Final report for EDS24-067
Project Information
South East Tennessee Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (SETN CRAFT)
The purpose of this project was to create and implement a Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (CRAFT) chapter in the Southeastern Tennessee region. The goal of establishing a CRAFT chapter was to support and promote the growth of agriculture, thriving local food systems, responsible land stewardship, and resilience in the agricultural community.
The need for this project was made clear in a series of brainstorming sessions and strategic planning sessions hosted by SeTNYF which included both young and established farmers in the greater Chattanooga area. One model that was explored was the well established CRAFT network model. This seemed like an ideal option for this area because it allows for farmer-to-farmer training and was very close in structure to the monthly events that SeTNYF was already hosting. Crabtree Farms of Chattanooga, City Farms Grower Coalition, and SeTNYF together serve a wide network of farmers and consumers in both Chattanooga and the surrounding areas. SeTNYF’s network includes 450 area farmers and supporters, with 30 dues-paying members. Crabtree Farms' programs and services reach over 5,000 community members and producers each year. By creating an advisory board that included members of each of these organizations we hoped to ensure a strong organizational structure for continuing this project into the future beyond the term of this grant.
The mission of the SETN CRAFT chapter was to serve as a cooperative network of farmers, apprentices, and emerging farmers to be a source of education, connection, and a variety of approaches to agriculture and regional food systems.
The project outcomes for year one were:
1) The creation of a SETN CRAFT advisory committee that included representatives from Crabtree Farms, City Farms Grower Coalition, and SeTNYF.;
2) A determination of program components, responsibilities, communications, evaluations, and administrative functions based on member interest/needs;
3) The creation of a farmer training schedule with commitments and lesson plans from participating farms and educators;
4) Determine measurable program metrics, design evaluation tools, and develop an implementation/reporting protocol; and
5) Create new member and emerging farmer outreach strategies
The project outcomes for year two were more specifically determined by participating farmers in year one, but generally:
1) Farmers/apprentices/emerging farmers will benefit from attendance at (12) once-monthly potlucks and (9) yearly farmer-led training days on established farms in the region;
2) Increased and expanded trainings and resources that reach more farmers in the region;
3) Communicate resources, information, and opportunities to CRAFT members via quarterly newsletters;
4) Implement new member and emerging farmer outreach strategies;
5) Conduct program and participant assessments ;
6) Create and publish an annual report; and
7) Create a chapter specific logic model based on two year findings.
8) Develop and adopt a sustainable funding strategy and budgetary oversight measures
SETN CRAFT Objectives:
- To strengthen small farms and model a resilient short-chain food system through a cooperative network of farmers/apprentices/emerging farmers providing practical education, peer-to-peer connection, and a variety of approaches to agriculture in the Southeastern Tennessee region.
- To promote effective stewardship of natural resources by adopting/sharing agricultural methods that protect the environment, minimize soil degradation/erosion, decrease pollution, and support biological productivity and healthy ecology.
- To improve quality of life for producers, consumers, and communities by fostering cooperative connection and beneficial partnerships.
- To address the needs of farmers/apprentices/emerging farmers in the region by creating spaces for knowledge-sharing opportunities.
- To address the needs of farmer education and training by facilitating farmer "field-day" trainings.
Education
The educational approach used in this project was farmer-to-farmer learning and access to the social network of farmers in the Southeastern Tennessee region. Through mentoring, field days, technical assistance, workshops, social gatherings, strategic business planning courses, this project helped prepare the next generation of farmers and strengthened local food systems.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Southeast TN CRAFT Opening Potluck 2/23/25
CRAFT Business Planning and Grant Writing Workshop 3/8/25
CRAFT “Reading the Land” Permaculture Workshop 5/10/25
CRAFT Electronet Mending Circle 5/25/25
CRAFT Community Gardens Workshop 6/21/25
CRAFT Herb Growing and Processing 7/26/25
CRAFT Grazing School at Manderley Farms 9/13/2025
CRAFT On-Farm Chicken Processing 11/21/2025
CRAFT Winter Fruit Crop Care and Pruning 2/8/2026
CRAFT Greenhouse and Nursery Growing 2/28/2026
CRAFT “Maximizing Your Microbes” Biological Compost Amendments Workshop 3/22/2026
Participation summary:
SeTNYF provides monthly events for members and farmers in the area. The chapter coordinator worked with the advisory board to bring training/networking opportunities into alignment with a typical CRAFT alliance format. The coordinator offered farmer support with developing the educational components of their farm tours and collected feedback from event participants on effectiveness and areas of improvement. This program did not intend for farmers to take on more work, but it is hoped that the CRAFT model provided those that wanted to share knowledge with a format and venue for doing that.
The outreach strategy used the existing farmer/apprentice/emerging farmer network of SeTNYF, Crabtree Farms of Chattanooga, and City Farms Grower Coalition to build membership. The intended audience were established farmers, emerging farmers, farm apprentices, and community gardeners in the region.
In year one, the specific program components, responsibilities, communications, evaluations and administrative functions was determined based on member interest and regional need. This planning resulted in a yearly curriculum that included around (12) once monthly potlucks and (9) farmer-led field day trainings. Each of the field-day trainings was hosted by a member farm or garden and focused on one area of expertise such as:
● Adaptive grazing systems for livestock
● Cut flower production
● Greenhouse production
● Opportunities for soil research on farms
● BEAM compost systems
● Starting a community garden
● Crop mobs as a way to create community and meet labor needs
● Working with NRCS
● Farm to Food Bank connections and;
● Agritourism
Using resource materials from Best Practices of CRAFT Farmer Alliances in North America, the program coordinator assisted participating farmers with field-day training curriculum development and oversaw the collection of program and participant feedback for each session. The Advisory Board was tasked with developing the measurable program metrics and designing assessment tools. This information was published in an annual report and eventually used to create a logic model for the program.
Resources, information, and opportunities were communicated to CRAFT members via a quarterly newsletter and a Farmer Handbook/Manual compiled based on training.
Learning Outcomes
Creating Business Plans
Grant Research
Networking Opportunities
Reading the land and permaculture principles
Electro-net fence mending
Organizing community garden programs
Growing and processing herbs
Regenerative Grazing practices
Implementing water quality practices for grazing operations
Technical and funding support and research opportunities
On-farm chicken processing
Winter fruit crop care and pruning
Greenhouse and nursery growing
Biological compost amendments
Project Outcomes
Based on post-event surveys, roughly 90% of respondents gained an increase of knowledge or new knowledge on the subjects covered during CRAFT workshops and educational events.
Curriculum and Data Collection
In the first year, the Southeast TN CRAFT advisory board developed a feedback survey to collect information about educational needs and interest areas within the region. The CRAFT curriculum was shaped by this feedback from potential future participants as well as the knowledge base of farmer-educators in the region. Post-event surveys are used to capture feedback on new or increased knowledge gained by participants, as well as additional topics participants would like to see the program cover. Because the feedback strategy changed from participatory surveys to written or digital surveys throughout the program, consistent data is lacking across the project period. The CRAFT advisory board and coordinator are still able to use the data gained in feedback surveys to assess the success of past programming and cover participant-identified needs in future programming. Even without consistent feedback data, CRAFT workshops have been overwhelmingly popular with participants, with roughly 90% of respondents reporting an increase of knowledge or new knowledge gained following workshops. Although the list of participants changed with different event locations, 12 participants consistently returned to CRAFT events (attending 3 or more) over the course of the project period.
Community and Knowledge Sharing
One of the main goals of the Southeast TN CRAFT program is to connect beginning, aspiring, and established farmers, and that means a wide array of farmers (of all the aforementioned identities) come through the program. This differs slightly from more traditional CRAFT programs that focus on training apprentices. Some of the folks attending CRAFT workshops are exploring a new enterprise for their farm (or new practices), gathering skills for their beginning farm operation, or simply trying to understand what kind of farming they might be interested in. One of the main goals that these different types of farmers have in common is building relationships with the surrounding ag community and this is something that the CRAFT program works to support. Workshops begin with group introductions and often end with a community potluck or meal. Partway through the project period, feedback surveys began to assess the inclusivity of workshops and all respondents shared that they felt welcome. Workshop sign-up forms also offered potential rideshare opportunities to interested participants, and this resulted in participants who didn’t previously know each other sharing rides to workshops.
In order to highlight the unique teaching styles of farmer-educators, Southeast TN CRAFT workshops are flexible in their structure and designed by the farmer with support from the coordinator. Because of the unique teaching styles of our farmer-educators, and the challenges of sustaining a true CRAFT manual year-after-year, it was more realistic for the Southeast TN CRAFT program to take a different approach. Summary recaps of CRAFT events are shared in the Southeast TN Young Farmers website’s “Event Journal”, as well as in newsletters and sometimes on social media. Following workshops, participants and folks who signed up receive a follow-up email that includes photos taken at the event, information, learning documents and/or recommendations for further learning from the farmer-educator.
Cross Collaboration
Throughout the year, collaborative opportunities became available through the connections of CRAFT advisory board members and other Southeast TN Young Farmers partnerships. Collaborative workshops included the Business Planning and Grants workshop with Stewards Unlimited and the Grazing School at Manderley Farms. For these two workshops, partner organizations (respectively, Stewards Unlimited and the Cumberland River Compact and the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute) contributed funding and planning support. For the Business Planning and Grants workshop, this allowed for an additional farmer-educator. This is one of the reasons why the Southeast TN CRAFT program didn’t utilize all the funds awarded, but this collaborative strategy is an important part of the long-term success of the CRAFT program.
Funding Outcomes Explained
The grant budget included generous funding for mileage reimbursement for CRAFT advisory committee members, farmer-educators, and program participants. Because advisory members and farmer-educators were spread throughout Southeast TN and beyond, it was more accessible to hold zoom meetings, therefore this funding was not needed. For participants, it was made clear that mileage reimbursement was available on each workshop registration form, and participants could share their need for mileage reimbursement on the form. There were a number of participants that received mileage reimbursement, but not nearly as much as was budgeted.
While planning each workshop, farmer-educators were made aware of available supply funding that could be used toward workshop activities, and this funding was used for a few events.
Regardless of use, the availability of this funding was greatly appreciated by those who utilized it.
Although the Southeast TN CRAFT program offered 11 events throughout the project period, not all workshop host/educator funding was utilized. The curriculum included 9 farmer-led workshops, however the Grazing School at Manderley Farms did not require the use of host/educator funding, as host and educator expenses were funded with support from the Cumberland River Compact, the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, a line item in the Southeast TN Young Farmers budget earmarked for soil health, and the National Young Farmers Coalition. Even though CRAFT host/educator funding was not used, the event was organized as part of the CRAFT curriculum. Mileage reimbursement was made available to all participants and was used for this event, even though no other CRAFT grant funding was used. Ideally, this additional funding would have been used to offer more CRAFT programming.
Some of the topics outlined in the initial grant proposal fit better into other Southeast TN Young Farmers Coalition (SeTNYF) program areas and were still offered to the greater network, just outside of the CRAFT program. For instance, a Farm to Food Bank event was offered as part of SeTNYF’s supply-chain connection work, and quarterly Ag Roundtable meetings are supported in partnership with other Chattanooga-based organizations.
Next Steps for the Southeast TN CRAFT Program
The Southeast TN Young Farmers Coalition is committed to supporting the Southeast TN CRAFT program with direction from the CRAFT Advisory Committee and Crabtree Farms, participant feedback, and support from partners. At the end of 2025, SeTNYF received funding support from the CLIF Family Foundation through the National Young Farmers Coalition, and the South Cumberland Community Fund, to continue CRAFT programming in 2026 into 2027. This May, SeTNYF partnered with Appalachian Sustainable Development to host 3 Farmer-led agroforestry farm tours, extending the impact of CRAFT program resources. For the summer of 2026, plans are being made to offer a CRAFT land access clinic that may become an annual event, highlighting different models and strategies for accessing farmland. SeTNYF’s vision for the Southeast TN CRAFT program is to cultivate a coalition of partners across the region who are committed to farmer-to-farmer education, to foster knowledge sharing and connections between farmers in southeast TN for years to come.
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