Recipient Organization
BAR 88 ENTERPRISES, LLC
96 HALO LOOP TRL
ENNIS,MT 597299107
Performing Department
Bar 88 Consulting & Livestock
Non Technical Summary
Bar 88 Consulting & Livestock will leverage its experience with three Montana State University Extension partners to create an educational, training, and support program for Montana goat producers called GoatMT.Through coordinated workshops, webinars, on-farm training events, and mentoring, GoatMT will build a lasting educational network of producers, educators, and cohorts.Seven collaborators will assist: AgriMind, Bitterroot Dairy Goat Association, Blaine County Conservation District, Montana FFA, Montana WoolGrowers, MSU-FortBelknap Indian Community Extension, and Women Stepping Forward for Agriculture. GoatMT will provide beginning farmers and ranchers production, marketing, and financial information to enhance their knowledge and skills to make educated decisions to start, expand, or diversify their ranching operations and achieve financial sustainability.GoatMT's goal is to build an annual training and mentoring program supported by a network of producers and industry stakeholders. Over two years, GoatMT will provide resources, education, training, coaching, and practical experience to improve Montana BFR ranching opportunities. Objectives include: 1) develop an action plan to implement and promote GoatMT, 2) organize workshop delivery with collaborators, 3) disseminate goat information to BFRs, women, and Native Americans to encourage start-up, expansion, or diversified livestock operations, 4) offer individual and group mentoring, and 5) garner long-term financial and program support by producers, industry, and ag educators. An array of delivery methods will be used to reach 470 beginning producers through 25 customized training events. Topics specific to Montana's goat industry, identified in a producer survey, will include production, nutrition, consumer/ethnic marketing, business plans, financing, fencing, grazing, and livestock regulations.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The long-term project goal is: "GoatMT will create a lasting educational network of producers, educators, and mentors who will share production, marketing and financial information, knowledge, and skills to assist Montana's beginning farmers and ranchers in educated decision-making to start, expand, or diversify their goat ranching enterprises and achieve financial sustainability."Further, the project team has set five more-specific short and long-term goals:1) Develop an action plan to offer beginning farmer and ranchers educational resources through 25 coordinated workshop and training events, complemented by a cohort mentoring system, over a 2-year period. 2) Offer goat production, marketing and financial information, training, and coaching to encourage start-up, expansion, and diversification to 470 beginning farmer and ranchers, including 90 women and 20 Native Americans, over a 2-year period.3) Assess the outcomes, producer impacts, and feedback of GoatMT participants. 4) Establish leadership through an advisory group or industry organization to develop a reliable plan for annual, long-term, goat producer education to meet producer needs.5) Create sustainable educational and organizational resources for Montana goat producers by securing producer, industry, and financial support for GoatMT beyond the initial program startup period.
Project Methods
The project will use traditional workshop and webinar training integrated with a cohort model for mentor and/or coaching to meet project objectives. This will provide Montana's beginning farmers and ranchers goat production, marketing, and financial information to enhance their practical knowledge and increase their success of starting, expanding, or diversifying their ranching operation. This aligns with project objectives:1) Create a lasting educational network of producers, educators, and mentors.2) Create workshop, training, and mentor and/or coaching opportunities that increase knowledge and skills to assist beginning farmer and ranchers (BFRs) with informed decision-making.3) Impart production, marketing, and financial information to encourage Montana beginning ranchers to start, expand, or diversify their ranching operations to improve financial sustainability.The project team believes adding a cohort relationship to the proposed workshop training will strengthen participants' production, marketing, and business management skills and knowledge by providing experiential/action learning activities that build competencies. This will also boost participant confidence and capabilities to overcome risk averse tendencies that may prevent them from implementing knowledge, skills, or practices to enhance their ranching operations. A formal cohort model that incorporates traditional one-on-one, distance, or group mentoring will serve the diverse backgrounds, interests, and goals of targeted Montana beginning ranchers. The chosen approach will be customized to the workshop session and recommended by project partners/collaborators. For example, one-on-one mentoring may work well for the Fort Belknap Indian Community program to provide a culturally relevant learning environment, whereas group mentoring may work better for targeted female ranchers. Ideally, the cohort will be placed with a mentor or coaching group (6-8 individuals) with like interest or goals. Cohorts and mentors will be encouraged to meet and interact once or twice a month to explore, inquire, and establish dialogue regarding goat production and practices relevant to Montana. Meetings will take place via in-person or on-line meetings (Zoom, Webex, etc.). This lessens time conflicts and accommodates any travel restrictions that may prevent an ideal cohort/mentor pairing due to Montana's extensive area and travel distances. Group coaching and collective learning provides an open learning environment that offers 'real-time' solutions and skill sharing that will drive substantive, large-scale change and training moments within the group. Regular assessments will measure whether cohort needs are being met.The project team will work closely with partnering organizations to recruit attendees for the cohort program and workshop training events, identify beginning producer candidates and coordinate a promotional campaign about GoatMT programming. Annual industry tradeshows and social media will also be used to promote, advertise, and recruit attendees for both GoatMT training events and mentoring programs. Further, current participants will be encouraged to invite other beginning ranchers to participate in GoatMT training events, webinars, or mentoring programs. The combination of traditional workshop education and mentor and/or coaching will offer distinct benefits: 1) increased levels of knowledge and skills that support the participant's progress toward established goals and 2) improved capabilities that lead to participant success in starting, expanding, or diversifying their ranching operations.The project team has partnered with two well respected educational groups, the Women Stepping Forward for Agriculture (WSFA) and MSU-Fort Belknap Indian Community Extension, to assist with the recruitment and delivery of training targeted to the project's socially disadvantaged audiences - women and Native Americans. Both organizations have a long-established and successful history of working with underserved producers and will assist in hosting and coordinating seven training events. Another partner, the Blaine County Conservation District will deliver one workshop and two webinar sessions focusing on natural resource enhancement, weed management, and goat grazing. Two partners, Montana Wool Growers Association and Montana FFA Association, will assist the project team by offering workshop and tradeshow opportunities at its annual member meetings. One industry partner, the Bitterroot Dairy Goat Association, will support the project by promoting training events and recruiting participants for the mentoring program. Another partner, Agrimind, will serve as a third-party reviewer and advisory to ensure program objectives and outcomes are met.Workshop training, webinar sessions, and mentor/coaching programs will be designed to encourage 1) new producers to start-up operations or 2) current producers to expand or diversify their operations. A four-part webinar series will be offered twice a month for two hours (2 hours x 4 sessions = 8 hours of participant training). Over 2 years, Goat MT will offer 25 educational training events, plus simultaneous mentor and/or coaching to target 470 Montana beginning farmer and ranchers (BFRs). Realistically, it is expected half of the program attendees who participate in Year 1 will participate in Year 2. Repeat attendance will be tracked, but notcounted in the Year 2 participation total. It is expected Year 2 attendees will be new participants, recruited by repeat attendees or by on-going advertising and promotion of GoatMT. As a result, it is possible participation may increase in Year 2, however, conservatively, participation is estimated to be the same each year.