Source: WILLIAM S. DAVIES HOMELESS SHELTER, INC. submitted to NRP
DAVIES URBAN FARMER TRAINING PROGRAM: IMMERSIVE BEGINNING FARMER TRAINING AND SUPPORT FOR LIMITED RESOURCE FARMERS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1023986
Grant No.
2020-70017-32738
Cumulative Award Amt.
$49,997.00
Proposal No.
2020-03683
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2020
Project End Date
Apr 30, 2022
Grant Year
2020
Program Code
[BFRDA]- Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, Standard
Recipient Organization
WILLIAM S. DAVIES HOMELESS SHELTER, INC.
132 E 18TH ST SW
ROME,GA 301616342
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Urban agriculture has the potential to be a promising entry point for limited resource farmers, but many barriers to entry exist for limited resource farmers. The William S. Davies Homeless Shelter's Urban Farmer Training Program seeks to increase the number of farmers serving food insecure communities in Floyd County, Georgia by reducing barriers for new limited resource farmers to generate supplemental income through part-time urban farming. The program will leverage the Davies Shelter's existing farm and garden programs to train 10 new beginning farmers (at least 70% limited resource) and assist 5 new beginning farmers in starting their own urban micro-farm operation. The Urban Farmer Training Program will achieve these goals and objectives through an intensive Urban Farmer Boot Camp; paid on-farm apprenticeships; three public farming workshops; and farm start-up assistance in the form of rent-free land access, tools, coaching, and direct marketing of produce for at least 5 new urban farmers. Trainees will complete farmer skills self-assessments before and after the training program.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
60160303020100%
Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management;

Subject Of Investigation
6030 - The farm as an enterprise;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goal of the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter's Urban Farmer Training Program is to increase the number of farmers serving food insecure communities in Floyd County, Georgia by reducing barriers for new limited resource farmers to generate supplemental income through part-time urban farming.The objectives of the Urban Farmer Training Program are to train ten new beginning farmers and assist five new beginning farmers in starting their own micro-farm operations.
Project Methods
The primary activity of the program will be a 12-week urban farmer training program called the Urban Farmer Boot Camp. Sessions will be adapted from USDA NIFA's Urban Farming Toolbox and the 2014 BFRDP Journeyman Farmer Program curriculum developed by UGA. Sessions will include both classroom and on-farm training with a culturally appropriate curriculum for limited resource farmers. Topics covered will include crop production, soil fertility, pest management, harvest and post-harvest handling techniques, whole farm management, and farm business planning. Trainees will complete a Farmer Skills Self-Assessment Tool as a pre-assessment and post-assessment of the training. Classroom sessions will be held at the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter at 132 East 18th Street. Program participants will be recruited from the guests at the Davies Shelters, community garden volunteers, and the Rome Food Oasis program led by Program Director Robert Jones. The Urban Farmer Boot Camp will be co-led by Program Director Robert Jones and Farm Manager Tim Hayes.Trainees will also participate in a 200-hour paid on-farm apprenticeship at the Davies Shelter's South Meadows Farm. Because many limited resource farmers will need to maintain off-farm jobs, each participant will be given flexibility in completing their 200 hours between March and August. Some apprentices may need to complete only 10 hours per week to accommodate off-farm work and others will work full-time. Under the supervision of the farm manager, apprentices will participate in hands-on experiential training on the farm. Apprenticeships will reinforce concepts learned in the boot camp and expose trainees to the day-to-day rigors of running an actual urban farm. Apprentices will receive hands-on training in crop production, tool and equipment use and maintenance, harvest techniques, post-harvest handling, and on-farm recordkeeping. Apprentices will also receive one-on-one mentoring throughout their apprenticeship.The program will host three supplemental workshops open to the public. These workshops will bring in subject experts to enhance learning for trainees and allow trainees to network with other local farmers. Attendees should increase their knowledge on the topic and leave each workshop with actionable steps to improve production practices. One workshop will be on profitable seed propagation for conservation and biodiversity, led by Dr. Brian Campell of Berry College. Another will be a hands-on food safety and pack shed design workshop led by Billy Mitchell of the National Farmers Unions. The third workshop will be a farmer-led workshop on appropriate tools for small urban farms. These workshops will be advertised through press releases to local media, UGA Cooperative Extension, Georgia Organics, the Between the Rivers Farmers Market, and the Rome Food Oasis.Upon completion of the boot camp and apprenticeship,five trainees will be given the opportunity to receive direct assistance in starting their own micro-farm operation. Trainees will receive access to a rent-free plot of land, tools, equipment, and infrastructure at South Meadows Farm as well as ongoing technical assistance and coaching from the farm manager. Trainees can have their produce marketed and sold on the Davies Farm Bus. This ready market for their crops will jumpstart trainees' micro-farm operation by virtually eliminating marketing and sales tasks so they can focus on growing and building their business.Project evaluation will be conducted by the Davies Shelter with assistance from Georgia Organics. Trainees will complete a demographic questionaire, pre-assessment, and post-assessment after completing each stage of their training (boot camp, apprenticeship, and start-up assistance).The project will utilize a modified version of the Sustainable Farmer Skills Self-Assessment developed by the New England Small Farm Institute as a pre-assessment and post-assessment tool for program trainees. A simple post-workshop assessment tool will be utilized for each of the three public workshops.

Progress 09/01/20 to 04/30/22

Outputs
Target Audience:beginning farmers, socially-disadvantaged beginning farmers, low-income beginning farmers Changes/Problems:The ongoing COVID-19 pandemicresulted in a number of major changes to the project. First, in-person sessions were moved to an outdoor classroom in spring 2021. Rising cases in summer and fall 2021resulted incancelling two public workshops and suspending apprenticeships for several weeks.In addition to these cancellations, the program also lost several participants who re-entered the labor market during training or early on during their apprenticeship. Although the apprenticeship was paid,increased wages due to the labor shortages in summer 2021 resulted in several participants choosing to take new jobs that prevented them from participating in the apprenticeship. In addition toCOVID-19-related problems,attendance at in-person training sessions twice per week for six weeks proved difficult for some participants, especially low-income participants. As a result, program staffconverted the training curriculum into a self-paced training manual with optional hands-on demonstrations in winter 2021-22. This self-paced training manual was utilized for four new apprentices in winter/spring 2022 with positive results. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Urban Farmer Training Program provided a 12-session intensive training program, self-pacedtraining manual, and paid apprenticeship program than included one-on-one training, coaching, and mentoring for program participants. The Urban Farmer Training Program also hosted twopublic farm workshopsthat introduced participants to basic organic farming concepts, small farm technology,biodiversity in urban agricultural settings, basic seed saving techniques, and seed selection strategy. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of the Urban Farmer Training Program and resulting urban vegetable farmer training manual were reported on during apublic farm tour and in the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter's newsletter and annual report. Georgia Organics plans to disseminate results through their Georgia Food Oasis program within the coming calendar year. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The William S. Davies Homeless Shelter's Urban Farmer Training Program developed a 12-session hands-on urban vegetable farming curriculum for beginning farmers with no prior experience, which was then developed into a self-paced training manual. 14new beginning farmers completed the training, including tenlow-income beginning farmers. Ten new beginning farmers received training, coaching, and mentoring through a paid apprenticeship in the Davies Shelter's farm. Three new beginning farmers continue to be employed part-time as farmers, and all ten new beginning farmers who participated in the apprenticeship report an increase in knowledge and skills related to successfully operating a micro-farming operation.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/21 to 04/30/22

    Outputs
    Target Audience:beginning farmers, socially-disadvantaged beginning farmers,low-income beginning farmers Changes/Problems:The ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic caused a number of major changes reported in the previous progress report and resulting in a no-cost extension. Subsequent waves of the pandemic delayed or cancelled two public workshops, but an educational public farm tour was hosted in spring 2021. The other major change was the adaptation of the 12-session in-person training program into a self-paced on-demand training manual, which was completed in early 2021. The self-paced training manual allowed the Urban Farmer Training Program to train and mentor four additional beginning urban farmers and will allow the Davies Shelters to continue to train beginning urban farmers in a less staff-intensive way for years to come. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Urban Farmer Training Program provided a self-paced urban vegetable farmertraining manual and paid apprenticeship program than included one-on-one training, coaching, and mentoring for program participants. The Urban Farmer Training Program also hosted a public farm tourthat introduced participants to basic organic farming concepts, small farm technology, and biodiversity in urban agricultural settings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Details of the Urban Farmer Training Program and resulting urban vegetable farmer training manual were reported on at the public farm tour and in the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter's newsletter and annual report. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? The William S. Davies Homeless Shelter's Urban Farmer Training Program developed our12-session hands-on urban vegetable farming curriculum for beginning farmers with no prior experience into an on-demand self-paced urban vegetable farming training manual for beginning farmers with no prior experience. Four additional new beginning farmers studiedthe training manual. Four new beginning farmers received training, coaching, and mentoring through paid employmentatthe Davies Shelter's farm.

    Publications


      Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

      Outputs
      Target Audience:socially-disadvantaged beginning farmers, extremely low-income beginning farmers Changes/Problems:The rapid rise in cases of the Delta variant ofCOVID-19 in late summer resulted in the program cancelling two public workshops and suspending apprenticeships for several weeks. Those workshops have been re-scheduled for spring 2022. In addition to having to postpone some plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program also lost several participants who re-entered the labor market during training or early on during their apprenticeship. Although the apprenticeship was paid, the end of pandemic unemployment benefits and increased wages due to the labor shortage resulted in several participants choosing to take new jobs that prevented them from participating in the apprenticeship. In addition to the developing COVID-19 situation, commiting to attendance at training sessions twice per week for six weeks proved difficult for some participants, especially low-income participants. Training attendance was also complicated because training sessions were conducted outdoors to allow for social distancing, which resulted in last-minute cancellations several times due to thunderstorms. Program staff are working to make the training program and apprenticeship more flexible to reduce barriers to entry for participants, particularly low-income beginning farmers. Program staff are working to convert the training curriculum into a self-paced training manual that will allow participants to learn at their own pace after starting their apprenticeships. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Urban Farmer Training Program provided a 12-session intensive training program and paid apprenticeship program than included one-on-one training, coaching, and mentoring for program participants. The Urban Farmer Training Program also hosted a public hands-on workshop and seed swap that introduced participants to basic seed saving techniques andseed selection strategies. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the William S. Davies Shelter had to delay two public workshops and several trainees ended their apprenticeships early. The Urban Farmer Training Program will re-schedule two public workshops for the spring. In addition, program staff are working to develop the training curriculum into a self-paced training manualto open up training opportunities foradditional program participants who are unable to attend regular classes teice per week for six weeks.

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? The William S. Davies Homeless Shelter's Urban Farmer Training Program developed a 12-session hands-on urban vegetable farming curriculum for beginning farmers with no prior experience.Ten new beginning farmers completed the training, including six low-income beginning farmers. Six new beginning farmers received training, coaching, and mentoring through a paid apprenticeship in the Davies Shelter's farm.

      Publications