Progress 04/01/23 to 03/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Audience Emphasis • Technical assistance providers • Underserved agricultural producers Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Delivery Total Meetings: 9 Total Meeting Participants: 473 Total Webinars: 15 Total Webinar Participants: 361 Total Website Visits: 0 Total Online Course Participants: 5 Total One-to-one Meeting Entries: 0 Total One-to-one Meeting Participants: 0 Meetings 12/15/2022: Memphis, TN -- Number of Attendees 95 3/8/2023: Waimea, HI -- Number of Attendees 5 10/4/2023: Seattle, WA -- Number of Attendees 108 10/3/2023: Seattle, WA -- Number of Attendees 108 10/2/2023: Seattle, WA -- Number of Attendees 50 2/8/2024: Benton Harbor, MI -- Number of Attendees 7 2/14/2024: Anchorage, AK -- Number of Attendees 25 2/14/2024: Anchorage, AK -- Number of Attendees 34 4/25/2024: McAllen, TX -- Number of Attendees 41 Webinars 3/16/2023: Number of Attendees 20 4/11/2023: Number of Attendees 30 1/18/2023: Number of Attendees 12 3/30/2023: Number of Attendees 3 12/1/2022: Number of Attendees 5 12/6/2022: Number of Attendees 5 1/17/2023: Number of Attendees 34 3/14/2023: Number of Attendees 31 5/24/2023: Number of Attendees 25 6/26/2023: Number of Attendees 25 5/3/2023: Number of Attendees 54 12/5/2023: Number of Attendees 50 3/28/2024: Number of Attendees 20 3/7/2024: Number of Attendees 30 4/4/2024: Number of Attendees 17 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?Steps taken to help participants Collaborate with other organizations identified by USDA to develop and deliver farm financial management, business management, and marketing training to socially disadvantaged farmers throughout the U.S --CFFM has developed the ARPTA project directors site which will allow cooperators to share resources, view webinar, etc. The final site was delivered in October 2023. Edits are being made to incorporate ARPTA cooperator in-person meetings. --CFFM continues to reach out to other ARPTA cooperators in both cohorts to learn more about their projects as well as figure out how CFFM can help with tools and programs. CFFM staff met with Alaska Villages Initiative, Indian Land Tenure Foundation, the Center for Heirs Property Preservation, and the National Immigrant Farming Initiative. ---- ARPTA webinars for Jan-March covered accessing USDA programs and services. In March Kate Fitzgerald from AMS discussed AMS programs. Webinars found at this page: https://z.umn.edu/ARPTA-Webinars Work with other organizations to determine the best approaches to delivering farm financial management, business management, and marketing training and technical assistance that meet the unique needs of different diverse socially disadvantaged communities of producers --Once development of FINPACK Interview is further down the road, CFFM will request feedback from other organizations to ensure we are meeting the unique needs of the diverse audiences using FINPACK Interview. Use the CFFM resources, training materials and experience to help expand the capacity of organizations that work directly with socially disadvantaged producers to provide training and technical assistance. In particular, this project will help expand the capacity of 1890, 1994, Hispanic serving, Alaska Native serving and Native Hawaiian serving institutions --CFFM continues to reach out to other ARPTA cooperators in both cohorts to learn more about their projects as well as figure out how CFFM can help with tools and programs. CFFM staff met with Alaska Villages Initiative, Indian Land Tenure Foundation, the Center for Heirs Property Preservation, and the National Immigrant Farming Initiative. Work with other organizations to develop new innovative approaches to providing outreach, training and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged producers ----ARPTA webinars for Jan-March covered accessing USDA programs and services. In March Kate Fitzgerald from AMS discussed AMS programs. Webinars found at this page: https://z.umn.edu/ARPTA-Webinars. Provide training on developing an agricultural business plan using AgPlan, CFFM's business planning website. More than 90,000 business plans have been initiated using AgPlan. Workshops, curriculum, videos, and podcasts will be developed to help educators work with producers on business planning and to help producers develop a business plan that will help them more successfully manage their business --CFFM delivered AgPlan training through the first ARPTA webinar. Seen here: https://z.umn.edu/ARPTA-Webinars --CFFM economists delivered three business planning training sessions - Anchorage, AK (2) and Benton Harbor, MI (1) Provide training on farm financial management. CFFM has developed extensive in-person and online training programs for educators, lenders and producers on managing farm finances, accessing and using credit. These programs will be modified as needed to meet the specific needs of organizations working with socially disadvantaged producers. CFFM will work with collaborating organizations to deliver farm financial management training to socially disadvantaged producers Provide tools and training on how to develop the financial statements required to apply for agricultural credit so that socially disadvantaged producers can understand what is needed to apply for credit and be able to provide the data needed for successful credit applications --CFFM has created a process for producers working with ARPTA cooperators to have complimentary access to FINPACK. Currently, NBGC and HAFA are the only cooperators to have received access. --Work continues on FINPACK Interview, which will walk producers through the process of developing their own balance sheet. The CFFM team has met to continue the design, meanwhile CFFM programmers have begun to create the architecture of the tool. Curriculum will follow. Deliver training on land access and how to use various lease arrangements, negotiating skills, land ownership and credit to obtain and manage the land base necessary to operate a farm or ranch Work with USDA and other organizations to develop an evaluation plan to evaluate training conducted under Section 1006. CFFM has worked with evaluation specialists in the land grant system to develop tools and processes to conduct evaluations, collect and summarize evaluation data that focus on measuring outcomes Work with USDA to design a reporting portal to facilitate reporting by organizations delivering training and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged producers --CFFM develops and maintains the Results Verification System (RVS), which is used by ARPTA cooperators to report on their project. RVS has a custom reporting template incorporated for ARPTA. Both cohorts are in RVS and reporting on their projects. --CFFM continues to work with USDA to develop reports for USDA. Data dashboards have been developed and can be seen at z.umn.edu/ARPTA-dashboard --Reports submitted through RVS will be available on the forthcoming ARPTA public site, which is under development.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The goal of this project is to change the future for thousands of socially disadvantaged producers throughout the country so that they can better succeed in their chosen profession of farming, ranching or forestry. --CFFM has been scheduling meetings with each ARPTA awardee to learn about their project and how CFFM can collaborate or provide tools for their programs. CFFM has given ARPTA awardees complimentary access to FINPACK, a credit analysis software that is used by hundreds of lenders around the country to make credit decisions. With this access, CFFM is providing individualized training to awardees to help them best incorporate FINPACK and other CFFM farm management tools into their programs. This project will work as part of a collaborative effort with organizations selected by USDA to provide training, outreach, technical assistance and capacity building for socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers and forest land operators. As a result, socially disadvantaged producers will be better equipped to survive and thrive and will be able to continue to successfully farm, ranch or work in forestry. --CFFM has assisted USDA in hosting ARPTA project director meetings in 2022 and 2023, and is planning the 2024 ARPTA project director meeting for May 20-22, 2024 in Detroit, MI.. --In the first year of this project, CFFM worked with USDA to set up and initialize projects in the Results Verification System (RVS) to help funded projects report on their projects. The RVS has a template for ARPTA projects to focus on outcomes, stories, and project improvements in addition to capturing metrics to provide ARPTA-wide statistics. --CFFM's evaluation specialist has led multiple trainings to help other ARPTA cooperators develop better evaluation methods to collect and demonstrate the impact of ARPTA funding. She has also met individually with cooperators who request her assistance. --CFFM holds quarterly RVS office hours to help cooperators best report on their projects. Additionally, CFFM developed data dashboards in February to assist USDA stakeholders in writing reports. These dashboards have also been useful in identifying reports where data does not align within the report. As data continues to accumulate, these dashboards will be edited. CFFM also led reporting training at the ARPTA project director meeting on October 4, 2023. --CFFM has hosted project director webinars to enhance collaboration between funded projects and to provide information on tools that CFFM and others have developed. --CFFM developed an internal ARPTA cooperator site to increase resource sharing and improve communication amongst ARPTA cooperators. This site includes links to previous webinars, contact information and resource sharing. This site was officially launched in October 2023.--CFFM is hosting the ARPTA listservs for cooperators. Specifically, this project will help socially disadvantaged producers develop business plans, better understand and manage their finances, utilize financial tools to a greater degree, and be better equipped to use credit and work with credit institutions. --CFFM has developed curricula on business plans. CFFM has also provided numerous business planning trainings at various conferences and webinars for ARPTA organizations, as requested by ARTPA project directors. Trainings have been both virtual and in-person. Lastly, CFFM added an agritourism-specific template into AgPlan, a free and publicly available online business planning software. The agritourism AgPlan template was launched in October 2023, after originally being requested at the 2022 ARPTA Cooperator Meeting in Atlanta, GA. --CFFM has begun work on developing curricula on financial management, record keeping, and financial literacy, etc. -- As one of the larger developments, CFFM continues to develop a new version of FINPACK called FINPACK Interview. This version is specifically designed to make development of financial statements much easier for producers, particularly underserved producers, through guided questions to help build their balance sheet and other required financial statements. Development began in 2022 with an anticipated delivery of Fall 2024 for the balance sheet tools. These adaptations will increase the equitability access to tools and software needed by underserved producers. --CFFM is developing an online tool to help farms identify the cost of production for their operation. The Cost of Production tool can be used to identify a minimum price needed to sell the product in addition to profitability. This tool will be released in the fall of 2024.
Publications
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Progress 04/01/22 to 03/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience: Audience Emphasis Technical assistance providers Underserved agricultural producers Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Delivery Total Meetings: 2 Total Meeting Participants: 100 Total Webinars: 8 Total Webinar Participants: 140 Total Website Visits: 0 Total Online Course Participants: 0 Total One-to-one Meeting Entries: 0 Total One-to-one Meeting Participants: 0 Meetings 12/15/2022: Memphis, TN -- Number of Attendees 95 3/8/2023: Waimea, HI -- Number of Attendees 5 Webinars 3/16/2023: Number of Attendees 20 4/11/2023: Number of Attendees 30 1/18/2023: Number of Attendees 12 3/30/2023: Number of Attendees 3 12/1/2022: Number of Attendees 5 12/6/2022: Number of Attendees 5 1/17/2023: Number of Attendees 34 3/14/2023: Number of Attendees 31 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? Steps taken to help participants Collaborate with other organizations identified by USDA to develop and deliver farm financial management, business management, and marketing training to socially disadvantaged farmers throughout the U.S --Presented CFFM tools and overview presentation to NBGC in December 2022 --CFFM economists also have presented or will present to other groups including the Kohala Center's Hui group in May 2023. --CFFM continues to reach out to other ARPTA cooperators in both cohorts to learn more about their projects as well as figure out how CFFM can help with tools and programs ----Delivered two ARPTA webinars (CFFM - AgPlan, SDFR Policy Center). Webinars found at this page: https://z.umn.edu/ARPTA-Webinars Work with other organizations to determine the best approaches to delivering farm financial management, business management, and marketing training and technical assistance that meet the unique needs of different diverse socially disadvantaged communities of producers --Once development of FINPACK Interview is further down the road, CFFM will request feedback from other organizations to ensure we are meeting the unique needs of the diverse audiences using FINPACK Interview. Use the CFFM resources, training materials and experience to help expand the capacity of organizations that work directly with socially disadvantaged producers to provide training and technical assistance. In particular, this project will help expand the capacity of 1890, 1994, Hispanic serving, Alaska Native serving and Native Hawaiian serving institutions --Presented CFFM tools and overview presentation to NBGC in December 2022 --CFFM economists also have presented or will present to other groups including the Kohala Center's Hui group in May 2023. --CFFM continues to reach out to other ARPTA cooperators in both cohorts to learn more about their projects as well as figure out how CFFM can help with tools and programs Work with other organizations to develop new innovative approaches to providing outreach, training and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged producers ----Delivered two ARPTA webinars (CFFM - AgPlan, SDFR Policy Center). Webinars found at this page: https://z.umn.edu/ARPTA-Webinars Next webinars include FLAG and Rural Coalition. Webinars will go on hiatus until after PD meeting in September 2023. Provide training on developing an agricultural business plan using AgPlan, CFFM's business planning website. More than 90,000 business plans have been initiated using AgPlan. Workshops, curriculum, videos, and podcasts will be developed to help educators work with producers on business planning and to help producers develop a business plan that will help them more successfully manage their business --CFFM delivered AgPlan training through the first ARPTA webinar. Seen here: https://z.umn.edu/ARPTA-Webinars --CFFM economists began to develop business planning curriculumthat will allow ARPTA cooperators and otherorganizations to more effectively deliver business plan training to their underserved producers. Provide training on farm financial management. CFFM has developed extensive in-person and online training programs for educators, lenders and producers on managing farm finances, accessing and using credit. These programs will be modified as needed to meet the specific needs of organizations working with socially disadvantaged producers. CFFM will work with collaborating organizations to deliver farm financial management training to socially disadvantaged producers Provide tools and training on how to develop the financial statements required to apply for agricultural credit so that socially disadvantaged producers can understand what is needed to apply for credit and be able to provide the data needed for successful credit applications --CFFM has created a process for producers working with ARPTA cooperators to have complimentary access to FINPACK. Currently, NBGC and HAFA are the only cooperators to have received access. --CFFM economists also have presented or will present to other groups including the Kohala Center's Hui group in May 2023. --Work continues on FINPACK Interview, which will walk producers through the process of developing their own balance sheet. The CFFM team has met to continue the design, meanwhile CFFM programmers have begun to create the architecture of the tool. Curriculum will follow. Deliver training on land access and how to use various lease arrangements, negotiating skills, land ownership and credit to obtain and manage the land base necessary to operate a farm or ranch Work with USDA and other organizations to develop an evaluation plan to evaluate training conducted under Section 1006. CFFM has worked with evaluation specialists in the land grant system to develop tools and processes to conduct evaluations, collect and summarize evaluation data that focus on measuring outcomes Work with USDA to design a reporting portal to facilitate reporting by organizations delivering training and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged producers --CFFM develops and maintains the Results Verification System (RVS), which is used by ARPTA cooperators to report on their project. RVS has a custom reporting template incorporated for ARPTA. Both cohorts are in RVS and reporting on their projects. --Once more data has been input into RVS, CFFM will work with USDA to develop reports for USDA. --Reports submitted through RVS will be available on the forthcoming ARPTA public site, which is under development.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The goal of this project is to change the future for thousands of socially disadvantaged producers throughout the country so that they can better succeed in their chosen profession of farming, ranching or forestry. --CFFM has been scheduling meetings with each ARPTA awardee to learn about their project and how CFFM can collaborate or provide tools for their programs. CFFM has given complimentary access to FINPACK, a credit analysis software that is used by hundreds of lenders around the country to make credit decisions. With this access, CFFM is providing individualized training to awardees to help them best incorporate FINPACK and other CFFM farm management tools into their programs. This project will work as part of a collaborative effort with organizations selected by USDA to provide training, outreach, technical assistance and capacity building for socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers and forest land operators. As a result, socially disadvantaged producers will be better equipped to survive and thrive and will be able to continue to successfully farm, ranch or work in forestry. --CFFM has assisted USDA in hosting ARPTAproject director meetings and webinars. In the first year of this project, CFFM worked with USDA to set up and initialize projects in the Results Verification System (RVS) to help funded projects report on their projects. The RVS has a template for ARPTA projects to focus on outcomes, stories, and project improvements in addition to capturing metrics to provide ARPTA-wide statistics. --CFFM has hosted project director webinars to enhance collaboration between funded projects and to provide information on tools that CFFM and others have developed. Specifically this project will help socially disadvantaged producers develop business plans, better understand and manage their finances, utilize financial tools to a greater degree, and be better equipped to use credit and work with credit institutions. --CFFM has begun work on adapting curricula on business plans, financial management, etc. One of the larger developments has been to adapt FINPACK to underserved audiences to help them be able to easily create financial statements needed by lenders and funders. These adaptations will increase the equitability access to tools and software needed by underserved producers.
Publications
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