output:Host 1 annual field day event at Global Greens Farm, inviting community members, as well as similar local and statewide projects (annual) In 2021, LSI workedwith a videographer to create a virtual version of the Global Greens Farm Party to share via LSI and partners' social media, newsletters, libraries and other platforms. This video was created to highlight and celebrate the10 year anniversary of Global Greens and it tells the story of the farmers by the farmers. In addition, Global Greens hosted three virtual farm tours usingFacebook live in lieu of having a farm party in 2020In addition, in 2020, a ribbon cutting was held when the12 acre farm at Pleasant Hill was opened up to graduate farmers. In 2020,Zac Couture, Land and Production Supervisor and farmers lead farm tours where over 40 in-person participants could learn abit about the history of the farm and were shown around. This ribbon cutting had over 100 views for our optional online viewing. In 2021, it held its 10 Year Celebration at the Farmer's Market unveiling the video. See video created here: https://lsiowa.org/refugee/global-greens/ Objective 2: LSI will provide culturally and linguistically appropriate training and technical assistance for farmers in marketing and various sales outlets in order to increase profits for long term farm viability. Output: Develop a viable, aggregated CSA/ food hub model with increasing sales each year Sales through the Global Greens CSA grew from about $56,000 in the year prior to the grant starting (2018) to $96,327 in the final year of the grant (2021). About 75% of revenue was paid directly to farmers in exchange for their vegetables while the remaining dollars were used to pay for expenses associated with managing the CSA. Output: Provide 9 off-season classroom trainings, including 2 market specific trainings with an average of 20 farm families attending Each year 9 off-season classroom trainings are offered, and typically between 9 families and 20 families havein attendance at each one over the 3 years. Due to company Covid-19 policies during the majority of the season through the first and second years of the project, these had to be virtual and an average of 9 attendees participated in the classes in those years. Many Global Greens participants struggle with the technology skills to participate in virtual meetings. Besides classes that were offered, staff members created several videos and made them available to farmers to watch on demand outside of classroom sessions. These were made because indoor activities were limited or unavailable. Multi-lingual staff translated the videos into languages that the farmers in the program speak. These videos can be used on an on-going basis by the farmers. Two classes on markets were provided to farmers annuallyand two videos were created around markets over the life ofthe project. Staff members offered a class in December of 2020 for farmers to review and evaluate their markets for the season.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:26farmers all met the following categories: • Immigrant producers • Limited resource producers • Specialty crop producers • Urban producers Changes/Problems:No major changes/problems in approach that will require special or additional reporting requirements or reporting changes. The biggest adjustment to programming is shifting alltraining materials, field days, conferences and training implementation to on-line and virtual formats and allowing for time, resources and changes in methodology for this virtual work and adaptation of work. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?ACCOMPLISHMENTS CONTINUED: Objective 2:LSI will provide culturally and linguistically appropriate training and technical assistance for farmers in marketing and various sales outlets in order to increase profits for long term farm viability. Output: Develop a viable, aggregated CSA/ food hub model with increasing sales each year The Global Greens CSA grew again this year from 116 boxes per week in 2019 to 157 boxes per week in 2020. This represented gross revenue of over $90,000 for LSI. Of this income, farmers were paid just over $71,000 while the rest was kept to cover program expenses. Farmers continue to express satisfaction with the CSA model and value it because of the guaranteed sales that they can plan for at the beginning of the season. 4 farmers accessed new markets this year. Two of these sold at the farmers market for the first time and two sold to a new restaurant/small grocery store. Two families were also accepted to sell at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' market, but it was moved to online due to Covid-19. Neither farmer wanted to sell at the market through the online platform. Output: Provide 9 off-season classroom trainings, including 2 market specific trainings with an average of 20 farm families attending LSI provided 9 classroom trainings between September and early March. These classes were well attended with between 7 and 24 farmers attending each class and an average attendance per week of 16 farmers. These trainings included the following: End of Season Farmer Meeting and Reflection, CSA Review and Bidding, Farm Orientation, Greenhouse 101, Crop Planning, Tax and Record Keeping Basics, 2 food safety classes with Iowa State Extension's Produce Safety Team and a training so that farmers can accept WIC and Senior Farmers' Market Vouchers at farmers' markets. The CSA Review and Bidding class gave farmers an opportunity to hear more customer feedback about how the CSA went this year, learn more about what customers' value in the CSA and gave time for LSI staff to give farmers feedback about how the CSA went from their perspective. Farmers then were able to "bid" on what vegetables they wanted to grow for the CSA in 2020. The Crop Planning class specifically helped farmers plan their crops for the upcoming CSA season. Farmers were given a calendar along with pictures of the vegetables they would be growing for the CSA. This workshop style class then provided time for staff to work with farmers as they glued pictures to their calendars for when they needed to plant and harvest the vegetables they were planning on growing for the CSA. This class gave farmers the skills to take their calendars home and do more intensive crop planning for other markets they sell to. Global Greens staff also worked with the Iowa Department of Agriculture to provide a class to farmers so that they could be certified to accept WIC and Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition vouchers. The class focused on how farmers could comply with the program. These checks were a significant source of income this year for farmers. From March onwards, Covid-19 forced LSI to stop offering in-person classes, 1 video was made, translated into a variety of languages, and distributed to farmers regarding farmers' markets. Some of the classes planned in March and April had to be postponed due to COVID, such as soil health and equipment safety and maintenance. Instead, staff worked with farmers to update farm infrastructure to make it modular including setting up separate and distanced wash station areas and also providing outdoor greenhouse mentorship. LSI received access in 2020 to a new green house space through a new partnership with St Tim's Episcopal Church and was able to grow over 15,000 plants there this year that helped with successful production for the 2020 season and also offered practical learning opportunities for farmers on greenhouse methods. Altogether in the spring, LSI completed 20 hours of greenhouse TA/mentorship with farmers. Global Greens staff also typically provides an annual farmers' market class. This year, due to Covid-19, staff members created a video to make sure that farmers knew all of the Covid-19 protocols and rules at the Global Greens Farmers' Market. This video was made, translated into a variety of languages, and uploaded to youtube. A link was distributed to farmers using WhatsApp and text messages. The video was watched by most, if not all farmers prior to attending the farmers' market. Output: Provide one-on-one in-field training and technical assistance at least three times with 8 families and at least once with 24 families Staff provided weekly feedback and technical assistance to farmers who delivered product for the CSA. As farmers delivered produce, staff members provided a range of technical assistance from discussing produce quality standards and packaging techniques to introducing farmers to chefs and owners of small grocery stores. 8 families received technical assistance 3 or more times, with many of those families checking in for short amounts of time each week, while another 16 families received technical assistance at least once for a total of 24 receiving assistance. Objective 3:LSI will provide culturally and linguistically appropriate training and technical assistance for farmers in establishing business plans and appropriate financial and record keeping practices. LSI hired a new Business Development Specialist (BDS) in November to help farmers in developing the business side of their farming operations. The BDS offered a record-keeping and tax training on February 22 to help farmers improve their record keeping and prepare for completing their taxes. 11 farmers attended the class. Following the class, the BDS scheduled individual meetings with farmers to assist them in preparing for their taxes. The BDS has consulted with 4 farmers ondeveloping businesses plans. Objective 4:LSI will facilitate community resource connections, such as farmer loans, equipment sharing, and land access for business sustainability. Output: 4-6 farmers will apply to enroll in the Savings Incentive Program This spring, the BDS worked with 2 farmers in applying for loans through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and continued to support farmers that had previously applied and been approved for Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI)'s Savings Incentive Program (SIP). Though the farmers that graduated to their own or larger land were unable to access capital through traditional or FSA loans this year they were able to invest in their businesses through assistance form LSI in applying for the PFI SIP program and through use of personal savings. They were able to manage their land adequately and have made plans with LPS to improve land management processes. As a part of this, they are exploring cooperative investments as a means to save money with assistance from the BDS and Farm Associate. Two farming families were assisted in completing the Savings Incentive Program through Practical Farmers in Iowa. These 2 farmers purchased assets for their farm at new site including a BCS tractor, cooler, and wash station through relationship built with external entities. Both farmers visited a mentor farm with LSI staff in October. Three other families applied to the Savings Incentive program in October. Two of the three families were accepted and have begun to work on their requirements for the program, which include mentor visits, business planning and saving money, which will be matched within 2 years. The BDS is working with the families to complete their business plans and financial projections. Additional farmers will apply for the next round of SIP in October 2020. The BDS met with 8 Global Greens farmers two to three times each to obtain assistance with asset planning and purchases, business planning, tax preparation, recordkeeping and applying for loans. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES (Continued from previous section): Output: 8 farmers will attend the Minnesota Immigrant and Minority Farming Conference (annual) 4 Farmers attended Minnesota Immigrant and Minority Farming Conference (now called the Emerging Farmers Conference). The conference was a Friday night and Saturday conference. The highlight for many of the farmers was a keynote speaker who was an immigrant from Kenya and spoke Swahili, a language that all 4 farmers who attended the conference speak fluently. These 4 farmers shared what the learned with the other global greens farmers. Output: 2 technical assistance sessions with other similar Iowa initiatives (annual) LSI has provided a significant amount of support for other projects around the country since October. Staff in the program provided technical assistance to the Iowa Valley RC&D in Iowa City, IA about farmers' markets through a phone interview, gave an 1.5 hour presentation at the annual National Incubator Farm Training Institute's annual conference in Ithaca, New York, presented at the Community Food Systems Conference in West Des Moines, IA and participated on a panel about the importance and challenges of local vegetable production, which took place through a new farm incubator program in Iowa City, IA. LSIprovided assistance to a similar project that is starting in Omaha, Nebraska. LSI team members provided technical assistance through phone calls with the farm manager from Lutheran Family Services (LFS) of Nebraska. Two members of LFS also visited the Global Greens program in March. They spent a day in Des Moines talking with program staff, asking programmatic questions and visiting Global Greens Farm. Output: 5 farmers will attend the PFI Annual Conference (annual) 8 farmers attended the PFI Annual Conference. 10 representatives from LSI, including 8 farmers attended the Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) Annual Conference. The farmers participated in the tomato, seed saving, what certain weeds tell us about soil fertility, land access and wash station design sessions. Farmers mentioned that they really appreciate gaining more technical knowledge especially from people who have been running successful farms. They also appreciate meeting new farmers in Iowa and understanding the context and knowledge needed to farm in a new location. The farmers provided a share-out of knowledge and most important facts learned after the conference since they did not all attend the same sessions. RESULTS DISSEMINATION TO COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST: The Global Greens program garnered media attention through a piece by Iowa Public Radio in December about the lack of land access for urban famer. LSI staff and a farmer were interviewed for the piece. https://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/near-cities-land-owners-and-urban-farmers-confront-pressure-development#stream/0 Two phone calls with a New Mexico Refugee Agriculture Partnership Project (RAPP) recipient through funding from the Office of Refugee Resettlement, one in June, one in August. Monthly calls with Lutheran Family Services (LFS) Nebraska, they visited Global Greens in April. On April 18th, Dan Bowser, Food Hub and Markets Supervisor, gave a presentation at the Botanical Garden for the Earth Day Event and in August he gave a presentation to the Iowa Farmer's Union. In August, Zachary Couture, Land and Production Supervisor, presented to the Des Moines Task Force on Sustainability. Interviewed for Civil Eats story: https://civileats.com/2020/09/04/new-support-for-refugee-farmers-hard-hit-by-the-pandemic/ Output: Share project results and any tools or trainings developed with the National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (NIFTI) national and regional networks, the Minnesota Immigrant and Minority Farmer's Conference, and the BFRDP clearinghouse, FarmAnswers.org as well as share technical knowledge with similar community groups in Iowa (annual)? LSI frequently communicates with regional and national incubator farms serving former refugees and immigrants and shares training and other resources. Currently it is working with NIFTI and ISED to develop a photo series that will contribute to a national training resource database. To date it has submitted photos and scripts that have been approved on tractor and other small farm equipment use and maintenance and how to weigh vegetables. It will continue to contribute to this library and more will be shared in the next reporting period. PROJECT OUTCOMES: Outcome 1:Twenty-Four beginning farmers will increase knowledge and skills necessary to start and/or expand their sustainable vegetable farming enterprises. LSI has been moving away from using the current Skills and Knowledge Assessment (SKA) tool and shifting to a goal setting tool developed through 1-1 business and production Technical Assistance. This has proven to be more relevant and useful to farmers than only using a quantitative metric. LSI has recently updated and improved the program's benchmarks and "client journey" in areas of Production, Markets, and Business to better match with necessary expectations of land access and sustainable market farms in Iowa's current market farm environment. The benchmarks in these areas are more easily measured in an individualized plan to determine whether a farmer is ready for accessing a piece of land independently. To date, LSI has observed that all 24 farmers have adopted a combination of the skills learned in trainings and through individual technical assistance and mentorship, resulting in an increased number of improved production practices utilized, sales for farmers at the market, number of markets farmers accessed independently, number of farmers obtaining external assistance including from saving and loan programs, and the number of farmers that have moved to their own land. Outcome 2:Twenty-Four beginning farmers will use their new knowledge and skills to increase profits earned from a new or existing farm business. To date, 22 farmers have reported an increase in sales in 2020 over 2019, although not all farmers have reported their earnings for the grant period yet. The largest increase in sales comes from the Global Greens Farmers' Market where farmers sold more than 6 times as much produce as in 2019 to customers using their SNAP benefits and getting those dollars matched through the Double Up Food Bucks program in Iowa. CSA sales were also up significantly from 2019. Outcome 3:Eight beginning farmers will transition from the training farm and continue to operate their farm and markets independently. Three farmers accessed more land outside of the LSI's Valley Church Incubator Farm this year. Two families moved off of Valley Farm permanently and a third family accessed additional land but is also farming at Valley. Two of these farmers accessed 4 acres of land each through a land rental agreement arranged by LSI at Pleasant Hill. 4 farmers accessed new markets this year. Two sold at the farmers market for the first time. Two sold to a new restaurant/small grocery store. In addition, two families were also accepted to sell at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' market, but it was moved to online due to Covid-19. Neither farmer wanted to sell at the market through the online platform but they plan to begin when the market opens again next season. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?PROJECT OUTCOMES CONTINUED: Outcome 4:Establish a farm mentor program where graduate farmers will mentor and teach upcoming beginning farmers from their communities. Although LSI was unable to schedule group visits to mentor farms due to COVID, farmers are learning a lot from the successes of each other in individual visits, and conversations at the farm and market. Setting up formal pairs of relationships set by LSI was not particularly successful, yet farmers were meeting with whoever was at the farm for convenience and also visiting each others' plots to see best production practices. After COVID, farmers were not able to meet this way as easily, so LSI is planning to facilitate monthly farmer meet ups to encourage leadership and sharing of best practices among farmers. The importance of mentorship was highlighted during recent farmer evaluations. After visiting two graduate farmers' farm this year, one farmer described how his farm goals have changed. He said,"When I see their farms, it makes me excited to farm. When I see them and how they manage their farms, I think about how I can manage a farm. It gave me the opportunity to see. They gave me a lot of ideas about how they are managing their farms." PLANS FOR NEXT PERIOD TO ACCOMPLISH GOALS: Covid-19 continues to be a challenge, but all in-person workshops and trainings that were previously planned will be completed virtually with modifications. The field days this upcoming year may be virtual. If so, LSI will work with Practical Farmers of Iowa and other conference organizers to interpret the videos so that Global Greens farmers can benefit from the virtual field days by viewing them in their preferred language and at their convenience. Outline of Activities: Food Hub Sales Completed: October Skills and Knowledge Asssessments andIndividual Goal Setting: November and December End of Season Evaluations: November and December Complete Business Plans for SIP: November to February Individualized Crop Planning and Seed Orders: January and February PFI and other Partner Conferences: January Individual, Small Group or Classroom Workshop Series: November to May Individual TA & Field Walks: April to September PFI Field Days: June to September Global Greens Field Day: August Sales Food Hub Opens: May to August
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Objective 1: LSI will provide culturally and linguistically appropriate training and technical assistance for farmers in order to increase their production knowledge and skills. Output: Provide one-on-one in-field training and technical assistance at least three times with 8 families and at least once with 24 families LSI staff met with 25 farmers, consisting of at least 8 families, over the months of January and February to assist with completing seed orders and individualized crop planning for the upcoming year. A focus of seed orders in 2020 was to empower farmers to be able to order their own seeds in future years. LSI currently orders seeds in bulk, and then divides the seeds into the orders for each farmer. Prior to that, LSI staff also met individually with 27 farmers in November and December to check in with them about how the year went. Five of these farmers completed a skills and knowledge assessment to gauge their progress and to help identify areas where increased learning is necessary. Farmers use these assessments to set business goals in upcoming years. Due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic for the second half of this reporting period, technical assistance plans shifted to assisting with the adjustment of farm and market infrastructure to handle social distancing and state and local protocols for the market, farms and community gardens, for all 25 farmers as well as the community gardeners that LSI works with. Translated instruction materials and videos for market procedures in a variety of languages were developed. Short "how to" videos were also created for farmers to view via video link on their phones via the Whatsapp application on relevant topics. The topics included: Tiller Operation Cabbage Moth and other Pest Control Crops for Fall Composting Video on using BCS hand tractor (led by an advanced farmer in Swahili and Kirundi) For future, the Global Greens program plans to trial conducting live trainings and technical assistance sessions using Zoom and GoToMeeting or in socially distanced small groups or on an individual basis in the classroom in the winter months. The Land and Production Supervisor provided 2 sessions and 5 hours of social distanced in field training to the two graduate farmers from two separate families at the new Pleasant Hill site on operating the large John Deer tractor and the hand held BCS tractor. The Land and Production Supervisor also spent over 40 hours providing individual technical assistance to the farmers on infrastructure development and planning at the new land site that LSI signed a lease agreement for in March of 2020. LSI rented this land to help farmers achieve independence and is located at Pleasant Hill. It is about 12 acres in size. Two families were able to move off the Valley Incubator Farm permanently this year as a result and a third family independently accessed additional land while also still farming at the Valley incubator site. LSI staff met with the landowner at the new site several times since October to view the land, discuss expectations and to work out a lease agreement. Two advanced market farmers that moved to the new land leased by LSI farmed 4 acres each on the parcel this year. Some land remained fallow for this season to allow these two farmers to have an effective rotation and leave land available for one more farmer to move onto this site in 2021. In October, LSI staff had two in-field workshops: garlic planting and how to use a tiller with a furrower to make raised beds using a walk-behind tractor (BCS). For details on additional training activities conducting in the reporting period, see Objective 2 Activities and Outputs below. Output: Facilitate 4 field day visits with an average attendance of 6 farmers (annual) LSI staff took farmers to field days in the fall of 2019 and to farming conferences in 2020. Farmers attended 2 field days through Practical Farmers of Iowa in October and November where they visited other farms in Iowa with an average of 14 farmers attending each field day. Both field days focused on vegetable production in high tunnels. Farmers appreciated seeing two different high tunnel systems. Eight farmers attending the Practical Farmers of Iowa Conference in Ames, IA in January and four farmers attended the Emerging Farmers Conference in St. Paul, Minnesota. Due to COVID restrictions, LSI's partner Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), held most of its field days in the spring and summer via virtual means and recorded them. LSI is working with PFI to translate these recorded field day visits into a variety of languages and will place on a LSI Global Greens youtube channel for farmers to view virtually at convenient times. These videos will be shared with other similar incubator farmers in the region serving former refugees and immigrants. Output: Host 1 annual field day event at Global Greens Farm, inviting community members, as well as similar local and statewide projects (annual) Due to COVID restrictions during this reporting period, LSI was unable to hold it's annual in person Global Greens Farm Party. In lieu of this, LSI is working with a videographer to create a virtual version of the Global Greens Farm Party to share via LSI and partners' social media, newsletters, libraries and other platforms. This video will also highlight and celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Global Greens. It will show the evolution of the Global Greens Incubator Farm and the accomplishments of the farmers as well as pitch for more land and continued support of the Farmers Market and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. The video is scheduled to be completed by January 2021. The aim is to have shared it prior to the spring planting season and the start of the next farmers market and CSA. Global Greens hosted three virtual events using Facebook live in lieu of having a farm party. The first event was a July 2nd ground breaking celebration for the new 12 acre farm at Pleasant Hill that LSI signed a lease for in March 2020. Several speakers highlighted this event including: LSI's Director of Refugee Services, Land & Production Supervisor Zac Couture, the farm's land owner, and two farmers who were the first to farm on the land this year. The event reached 183 people and had 28 engagements. On September 16th, Zac Couture, Land and Production Supervisor (LPS), and 2 farmers lead a tour of Global Greens Farm for an hour. Viewers first learned a bit about the history of the farm and were shown the around the entire farm. Viewers then were able to get a tour of a husband/wife team's farm within the larger incubator project. The farmers showed viewers the crops they are growing and educated the audience on culturally appropriate vegetables that were new to some viewers. The virtual farm tour reached 515 people on Facebook and had 174 engagements. Global Greens also hosted a virtual community garden tour on September 22nd at Sheridan Park United Methodist Church. The audience was informed about the garden by Zac Couture, a church member and garden volunteer, the pastor of the church, and one of the new American gardeners who has a garden there. This virtual event reached 126 people and had 13 engagements on Facebook.
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:27 farmers all met the following categories: Immigrant producers Limited resource producers Specialty crop producers Urban producers Changes/Problems:Land continues to be an issue for program development and growth. Our project aims to place 8 farmers from the incubator site onto a new long-term site that they can lease independently. Currently, 4 farmers are leasing their own land but even these sites may become unavailable in the near future. All land sites that might not have leases renewed are in jeopardy due to development pressures. This has already been seen in our community garden program, where three sites in the last year will not be available in 2020 due to the owners selling the land for development. All other learning and educational goals are being met. While no major changes will be made at this time, staff will place an emphasis this winter on talking with all land partners, identifying new partnerships, and negotiating any new lease agreements that become available. While development continues to be very strong in the Des Moines metro, we hope we can leverage our partnerships with city and county development offices in order to advocate for farmland being available near metro areas. If land continues to be a problem into spring 2020, we will have to evaluate our plans moving forward. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Training Name & Summary Type Date Farmers Attending PFI Field Day: Production to Market In-Field Workshop 9/16/2018 10 PFI Conference Conference 1/18-1/19/19 4 Emerging Farmers Conference (MN) Conference 1/25-1/26/19 6 Seed Orders 1-on-1 Technical Assistance (TA) 12/1/19-1/15/19 27 Incubator Farm Orientation Classroom Training 1/8/19 25 BMF Strategy Class Classroom Training 1/12/19 9 AMF Markets Class Classroom Training 2/2/19 15 BMF Markets Class Classroom Training 2/8/19 6 Crop Planning Workshop Classroom Training 2/15/19 21 BMF Operations Class Classroom Training 2/22/19 4 Crop Planning Part 2 Classroom Training 3/2/19 14 Food Safety Classroom Training 3/23/19 14 Organic 101 Classroom Training 3/23/19 13 AMF Financials Classroom Training 3/9/19 9 Farm Orientation In-Field Orientation 3/30/19 22 Greenhouse Plant Propagation 1-on-1 TA 2/1/2019-4/20/2019 6 PTO Shaft Training In-Field TA 4/6/2019 13 Tractor Training In-Field TA 4/9/2019 5 Partner Farm Visit/Equipment Training In-Field Workshop 4/13/2019 13 Irrigation Training with Minnesota Food Association In- Field Workshop 4/20/2019 8 GG farmers, 11 MFA Pest Management In- Field Workshop 5/4/2019 10 Farmers Market Orientation and Display Classroom Training 5/10/2019 21 PFI Field Day: Rotationally Raised Poultry In-Field Workshop 9/21/2019 6 PFI: Field Day Beekeeping in Iowa In-Field Workshop 9/22/2019 5 PFI Field Day: Using Goats for Restoration and Market Diversification In-Field Workshop 9/28/2019 8 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?On July 28, 2019, the Global Greens team held an annual farmer appreciation event. Community partners, CSA and farmers' market customers, and other organizations were invited to attend. This year, the event shared about the history of the program, provided updates about major happenings in the last year, and offered a tour of the farm and for participants to meet Global Greens farmers. There were around 110 participants who engaged in the farm tour and potluck. Program Technical Assistance Requests from other programs for technical assistance were much higher than originally anticipated. Over the course of the year, Global Greens provided full-day technical assistance session with five other farmer training organizations. Sinsinawa Mound (November 18, 2018) Springfield Community Gardens (March 8, 2019) Putnam County Farm to School (March 28, 2019) Johnston County Poor Farm (May 1, 2019) Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Research Center (EMBARC) (July 22, 2019) In addition to these consultations, Global Greens also hosted tours for the Women, Food, and Agriculture Network conference; Drake University Ray Society; and seven other student or business groups who were interested in the program. On May 18, 2019 Global Greens hosted a Beginner Farmer Social with Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) that was a networking opportunity for the SIP participants, other Global Greens farmers, and local farmers connected to the PFI network. There were about 30 people in attendance and the social concluded with a tour of the Global Greens training farm. Upcoming results will be shared via an impact report that should be produced in early 2020. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Land is still the limiting factor and has been difficult to locate. This will be the focus over the winter of 2020 and into the following years. Training area of focus for 2020 will be on season extension techniques and learning how to propagate plants in a greenhouse. Farmers will attend PFI Conference and MN Emerging Farmers' Conference LSI will continue to market the success of the Double Up Food Bucks program and train farmers on how to bring in more customers who can benefit from this resource. The Business Development Specialist recently left LSI. A job posting is currently open to rehire for this position. We hope to hire someone with a specific business background so that they can provide better service to farmers.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Conference Attendance Five Advanced Market Farmers and Transitioning Market Farmers attended the Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) Conference on January 19, 2019. Eight farmers also attended the Emerging Farmers Conference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 25, 2019. In Field Trainings and Individualized Production Support The Land and Production Specialistwas available throughout the week to answer questions and provide support in the areas of weed suppression, pest management, and crop planning. The team also recruited a volunteer with an entomology background to work with farmers 1-on-1 once a week on any questions they had about pest identification and management. Specific improvements were made regarding equipment training and use. There were 13 farmers who attended an equipment training on how to use and maintain basic tractor implements. 3 of the 13 farmers were able to implement this and use tractors independently. Global Greens also partnered with the Minnesota Food Association to host an irrigation workshop and farmer networking event. Additional technical assistance available in 2019 included greenhouse transplant production trainings. This year, Global Greens negotiated time each week to bring farmers to a greenhouse to show them how to prepare seed trays, plant, and care for transplants. Conservation Practices and Trainings Production classes this year emphasized the importance of bio-diversity, input reduction, and weed and pest management using systems rather than chemical products.At least 15 farmers used mulch either straw or woven black fabric (which can be reused) thus keeping the ground covered and saving on water costs. In July and August, Global Greens staff completed field walks and evaluations with all farmers. Part of this process includes listing all inputs used on the farm and reminders on following good crop rotation to minimize pest and weed pressure. All graduate farmers have internal Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) audits to make sure their farms are up to a quality standard. Objective 2: Group Trainings and Individual Technical Assistance The Business Development Specialist and the Land and Production Specialist (LPS) conducted end of year evaluations from October 29th 2018 to December 30th 2018 with all market farmers. Eight (8) Advanced Market Farmers (AMFs) also completed a Skills and Knowledge Assessment. From these evaluations, the BDS compiled a list of farmers that have identified a goal of accessing additional farmers markets for the 2019 season. Prior to the beginning of the market season, the BDS helped farmers with additional market support tasks. Tasks included sending reminders of the Women Infant Children (WIC) and Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) check expiration date, depositing WIC and FMNP checks, and paying farmers' market fees. Farmers' Market Global Greens hired a Farmers' Market Associate from the refugee community who can speak many of the languages of Global Greens farmers' market customers. The Global Greens team provided a classroom training on how the Double Up Food Bucks process works and shared methods for marketing this program to farmers' own communities. A general marketing class and market display presentation was also offered by the BDS. Project staff is able to provide technical assistance at the market individually since there is less need to manage the market itself. Food Hub Development In 2019, LSI was able to expand our CSA to 115.5 regular shares (May-September) per week, up from 93 in 2018. The Food Hub Specialist is still recruiting for fall shares and expects to have about 80 shares for the 4-week October addition. The increased support we have been able to offer through the Global Greens farmers' market, Food Hub development, and in connecting farmers to other markets has already greatly impacted farmers overall income. In 2018, Advanced Market Farmers cumulative income exceeded the $100,000 threshold, with farmers earning $112,969. Most of that increase is attributed to greater sales to the Global Greens CSA and the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market. 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 AMF Total Income $2,605 $22,586 $41,402 $55,185 $76,679 $112,969 Total income cannot yet be reported for 2019, as Global Greens collects that information in December of each year. The CSA has expanded by 24% based on shares from 2018. As of September 21, Global Greens farmers have earned over $24,000 in EBT and Double Up Food Buck sales. This amount already exceeds the income earned through this revenue source in all of 2018 ($15,000). There are up to five markets remaining for the rest of the 2019 calendar year. Objective 3: Record Keeping and Tax Supports Tax Support Tax support for the 2018 season proved to be difficult, as the CPA Global Greens has worked with over the past several years decided not to support Schedule F completion this year. We were advised of this change too late in the season to find a CPA with the capacity to support our farmers in completing their taxes. However, the BDS was still able to help all 27 Global Greens farmers compile records for tax documentation for them to bring to a tax specialist. For the eight AMFs with more significant expenses and revenue from farming, the BDS created a record log of income and expenses to bring to their tax appointment. Two farmers completed a special tax organizer with the assistance of Global Greens staff. The Global Greens team also coordinated with other business development programs at LSI to schedule special time-slots with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to help first-year farmers who have not yet earned significant business income from the Global Greens program. Record Keeping For the Business Development Module, classroom games, activities, and workbooks were created for the 7 classes that were taught (1 was cancelled due to weather). These items will be used again in the upcoming year with minor changes and improvements. The BDS found that using these teaching strategies was the most effective way to teach business concepts. Business Planning Savings Incentive Program Coordination with Practical Farmers of Iowa in connecting our farmers to their farmer network through conferences and field days and utilizing both savings and mentorship opportunities through the Savings Incentive Program (SIP) are both vital elements of this BFRDP project. To this end, the Global Greens BDS assisted3 farmers in completing an application to apply for this program. All3 of our farmers were accepted into the 2020 cohort; however, only two ultimately enrolled since one farmer left the program for this growing season due to job scheduling conflicts. Since Global Greens has a goal of supporting four farmers through this process as part of this project, we will be recruiting and assisting additional farmers to apply for SIP in the fall of 2019 for the 2021 cohort. Objective 4: Resource Connection Three Transitioning Market Farmers currently have a loan through the FSA. The FSA Microloans agent requested records from the 2018 season from three Global Greens farmers. Items requested included a financial statement and cash flow. New Participant Recruitment On September 22, 2018 the Global Greens team held a Farmers Focus Group with sixteen participants to determine training needs and additional supports needed for farmers to transition to a larger incubator site or their own land. Staff is working to identify sites beyond the existing incubator farm that could support multiple graduate farmers.
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