Progress 09/15/22 to 09/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of this project was regional beginning farmers. Though pre-project research we determined there was a lack of comprehensive, hands on farmer training in our area. In turn, the goal of this project was to target those locally, who are interested in starting their own farm. Additionally, the goal was to attract participants from other regional programs such as the agriculture program at Central Wyoming College, as well as students currently enrolled in the University of Idaho's Cultivating Success, in order to offer an additional hands-on learning opportunity and stregthen regional partnerships. Changes/Problems:The only problems for this project were as follows: 1. Housing- In our small community housing was an issue for those who wanted to spend the whole season here. Housing is limited and expensive for those participants who had to relocate. In the future it would be advantageous to offer on-farm housing. It is something to consider if this program is going to be a permanent offering. 2. Stipend- While offering any stipend for participants is generous, I believe increasing that amount would be beneficial. I understand this is a learning opportunity and not a paid position. However, costs of living are quite high and in order for participants to fully immerse themselves for the season, allowing a higher stipend to better cover living expenses would make a difference in the quality of learning. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project was intended for beginning farmers and ranchers interested in starting their own farm. Throughout the program, participants were trained on all aspects of running a successful market farm operation. During the season students learned topics from seed starting, to sales and distribution in order to better understand both technical aspects of growing food as well as the business of running a farm. The program as a whole was an opportunity for training and development. 100% of participants indicated anincrease in knowledge and awareness in all of the following learning topics;Farming Basics + Climate Friendly Growing Practices,Season Extension & Other High Altitude Considerations, and Beyond Farming: Business Management, Value Added Enterprises, &Distribution. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?So far, results have been shared verbally with shareholders and other regionaleducational programs. We are in the process of debriefing our program with partners and look for ways to improve participation and effectiveness.As a pilot program, there is plenty more to do to strengthen the collaborative efforts with other communities of interest. We hope to continue to offer this program to regional beginning farmer and ranchers who are looking to take their classroom learning a step further. We wish to continue working with Central Wyoming College to offer this as a "next step" for graduates of their program who are not quite ready to make the leap to farming on their own. 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 project goals and objectives were accomplished as follows: 1.Project Goals: The long-term goals of this project were to increase the number of people starting to farm and to improve the quality of education and mentorship available to beginning farmers so they can establish successful farm enterprises. This goal was met by offering a season-long apprentice program for 4 aspiring beginning farmers. At the completion of the program 75% of participants responded that they were going to use what they had learned to begin their own farm. For those that reported they were not starting their own farm, access to land still remained a challenge, although they left with new ideas toget started. In regards to improving the quality of education and mentorship, 100% of participants indicated an increase in knowledge and awareness in each of the three learning objectives;Farming Basics + Climate Friendly Growing Practices, Season Extension & High-Altitude Considerations, Beyond Farming: Business Management, Value-Added Enterprises, & Distribution.All 4 participants felt this program strengthened the mentorship and resources they have access to as beginning farmers.Through the project a lasting mentorship was created between studemts, facilitators, and other regional partners that we wish to build on in years to come. 2. Objective 1: Providing more robust, hands-on training to beginning farmers in the area by offering a season-long apprenticeship program on a fully operational diversified vegetable farm. This objective was met fully.In 2023, Sweet Hollow Farm ran their first apprentice cohort consisting of 4 regional beginning farmers and ranchers looking to gain more hands-on experience. Participants learned classroom topics such as crop planning, record keeping, grant writing, and financial planning, and took those skills to the field with hands on skills such as various planting and cultivating techniques, harvesting, and sales. Apprentices got to run farmers market stands, pack CSA boxes, and deliver to chefs in order to understand the sales and how market demands impact growing decisions. All participants completed the 26-week program.Participants also got to learn additional value-add enterprises such as cut flower production and pastured poultry techniques for income diversification. All 4 participants noted the hands-on learning exceeded their expectations for the program. 3. Objective 2: Strengthen the regional, collaborative beginning farmer training environment by deepening partnerships with like-minded entities such as CWC and Cultivating Success to provide more well-rounded, immersive training experiences to upcoming farmers. During this program Central Wyoming College visited Sweet Hollow Farm and met with current apprentices. This strengthened the regional collaboration in many ways. First, Sweet Hollow apprentices got to share their experience with the BRFDP program to perspective participants at CWC who are currently enrolled in their agriculture program. The goal is that graduates from CWC who are looking for hands-on experience would consider Sweet Hollow the following season for additional experience. In addition, apprentice participants got to meet CWC students and ask questions they may have for furthering their education throughthe college programs. Also, program coordinator, Jonah Sloven visited Central Wyoming College to help with their student farm and again introduce the apprentice program and meet with CWC staff and facilitators. In addition, apprentice participants were introduced to the online courses that Cultivating Success offers in order to strengthen regional support. Cultivating Success is an Idaho focused program offering educational resources to farmers. Through our program, we were able to leverage this existing material and use these resources to supplement our field work. We covered topics such as land access, and farm financial planning. Our participants can continue to use these recorded webinars in the future, strengthening our program and the likelihood of success for our new beginning farmers. Since its conception, we have looked at this program as a 1 year "pilot" to test the interest and viability, and look to build off of our experiences and results to implement this program as a permanent asset to our farming community. We hope that this project will show the need and desire for this type of learning and allow us to deepen out collaborative efforts.
Publications
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