Final report for PDP20-009
Project Information
Sustainable agriculture requires an understanding of the balance between economic realities and environmental stewardship. A critical piece in this balance relies on appropriate farm equipment. The purchase and use of economically effective and appropriate farm tools, based on the size and specific needs of a farm, will ensure the most efficient use of labor, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase the overall sustainability of a farm business.
Individuals from government organizations (I.e., Natural Resource Conservation Service), Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs), non-profits, extension professionals, and certifiers, are responsible for providing farmers with relevant information and resources to ensure farmers are making practical and well-informed decisions. However, with continued consolidation of farms, many agricultural
organizations focus on larger-scale producers. The emphasis on larger-scale production results in agricultural professionals who are ill-equipped and lack an understanding of the tools and technology necessary for small-scale production, leaving them unable to effectively provide support to small-scale farmers.
This project aims to increase small-scale farmer access to innovative, practical, and economically viable farm equipment by providing agricultural professionals with hands-on opportunities to use and experiment with small-farm tools and resources to share with farmers in their communities. This project will include on-farm equipment demonstration workshops in California, Oregon, and Washington for agricultural professionals. We expect these daylong demonstrations will improve the knowledge of agricultural professionals and inspire them to share their knowledge and work with farmers to increase their access to these tools. We will also facilitate online outreach to agricultural professionals and compile tool-demonstration videos and written materials to share with participants and make available on our ATTRA website.
This project targets the second largest financial burden for farmers– equipment. The primary goal for this project is to increase the knowledge, skills, and technical capabilities of community agricultural professionals about small-scale, sustainable agricultural production tools in the Western Region of the United States. Enhancing the knowledge and technical skills of agricultural professionals will permit them to maximize their service to small-scale producers, and encourage the overall success of small-scale farming operations.
NCAT will do this by providing agricultural professionals with an opportunity to learn and understand the appropriate resources available to small-scale producers, and will in turn, reduce equipment barriers, and allow small-scale farmers to thrive in an ever-changing climate and difficult agricultural market. Over the course of this project, we will provide in-person education and informational resources to numerous agricultural professionals across California, Oregon, and Washington. This project will provide in-person and virtual learning opportunities for agricultural professionals along with video and written resources to use for their own outreach. We will gauge the success of this objective by measuring overall attendance at workshops; follow up surveys focused on the potential change outreach agriculture professional make after this workshop, and use of video and written outreach materials.
This project assumes that by providing agricultural professionals with an opportunity to learn and understand the appropriate resources and equipment available to small-scale producers, we will enable them to apply this new information and conduct their own local outreach to farmers. From previous experiences and confidence in the overall design of this project, we expect agricultural professionals will conduct meaningful outreach with small-scale producers in their communities.
The development and success of this project will rely primarily on labor from the NCAT staff and participating partners to organize, promote, facilitate, and evaluate the demonstration days and to develop outreach materials. NCAT staff will work with partners from four different locations in California, Oregon, and Washington to conduct on-farm workshops demonstrating a variety of new and innovative technologies specific to diversified small-scale agriculture. We selected these four partners because they have experience leading on-farm demonstration workshops, operate small-scale diversified farms, and have many of the small-scale tools we plan to demonstrate. We have also partnered with private agriculture equipment companies such as Johnny’s Seeds to provide additional tools when needed.
Project Timeline:
|
Deliverables – Activities |
Performed by |
Timeline |
|
design demonstration workshops |
NCAT project staff |
10/2020-11/2020 (or earlier – based upon distribution of grant funding) |
|
Collect feedback from partners and adjust workshop design |
NCAT & partners |
10/2020-11/2020 |
|
Schedule workshop dates w/ partners |
NCAT & partners |
11/2020 – 12/2020 |
|
Identify tools for videos and publication |
NCAT |
11/2020 -12/2020 |
|
Plan & conduct outreach for workshops |
NCAT & partners |
1/2021 – 1/2022 |
|
design post-workshop online survey |
NCAT project staff |
1/2021 – 1/2022 |
|
complete all demonstration workshops |
NCAT & partners |
1/2021 – 1/2023 |
|
distribute and analyze post-workshop survey |
NCAT |
1/2021-2/2023 |
|
schedule and design webinar |
NCAT |
2/2023-3/2023 |
|
Complete draft of publications |
NCAT |
1/2021 -2/2023 |
|
finalize publications and videos |
NCAT |
2/2021 – 3/2023 |
|
Develop outline & plan webinar |
NCAT |
3/2023 – 4/2023 |
|
Conduct Webinar |
NCAT |
4/2023-5/2023 |
|
Design Final Project Survey |
NCAT |
5/2023-7/2023 |
|
Distribute Final Project Survey |
NCAT |
8/2023 -9/2023 |
|
Complete Final Project Evaluation |
NCAT |
9/2023-10/2023 |
Cooperators
- (Educator)
- (Educator)
- (Educator)
- (Educator)
Education
NCAT will do this by providing agricultural professionals with an opportunity to learn about the appropriate resources available to small-scale producers, and will, in turn, reduce barriers to accessing equipment. Over the course of this project, we will provide in-person education and informational resources to numerous agricultural professionals across California, Oregon, and Washington. This project will provide in-person and virtual learning opportunities for agricultural professionals along with video and written resources to be shared with farmers in their communities. We will gauge the success of our educational approach by measuring overall attendance at workshops and follow-up surveys for agriculture professionals which will focus on the potential for helping and capacity to help small-scale farmers.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
Provide hands on access to professionals across the West Coast.
The four workshops will be developed in order to expose agricultural professionals to many of the small farm tools and innovations that many of them may not have been exposed to in school or in their professional lives.
The ability to handle a tool, see it in action, and ask any questions about those tools to the people who use them on a daily basis will serve to familiarize professionals with tools they may not have been exposed to before. They will also be able to ground truth and verify claims made by manufacturers.
Ag professionals will learn about practical use, applicability (in terms of scale and function), limitations, and other considerations for the tools demonstrated.
Ag professionals will be able to take a more informed stance when communicating with farmers about these scall-appropriate tools.
Field Day #1
So far we have hosted one on-farm field day in Puyallup, WA on June 1, 2022. With 19 of the 47 attendees being professionals in the ag sector. Out of all of those who submitted an evaluation, only three indicated that they would not pass on the information shared that day. The rest of the individuals who submitted evaluations represent distinct organizations with varying levels of access to farmer networks, those individuals estimated that they would share some of the things they learned from the field day with 344 other individuals.
Field day #2, May 24, 2023
NCAT collaborated with the College of Marin to host 7 individuals for this field day, 5 of whom are ag professionals. Attendees who submitted the survey indicated that they would share what they learned with 191 other individuals.
Other quotes from the survey:
"I work one-on-one with growers and I will be able to more confidently recommend tools and resources based on their scale and needs."
"Great program, wish there were more like this."
Field day #3, 7/11/2023
50 individuals attended the field day in Gresham, OR, 13 of whom are ag professionals. Attendees who submitted the survey indicated that they would share what they learned with 146 other individuals.
Other notable comments from the survey:
One Ag professional said that they would like to mimic the format of the field day for their own events. Others mentioned that they would be able to use what they learned during site visits and when conducting outreach.
Field day#4, 7/26/2023
NCAT collaborated with the University of California, Santa Curz to host this field day. 44 people attended, 19 of whom were ag professionals. Attendees who submitted the survey indicated that they would share what they learned with 254 other individuals.
Quotes from the survey:
"Very timely - will be meeting with growers to discuss tool options with them."
"Will use aspects of the field day in our workshops."
"We will develop a similar event in SJV."
"Great presentation of tools and great presentation with all questions answered."
Designed to supplement the information that will be delivered during the workshops as well as provide any other individuals who are unable to attend the workshops with access to quality resources.
The video series will be used to describe and demonstrate several of the tools and implements that will be highlighted during the workshops. Videos will also be shared on the NCAT/ATTRA website.
A publication will be developed to expand on some of the more useful and innovative tools that have become available to the small-scale farmer.
We were able to complete an extensive publication that includes recommendations, decision-making tools, descriptions of a variety of small farm tools, a list of suppliers and manufacturers, and more. Currently, the publication is being formatted and we expect it to be complete by the end of February 2023.
We completed a total of 4 videos, 3 of which were short-form informational videos on useful and innovative small farm tools. The remaining video is a long-form instructional for those interested in building a vacuum seeder at home.
The 4 videos have been live on our YouTube channel for one month and have received over 1000 views during that time.
Provide the opportunity for any interested parties who were unable to attend the in-person workshops with information about the small farm tools discussed in this project.
Collaborators and NCAT personnel will participate in a webinar to share expereinces, reccomendations, and innovations with those in attendance. Content shared will include a collection of videos, testimonials, and presentations.
No outcomes or impacts to report.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
One thing we noted during the field days and drew from the surveys was how much those in attendance appreciated being able to both learn about and try out the tools being demonstrated. The two-pronged approach to the field days helped to facilitate learning on a variety of levels. Generally, each demonstration began with an explanation of the tool in question, its use cases, and its perceived utility in the particular setting. This was followed by a demonstration and hands-on opportunities for those interested.
Through this project, we were fortunate to make several connections with other service providers who are interested in expanding this work and we're looking to develop more on-farm demonstrations in the near future. We are currently in the process of applying for funding with one of our partners to develop additional educational events in Oregon and Colorado that will include capital investment as an essential element.
Even though this project was intended for ag professionals (our outreach primarily targeted that audience as well) many farmers found the events and ended up being the most represented group present at all of the events except for the one that took place in Napa. Based on attendance and surveys, I believe there is a great opportunity to host more events like this aimed at a farmer audience.
Although the stated t
I believe that funding more projects focusing on small farm tools would be welcomed by ag professionals and farmers alike.
One element that was touched on in the publication but not fully explored during the field days was how to go about selecting appropriate tools. I believe this is one area that could be included as a more central focus of a future project. This would include creating partial budgets and considerations like the scale of the operation, budget, opportunity cost, values, etc.