Using “Tag-Team Training” to Foster Education Program Sustainability Among Organizations Teaching Risk Management for Northeastern Farmers

From the Proposal - this introduction will change with the final report.

Description of Problem or Opportunity

Historically the US Ag Census reflects declining dairy farm counts since the mid-1900s and increasing small farm startups in produce/proteins. Because of COVID, the evolving production landscape may not yet have culminated as many American farmers again consider industry exit or commodity changes, while niche farmers continue to emerge. Driving factors include:

• Milk pricing volatility and dairy herd consolidation[i]
• Farm concerns over pending legislation to increase employee overtime compensation[ii]
• Emerging entrepreneurs seeking rural lifestyles/secondary incomes after COVID's food system volatility, as well as doubled food/ag tech startups ($22 billion/2020) that reflect changing consumer trends (meal kits, online shopping, food delivery, commercialization of waste reduction, production efficiencies such as vertical growing/freight farms)[iii]
• Ruminant product shortages where immigrant demand is high (Utica, NY (21.6% foreign born); multi-cultural New York/New Jersey; Pennsylvania (goat importation grew 160% since 2019)[iv]

Agriculture -- a mainstay of northeastern economy -- generates $15 billion annually in sales across the six states being served. To sustain this economic impact, farms need education/support through all phases of their business life cycle. Without it, loss of established farms will debilitate existing economies while the lack of startups will curtail future economies/food systems. CCEOC works with both aspiring and veteran farmers. Beginning farmer intake data (2019-2022) ranked ten areas of educational need (Respondents: 38 Oneida County; 10 other NYS counties; 1 Massachusetts), with the following results:
• #1 Financial/Business Planning (37=75.5%), #2 Pricing/Marketing (32=65.3%), #3 Bookkeeping (30=61.2%), #4 Loan/grant sources (29=59.2%) (all ranking higher than insurance/liability, land acquisition, regulations, renovations.)

Over 68% of veteran farmers are self-employed, working well over 40 hours/week.[v] Faced with persistent market/regulatory/environmental challenges, farmers have little time to develop new management skills. To better understand current educational needs prior to proposal, CCEOC queried 22 NYS educators soliciting their on-farm observations/assessments. Responses that ranked #1, #4, and #5 were flnance/recordkeeping, marketing, succession planning, -- all areas being proposed herein for co-teaching programming. Legal/regulations were #2, and HR/ labor #3 which can be addressed by leveraging the specialized skillsets within:

• Cornell's Ag Workforce Development Program
• On-site and nearby extension educators with experience training/ facilitating
PSA/GAP certification courses.
• Expert agricultural law businesses in upstate NY- special speakers

As farms regroup post-COVID, educators a/so reported residual challenges re: staff shortages/knowledge-depleting turnover. In response, CCEOC's "Cohort" programming will enable organizations to better assist farmers by: #1.)Developing new educational partnerships, #2.)Expanding/sustaining the organizational knowledge base, #3.) Improving resiliency during staff transitions, #4.) Increasing educational content/consistency/sustainability.

Solution and Benefits

Two constituent groups will benefit from this project:

• Farmers facing post-COVID sustainability/profitability issues that demand improved business efficiency, market adaptability, and -- as COVID has unfortunately taught us -- consideration for succession or exit strategy planning;
• Ag service organizations that help farmers meet these business goals through training and 1:1 technical assistance, but who are also currently challenged by program sustainability issues from staff shortages/turnover.

The most effective solution to addressing these co-dependent issues is to establish a system whereby organizations share resources to 1) minimize program interruptions, and 2) sustain their knowledge base during staffing transition. In this case, the primary ‘resource’ is human capital, and the ‘sharing’ may occur externally via new partnerships or internally across staff positions or even departments.

CCEOC will implement “Tag-Teaming” -- a system of joint Cross-Training and Co-Teaching among a cohort of organizations willing to explore new methods for staff development and program delivery. To accomplish this, 36 northeastern educators will commit to forming 18 two-person “Tag Teams” that will collaborate not just over the two-year grant period but beyond via a continued Professional Development Work Team to share knowledge, tools, resources, and teaching responsibilities.

Cross-Training is the process of sharing knowledge, skills, and tools among employees or partners, equipping them to perform tasks they may not previously have been qualified for. Cross-training identifies an organization’s critical knowledge areas, serving proactively to prevent gaps and the undesirable need for ‘crisis training’ instead. This method has multiple benefits:

• Encouraging employee engagement/collaboration
• Adding significant return on investment
• Creating workforce sustainability
• Improving productivity/efficiency
• Making organizations agile
• Increasing scheduling flexibility
• Facilitating succession planning[vi]

Co-Teaching is simply a strategy wherein educators work together regularly, and it is very flexible.  Co-teaching sessions can be toggled separately or implemented jointly, areas of expertise can be divided, education can be on-line or live, one teacher may lead while another assists, etc. And similarly, there are multiple benefits:

• Spreading responsibility
• Fostering creativity
• Deepening professional relationships
• Capitalizing on individual strengths
• Increasing teacher confidence
• Covering peer absences
• Providing multiple perspectives to learners [vii]

Staff will be cross-trained, and farmers will be team-taught. These techniques are not new, and they are proven. CCEOC could not, however, find evidence they have been strategically integrated  simultaneously for other professional groups, much less Agricultural service providers. Therefore, CCEOC considers this a pilot project, with potential for continued, post-Grant expansion among other service providers in the northeast.

Citations

i. James M. MacDonald, Jonathan Law, and Roberto Mosheim. Consolidation in U.S. Dairy Farming, ERR-274, July 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2022 from, https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/98901/err-274.pdf

ii. Text- H.R.3194 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Fairness for Farm Workers Act. Retrieved October 16, 2022 from, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3194/text?r=86&s=1

iii. Kolodny, L. (2021, April 30). Covid and “peak cow” created a boom for food and agriculture tech in 2020. CNBC. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/30/food-and-agriculture-start-ups-raised-record-22point3-billion-in-2020.html

iv. https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news/northeast-goat-market-keeps-getting-hotter/article_2989cb02-794a-11ec-9edd-8f69109ea7a4.html. Retrieved October 16, 2022

v.  Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers. Retrieved October 16, 2022 from, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/farmers-ranchers-and-other-agricultural-managers.htm