Final report for ONC22-103
Project Information
Clean River Partners is teaming up with the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance (RAA) to train and educate up to 300 people in the RAA’s innovative Agroforestry Poultry System. We will create and establish outreach, education and training opportunities created for BIPOC- (and BIPOC-aligned) farmers, BIPOC-led non-profit organizations and BIPOC-led food and commodity groups. We will also engage public officials and non-farm community members to broaden and solidify support for regenerative agricultural production principles and the agroforestry poultry system over the next three years. This work will lead to the widespread adoption of this replicable regenerative model. We are seeking funding for the first year of this project.
We will advance the Agroforestry Poultry System by working together to train and educate up to 300 people about this innovative, regenerative, replicable, and equitable system. In year one of this project, Regenerative Agriculture Alliance and Clean River Partners will create and establish outreach, education and training opportunities that utilize a new centrally located agroforestry poultry farm as the primary base for activities. From this, we will build an education program that coordinates a wide variety of activities and engages already established regenerative agriculture farms in the targeted area of SE Minnesota, NE Iowa and SW Wisconsin.
Cooperators
- (Educator and Researcher)
- - Technical Advisor (Educator and Researcher)
Research
Clean River Partners teamed up with the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance (RAA) to train and educate people in the RAA’s innovative Agroforestry Poultry System. We created and led outreach, education and training opportunities for BIPOC (and BIPOC-aligned) farmers, BIPOC-led non-profit organizations and BIPOC-led food and commodity groups. We engaged public officials and non-farm community members to broaden and solidify support for regenerative agricultural production principles and the agroforestry poultry system. Through a series of farm visits, agroforestry poultry production workshops, guest lectures, and students internships we engaged nearly 300 people in discussions about regenerative agriculture, soil and water quality improvement, and human and animal wellbeing. Outreach for these events included newsletter and social media posts, newspaper press releases, and direct mailings.
- 94 people including farmers, elected officials, college students, teachers, and community members from across Minnesota, SW Wisconsin and NE Iowa attended 3 Farm Visits focused on highlighting BIPOC owned and BIPOC-led farms implementing RAA’s agroforestry poultry system. We designed farm visits, workshops, lectures and student internships.
- 36 people attended 2 Farm Workshops that provided training on utilizing comfrey in poultry rations and farming equipment specific to agroforestry applications
- 2 Student Interns – 1 Farm Management Intern and 1 Communications Intern – completed 842 hours of engagement with RAA Staff and RAA farmers
- 215 people attended 2 Guest Lectures on regenerative agriculture engaging farmers and the broader community in discussions around environmental justice, inclusion and equity, and human and animal wellness
- Clean River Partners tabled and provided a guest lecturer, Dr. Leonie Jacobs, at the Second Annual Regenerative Poultry Convergence – two day event organized and hosted by RAA 25 remote attendees 154 in-person attendees 33 Farmers 27 NGOs 14 Supply-Chain Infrastructure Partners 11 Science Professionals 14 Funders/Financial Professionals 33 Speakers
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Through a series of farm visits, agroforestry poultry production workshops, guest lectures, and students internships we engaged nearly 300 people in discussions about regenerative agriculture, soil and water quality improvement, and human and animal wellbeing. Outreach for these events included newsletter and social media posts, newspaper press releases, and direct mailings.
Learning Outcomes
All attendants at these events expressed appreciation and satisfaction with the information shared. Farmers expressed ambition to implement specific practices they learned on their own operations. Farmers also expressed apprectiation for the opportunity to connect with other farmers engaged in agroforestry poultry. RAA added 2 farmers to their production team in 2022 and 6 farmers have expressed interest to join the production team in 2023. Students, elected officials, and community members expressed appreciation for the ooportunity to learn about agroforestry poultry.
Project Outcomes
132 people, 42 farmers, along with college students, professors, elected officials, and community members from across Minnesota, NE Iowa and SW Wisconsin attended 3 farm visits, 2 workshops and 1 guest lecture. Clean River Partners also provided a guest lecturer, Dr. Leonie Jacobs, to present poultry wellness reserach at Regeneartive Agriculture Aliance's Poultry Covergence that was attended by 179 people, 33 of them farmers. All attendants at these events expressed appreciation and satisfaction with the information shared. Farmers expressed ambition to implement specific practices they learned on their own opertaions. They expresssed apprecation for the ooprtunity to connect with other farmers engaged in agroforestry poultry. RAA added 2 farmers to their prodction team in 2022 and 6 farmers expressed interest in joining RAA in 2023. 
"The partnership with Clean River Partners offered a terrific opportunity to make a community connection around the direct impact farming practices have on the health of our watersheds. It was exciting to have value-aligned programming that we could leverage and engage to increase awareness of the Regenerative Poultry Ecosystem." Executive Director of a new BIPOC focused envirnmental non-profit.
“Through my internship this summer, I learned to see the world around me and my place in that world differently. I have often felt anxiety and a sense of hopelessness in grasping the severity of our climate crisis, but always these feelings come with the question of what meaningful change looks like and how I can embody it. Through the work that Regi and others are doing, I've experienced, perhaps for the first time, tangible change for a healthier and more resilient future. The opportunity to participate in this change has been incredibly meaningful, and in learning about the daily hands-on work involved with stewarding energy transformation, regenerative agriculture and indigenous thinking, and the many parts of the larger system, my learning has been truly comprehensive. Thank you to everyone on the RAA team, as well as to the many others I've had the opportunity to meet, for welcoming me into this space and taking the time to teach and guide me. In many ways, I too have been transformed, and I look forward to a future where regenerative agriculture becomes the norm.” St. Olaf College Student
"Over the course of these last few months interning with RAA and Clean River Partners, I have learned how to effectively communicate information to make meaningful change. Often I have thought of communications and marketing with the intention of growing demand and interest in products in order to increase profits. This is an aspect of marketing that, when on a grand scale, has never really settled well with me as it disregards the human that is involved on both ends, instead focusing on the exchange of material and profit. This was not the case in this internship. The regenerative agriculture ecosystem that RAA has worked to build focuses on the human and equally the animals, plants, and environment around us so that everyone can benefit. As an environmental studies major and a person living on a planet that is facing a climate crisis, I tend to feel a sense of hopelessness when it comes to our future. Being part of RAA has provided me with an experience that offers not just a solution to environmental degradation, but a systems change that works to remove inequalities that have plagued the agricultural industry for decades. This collective effort and community-focused farming style has been incredible to witness first-hand and has me so excited about starting my own farm some day. Thank you to RAA, Clean River Partners, and others for creating such a welcoming team and for the opportunity to be involved in such a revolutionary space." St. Olaf College Student