Recipient Organization
GLEANING NETWORK OF TEXAS, THE
3866 HIGHGROVE DR
DALLAS,TX 752203752
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
More North Texas Farm Success builds on the existing Farm Success educational programming and provides expanded opportunities for beginning farmers and ranchers and continues building community and providing practical education for beginning farmers and ranchers in the greater North Texas area. The project fills a void in training, particularly practical education, for beginning farmers and ranchers in the North Texas area. Through in-person and virtual workshops, farm tours, networking opportunities, and 1-to-1 technical assistance, More Farm Success will provide a place for new and beginning farmers and ranchers to gain knowledge, find resources, and connect with a network of other producers in the area.The area targeted for this project includes a section of Texas in an approximate 100-120 mile radius from the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) metropolitan area and will serve 50 unique farmers and ranchers. The project will leverage local expertise as well as resources at FarmAnswer.org and other sources. In addition to educational opportunities, the project provides Farmer Networking groups to build the community of practice as well as 1-to-1 technical assistance so as provide more sepecific guidance on farm planning and development.Forty percentof the budget will be allocated towards veteran farmers and ranchers.One hundred percentof the budget will go to NGOs and farmers and ranchers.Other collaborators includeShine's Farmstand, Texas Worm Ranch, Anita's Arbor, Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
More North Texas Farm Successbuilds on the existing Farm Success educational programming and provides expanded opportunities for beginning farmers and ranchers and continues building community and providing practical education for beginning farmers and ranchers in the greater North Texas area. The project fills a void in training, particularly practical education, for beginning farmers and ranchers in the North Texas area. Through in-person and virtual workshops, farm tours, networking opportunities, and 1-to-1 technical assistance,More Farm Successwill provide a place for new and beginning farmers and ranchers to gain knowledge, find resources, and connect with a network of other producers in the area. Continuing to spearhead this project are the two organizations in the area who emphasize farmer training in North Texas: GROW North Texas (GNTX) and Farmers Assisting Returning Military (F.A.R.M.). The project continues to work with existing collaborators and long-time colleagues include Shine's Farmstand, Texas Worm Ranch, and the Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions. Farm Success also engages experienced farms in the area for farm tours.Developing a geographically-based farmer network will be a priority for this project in addition to further providing education using existing resources from FarmAnswers.org, National Center for Appropriate Technology, and other well-respected resources that provide information for small, scale sustainable and organic farmers and ranchers. The project will provide 1-to-1 technical assistance to answer questions and provide additional resources or referrals to other sources of support.
Project Methods
More North Texas Farm Successbuilds on the existing Farm Success educational programming and provides expanded opportunities for beginning farmers and ranchers and continues building community and providing practical education for beginning farmers and ranchers in the greater North Texas area. The project will continue in-person and virtual classroom-style education, on-farm learning, and peer-to-peer networking. As a continuation of the current program, we will be able to start much more quickly and offer more learning opportunities for participants. The timeline below shows how the various activities will occur. We have left space in the latter months of the project for rescheduled events and to leave space for adding topics that participants request.To accomplish our goals and objectives for the project, we will offerworkshops, both virtual and in-person, that are configured intopical serieswith 2-4 workshops per topic. These topics include soil health, permaculture principles, business management (record keeping, funding & financing), USDA programs, as well as equipment for small farms and different styles of farming. A series of farm tours will be offered to provide beginning farmers and ranchers with insight into various farming and ranching options. The opportunity to see successful farms in action provides beginning farmers and ranchers with options for reaching their farming potential. We believe it also further helps to connect farmers to each other to build community. For some in-person topics, we will find ways to provide similar information in virtual formats such as videos from parts of farm tours or utilizing existing online videos that are shared via email and social media.In addition to these learning experiences, the project will leverage existing knowledge to develop a North Texas Farmers' Guide to Soil Health which will provide the scientific background and the practical application to improving North Texas soil for optimal production. We will also update "Harvesting & Selling: A Guide for New, Small Urban Producers" developed in 2017 by the Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions, which can be found here:https://bit.ly/3u3zY1M. This guide covers things to think about when preparing to sell at a farmers market such as harvesting supplies, storage, and transportation. The Guide also includes pertinent permits and regulations for selling at farmers market and touches on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This guide is a useful tool that is designed for new North Texas farmers and ranchers, but it needs updating with more specific food safety best practices and specific FSMA information. The project team will update this guide so that it is useful to a current and wider audience. Thistailored resourceswill be used in workshops and shared with participants and others.To meet the expressed desires of beginning farmers, the project will developnetworking opportunitiesfor farmers in four identified geographical areas - East/Northeast (of Dallas), Dallas, Ft. Worth, and North (of DFW) - to connect with each other, develop community, and share information. We will recruit existing farmers from our networks to serve as Farmer Coordinators who will organize a regular social event for farmers in their area, supported by the Project Coordinator. These Farmer Networking groups will start with a kick-off event in November 2021, then continue January-March, potentially take a break April-June, and start up again July-September. While we hope that the groups will choose to meet April-June, we know that these are the busiest times of the growing season. These events can be in-person or virtual, depending on the group's interest. For their time, Farmer Coordinators will receive a stipend. Finally, the project will offer1-to-1 technical assistancefor beginning farmers and ranchers that provides specific information, resources, and referrals for these participants' specific needs. While our team does not have extensive staff resources that other projects might have, we do have fairly extensive knowledge of USDA programs, knowledge of existing resources, and a network of colleagues around the south that we can call on for additional support. These colleagues include Agriculture Extension persons in Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi; the entire staff of the NCAT Southwest office; staff at the Southern Regional Center for Food Safety; local and state personnel at Texas NRCS and FSA, and legal resources from Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance and Farmers Legal Action Group. Technical assistance will be available through the project period.Evaluations for this project will occur in various ways using both summative and formative methods. Each workshop or farm tour will be evaluated through a paper or online survey that participants complete at the end of the event. These evaluations will collect information to measure the expected outcomes for each objective as indicated above. The project team will follow up with participants in the months following the events to see if they are using knowledge gained at educational events. On-going feedback will be received as it is given from participants, partners, and collaborators. This feedback will be noted and integrated into the project activities and design as appropriate. A mid-point and final evaluations will be completed by the project team, collaborators, and selected participants. These evaluations will include questions that are primarily formative to better understand how we can continue to improve our beginning farmer and rancher education.Project results will be disseminated in various ways. The two resource documents developed (or updated) for this project will be made available to participants, collaborators, and the wider audience by posting on the GROW North Texas and collaborator websites as appropriate. Resources used or recommended during workshops and farm tours will be made available virtually for participants. Lessons learned will be shared with partners, collaborators, and other colleagues to potentially improve their work with beginning farmers and ranchers in North Texas. A final report of the project will be shared with partners and collaborators and made available to those who request it.