BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE STUDENT FARM AT OHIO UNIVERSITY

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1028773
• Grant No.: 2022-70001-37578
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $297,187.00
• Proposal No.: 2022-01112
• Project Start Date: Jun 15, 2022
• Project End Date: Dec 15, 2025
• Grant Year: 2022
• Program Code: [NLGCA]- Capacity Building Grants for Non Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture

Recipient Organization
OHIO UNIVERSITY
286 UNDLEY HALL
ATHENS,OH 45701

Performing Department
Environmental & Plant Biology

Non Technical Summary
This integrated proposal grows the capacity of the OHIO University Student Farm and aligns with NLGCA need areas in outreach and education and academic discipline codes G & S. We will engage a team of local agricultural experts, and partner with Rural Action (RA) and Community Food Initiatives (CFI), two local non-profits that have significant commitment and experience educating farmers and increasing acres of farmed land and food security in southeastern Ohio. OHIO will develop an innovative, sustainable, farm management plan and hire a farm manager to implement it. We will bring electricity to the farm that has none by engaging OHIO engineering students to design and build a solar array, making the farm a sustainable enterprise. The solar array will power a cooler to keep produce fresh while awaiting transport for sale or donation. We will add a high tunnel extending our growing season and productivity. We will transition parts of the farm to organic production expanding our educational, research and marketing opportunities. OHIO will leverage the farm's new resources & RA's expertise to deliver workshops and peer to peer learning to train students, faculty and new farmers and provide established farmers with new ways to produce income. OHIO and RA will recruit, engage and OHIO will train high school students and undergraduates in sustainable agriculture and food production. OHIO will grow and CFI will make available healthy produce for food insecure populations in south east Ohio. Through this integrated proposal, we combine RA's extensive outreach and peer to peer learning portfolio with the farm's unique experiential learning opportunities and OHIO's environmental and ecological sciences curricula to educate and inspire students and farmers alike.

Animal Health Component

50%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

50%

Applied

50%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
102	1499	1070	35%
102	1499	1060	35%
213	1499	3100	20%
402	0440	3100	10%

Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships; 213 - Weeds Affecting Plants; 402 - Engineering Systems and Equipment;

Subject Of Investigation
1499 - Vegetables, general/other; 0440 - Solar radiation;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1070 - Ecology; 3100 - Management;

Keywords

experiential learning

food security

small farms

solar power

sustainable agriculture

Goals / Objectives
The overarching goal of this capacity building grant is to enable Ohio University (OHIO) faculty to focus on design and delivery of quality instruction and perform research, rather than manage the OHIO Student Farm's operations. By investing in the Farm's operations through strategic expenditures by hiring a seasonal manager (See objectives 1 & 2), this grant will enhance OHIO's educational mission (See objectives 3 & 4). This grant will also support OHIO's sustainability and experiential teaching missions and metrics (Objectives 5 and 6) through collaboration and support from the Russ College of Engineering, the OHIO Center for Campus and Community Engagement, the OHIO Office of Sustainability, and the OHIO Experiential Learning Hub. Moreover, and in addition to its core educational mission, strategic investment by USDA in the Farm and its community partners supports OHIO to more fully address the challenges of producing food sustainably, improving food security, and reducing the miles a meal travels to reach its students.In order to build the farm's capacity to feed, educate, and foster community outreach and connections we propose an integrated approach focusing on education and outreach to:Develop a farm management plan that efficiently and sustainably increases production at the OHIO Student Farm.Define the Farm managers responsibilities then advertise, interview and hire a summer farm manager to implement the management plan (goal 1) and coordinate student interns on the Farm.Engage OHIO engineering students in sustainability at the Farm by designing and building a solar array to bring electricity to the Farm enabling an energy efficient cooler to keep produce fresh after harvests.Create food and agriculture curricula focused on sustainable agriculture and organic practices. Transition the farm towards organic certification. Develop a new course focused on organic agriculture.Deliver experiential and applied learning at the Farm through paid internships to educate high school and college interns about local food systems and train future farmers.Establish the Farm as a focal venue to foster outreach, leverage the Farm to engage with local farmers and provide focused peer to peer training to grow their businesses.

Project Methods
Objective 1 and 2 MethodsDevelop a farm management plan to efficiently and sustainably increase production at the student farm with partner Rural Action. Hire a farm manager to implement management plan and coordinate student interns on the Farm.The Director of Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry at Rural Action will oversee Rural Action's participation in this integrated project. They will lead on Objective 1, the development of a arm management plan, including developing an advisory group to assist with the creation of the farm management plan. The grant PD will meet with the Rural Action team regularly to assess project progress, milestones and challenges. Rural Action will convene a team which includes: 3-4 peer to peer educators, OHIO staff and Environmental and Plant Biology (PBIO) faculty.The team will meet regularly in year 1 to develop a farm management plan by addressing the following 1) current farm production capabilities and ways to increase that capacity 2) existing structures for intern supervision 3) avenues for marketing and food access distribution from the farm 4) Creation of a job description for the farm manager.Objective 3 Methods.Engage OHIO Engineering students in sustainability at the student Farm by designing and building a mobile solar array to power an energy efficient cooler at the farm (OHIO). Russ College of Engineering faculty will oversee students to accomplish objective 3 to design and build the solar array during year 1. The grant PD will meet with Engineering Faculty and engineering team regularly to assess project progress, milestones and challenges. The design and construction of the mobile photovoltaic (PV) array will be a Senior Capstone project. Capstone programs through engineering have included a variety of projects involving community engagement (local and international), university support, and entrepreneurship. Here, Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Energy Engineering (EE) seniors will be engaged through the "Designing to Make a Difference" theme to design and build a solar PV system.Objective 4 MethodsCreate a food and agriculture focused course plan within the new Environmental Science and Sustainability Major in Plant Biology; Transition the farm to organic certification and develop a new course focused on organic farming practices.The PD will develop a course with an experiential approach that leverages the farm's new capacity and facilities titled "Science in Organic Agriculture". Experiential learning when coupled with the newly deployed mobile solar PV arrayat the farm will provide unique and novel instructional and field laboratory experiential learning opportunities. The new class will be a mid-tier elective which will be open to juniors and seniors.Objective 5 MethodsDeliver experiential and applied learning through paid internships to educate interns about local food systems and train future farmers. The Environmental Education Director at Rural action (RA) will oversee high school and college interns hired through RA. RA has committed to hire two high school and two undergraduate interns for each of the three summers. These interns will work with RA and work at the farm as needed. While at the Farm they will participate in activities engaging them in an experiential learning environment. The PD will meet with the Rural Action team regularly to assess project progress, milestones and challenges. Rural Action is the ideal partner to engage high school interns with OHIO as RA has developed a relationship with Building Bridges to Careers (BB2C) and local schools to provide paid internships to high school students since 2018.Objective 6 MethodsEstablish the OHIO Student Farm as a focal venue to engage with local farmers and to provide focused peer to peer training to grow their businesses. The Director of Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry at Rural Action will oversee and lead Objective 6. The PD will meet the Rural Action team regularly to assess project progress, milestones and challenges. Rural Action has extensive experience delivering farmer focused workshops, training and webinars. Specific topics that RA has covered, and would deliver at the farm depending on demand, include: whole farm planning, season extension, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), market gardening, and fruit production. Rural Action will utilize the knowledge gained during the development of the farm management plan (Objective 1) to create a learning framework for workshops at the farm. RA already has several training modules but the nature of trainings and workshops offered at the Farm will be tailored to the production systems available at the farm. The specific educational and training modules delivered by Rural Action at the Farm will be also be determined by past and current participants. The trainings will utilize strategies that Rural Action has developed and used for its educational mission in the past.

Progress 06/15/24 to 06/14/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for internships and education are college students and high school students. The target audience for outreach includes elementary school children, high shool, Ohio University students, local lay organization (e.g. garden clubs), and non-profit organizations including Community Food Initiatives, Rural Action (partner), the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association), local farmers Our target audience for produce includes local restaurants (e.g. Salaam, The Village Bakery, Little Fish), grocery stores (Kindred Market, Seaman's Grocery), Ohio University culinary services (West 82 and Latitude 39). Produce was also went to auction (e.g.The Chesterhill Produce Auction) and went to local banks and pantries (Cat's cupboard) Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this reporting period the project provided training for the 9 interns in all aspect of general agriculture at small diversified sustainably managed farm. Twenty three more undergraduates were engaged in experiential learning about all aspects of farming activities during service learning "lab" hours as part of the sustainable agriculture class. A new high tunnel was built on site by the interns. Using a "community build framework" supported by the high tunnel manufacturer, we (interns, farm manager and PD) learned about the components and assembled the high tunnel from the ground up. This engaged 5 interns, the farm manager, the PD. This opens additional opportunities for experiential learning and season extenstion. The off grid solar PV system provides a working model and unique example in Athens for how a small off grid farm might secure power to operate. Generally the farm and farm manager provide training through experiential learning and hands on approaches. Interns worked for hundreds of hours as evidenced by the FTE's. We have also trained numerous volunteers with over 170.of hours throughout this reporting period alone. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have presented seminars about our goals and accomplishments the Plant Biology Department and The Ohio Community. The numerous classes and tours that come to the farm are the main way we share our goals and accomplishments through experiential engagement at the farm. Visitors learn about our challenges and successes. The thesis "practicum" written by a Master's student (MS '24) is shared with students, and the community looking to learn more about pros and cons of transitioning to organic agriculture. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the fall of 2025, 20 students from the Sustainable Agriculture class will be engaged. Since funding for the farm manager ended at the end of this reporting periodwe (OU Farm) will pay for a part time farm manager during the summer and fall of 2025 with revenues generated from sales the past 2 years. The farm manager will train interns during the summer and fall of 2025.We will seek funding from Ohio University for the farm manager position.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? No additional accomplishment under goals 1 and 2. Funding for the farm manager was spent by the end of this reporting period Goal 3 The solar array became fully operational during the reporting period thanks to an anonymous donation to make up for the cost increases. However, the project will not be able to secure a cooler. We will continue to seek funding for this. Goal 4 We continue our Organic certification we were inspected in the fall of 2024 and we recertified a portion of the farm as Organic. The farm's Organic Handbook produced by an MS student provides a farm specific framework for continued Organic certification. We implement the experiential curriculum, created in year 1, modified in year 2 for a field trip for first graders at the farm. First graders explored nutrients and organic matter (composting), biodiversity (bugs:), tastes and smells (herbs and greens), and plant parts and life cycles (roots, root veggies, beans and seed pods). We updated the Sustainable Agriculture lab taught on the Farm. Goal 5 We have delivered experiential learning curricula to Ohio university students through course and lab work on the farm. We have delivered to K-12 through field trips from elementary schools and high school internships. This reporting period there were a total of 10 interns (1 HS and 9 college). 4 college students and 1 HS student interned at the farm in the summer of 2024 and 5 more interns started in May of 2025. The vast majority of on site training, outreach and education was facilitated by the Farm Manager's position funded by this grant. We hosted numerous organization at the farm for a variety of activities throughout the year. The Athens Garden Club workshoped at the farm. We hosted the "Sprouts Summer School Garden Camp" in June of 2024 and designed a series of activities focused on the soils and crops at the farm. The farm was a stop during a local farm/garden tour to raise money for the humane society. More than a dozen other Ohio University Classes and course sections, and dozens of students were engaged in experiential learning activities on farm. Goal 6. Off farm we (interns, students, faculty) engage, visit and learn about production from local farmers and the local food system from auctions. We bring farmers to campus, for instance local vegetable/crop farms (Blaney Family Farms) presented to students with the sustainable agriculture class on campus. We also organize and facilitate student field trips to learn about animal focused operations (i.e.MOSO farms). Students learn how other farms work and gain understanding about similarities and differences among different farms. The farm remains connected to the local food system and broader community of farmers by participating in the Chesterhill Produce Auction (local food aggregation). We now have established a place within a volunteering platform called Givepulse. Here students and the community members from affiliated organizations may sign up for volunteer shifts at the farm. Over 170 hours volunteer hours were logged this reporting period.

Publications

Progress 06/15/23 to 06/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience: First graders in Athen City School District HIgh school students (Athens High School); College Students (Ohio University), Graduate Students(Ohio University) Non Profit Organizations and Enterprises (Rural Action, Community Food Initiatives, Chesterhill Produce Auction, Community Food Initiatives) Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA tours) Athens County Farmers General public Changes/Problems:1. The solar installation was still not fully operational by the end of this reporting period due to equipment damage during shipping but mostly completed 2. The cooler solution we had proposed is no longer feasible in this budget because costs for the Solar PV array were almost 25 % higher that expected/budgeted. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided training for the interns in all aspect of general agriculture at small diversified sustainably managed farm. Undergraduates were trained during service learning "lab" hours for the sustainable agriculture class through experiential learning and hands on approaches. Interns worked for hundreds of hours and volunteers for dozens.of hours. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In the October of 2023 the farm hosted approximately 160 first grader from 3 local elementary schools for a day on the farm. This was a collaborative endeavor with Community Food Initiatives a local non-profit working in the nutrition and food accessbility sectore. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The K-12 outreach for first graders was so successfull we planned additional activites for late June of 24, October 24.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 2 was completed and a farm manager began working on the farm in June of 2023. The farm manager has been critic to our mission as he uis working with the PD and a volunteer manager (retired OU faculty) to plan agricultural operations and farm sales, coordinate student interns activities on the farm and provide volunteers with on farm task and performed and assisted in farm outreach activities. Goal 3 most of the solar was installed during this period but techincal issues made solar not fully operational by the end of the reporting period. Due to cost increases the project was not able to secure a cooler. We will seek new funding for this. Goal 4 We certified a portion of the farm as Organic in the fall of 2023 for spring of 2024. We will be inspected in the fall of 2024. We created a experiential curriculum for a field trip for first graders at the farm. First graders explored nutrients and organic matter (compsting), biodiversity (bugs:) , tastes and smells (herbs and greens), and plant parts and life cycles (roots, root veggies, beans and seed pods) Goal 5 We have delivered experiential learning curricula to K-12 throught field trips from elementary schools and high school internships. We have have a total of 7 interns (2 HS and 5 college) during this period. Goal 6 We hosted the Athens Gardent Club for a tour and workshop on farm activities. We organized and hosted open mics and the farm. Participants shared their music and learned about the farms connection to the local food system. Local farmer (Blaney Farmily Farm) came to OU and met with students in the Sustainable Agriculture Class.

Publications

Progress 06/15/22 to 06/14/23

Outputs
Target Audience: HIgh school students (Athens High School); College Students (Ohio University), Graduate Students(Ohio University) Non Profit Organizations and Enterprises (Rural Action, Community Food Initiatives, Chesterhill Produce Auction) Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA tours) Athens County Farmers General public Changes/Problems:One major problem/setback is with getting electricity on the farm. The actual cost estimates of implementing goal 3 bringing electricity to the farm are 2 to 3 fold higher than budgeted. The cost of supplies and labor for the solar PV array have increased beyond what was originally budgeted. We are looking to leverage the USDA funds and apply to Ohio University for additional support. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project director attended worskshops and presentations at the 2023 annual meeting of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm association. Sessions attended included: "Organic Corn and Soybean Budgets for Ohio; Cover Crop Strategies for Annual and Perennial Crops; Crop Planning for Success and Sanity; Sustainable and Organic Farming Systems and the Pursuit of Climate Change Readiness; Donation Station A Model for Cultivating Community Food Access; Heating the Winter Tunnel: Is it Worth it?. Selected topics from these workshops will inform course development. The farm has provided a training and professional development opportunity for engineering students in the senior capstone classes. The farm is their "client". They are tasked to learn about and design rain capture devices on a high tunnel at the farm. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have presented seminars about our goals and accomplishments the Plant Biology Department and The Ohio Community. We host numerous classes at the farm and share our goals and accomplishments through experiential engagement at the farm. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to work on engaging high school and university students through classes, internships and volunteerism. We will obtain our official organic certfication. We will market organic produce. We will set up a new high tunnel in 2024. We continue to problem solve how to bring electricity to the farm within our budget.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1 and 2 . We have defined farm manager responsibilities, developed a job description, submitted the position description to human resources and screened two dozen applications. We interviewed 4 applicants. We hired a farm manager in June of 2023 3. Ohio engineerning student have designed a pv solar array. They will not be building it. We are seeking bids for this system. Engineering students are currently designing a rain capture prototype for the high tunnel 4. We have engaged the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm association to transition the farm to organic certification. A graduate student is creating an "Organic Handbook" which contributes to our new curriculum on sustainable practices and organic agriculture. 5. Two high school students have interned at the farm. Dozens of OHIO undergradutes have worked, volunteered and performed service learning at the the fall of 2022 and spring 2023.

Publications