Progress report for SFL23-A001
Project Information
Florida activities for 2023-24 will build upon the basic framework for the model state program. Planned activities include integrating results of SARE funded research and Extension activities, and other relevant research, and using this information as resources for educational programs. We also plan to continue to strengthen our focus on targeted training for state and county Extension faculty, representatives of non-profit organizations, representatives of state and federal government agencies, and farmer representatives. To fulfill the priorities and objectives of our program, our training funds will be used to address programs in three subject matter areas: (1) new and emerging solutions for Florida agricultural production, (2) advancing Extension capacity in sustainable agriculture, and (3) entrepreneurial innovation in sustainable agriculture. Our expected outcomes are: (1) Extension faculty will participate in SARE in-service training programs and use this information in their own programming, (2) Extension faculty will participate in regional and national training programs in sustainable agriculture and apply the lessons learned in their own programming, (3) at least two of the statewide Extension priority teams will include information and resources about sustainable agriculture and SARE in their professional development training programs and Extension programming, (4) through SARE, Extension agents and farmers will identify opportunities for the development, outreach, and research of alternative crops and enterprises, (5) regional and local county agents will develop new collaborations with organizations, agencies, and groups working in sustainable agriculture, and (6) Extension faculty and agents will make increased use of resources to support programming in sustainable agriculture.
Outreach Objectives:
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- Maintain existing and establish new collaborative Extension trainings and programs with faculty members and county agents at University of Florida and Florida A&M University whose work addresses sustainability in production agriculture.
- Extend collaboration with organizations that are active in the post-production components of food systems, particularly non-profit, state, and governmental organizations whose work fosters development of food and agriculture businesses.
- Support the development of Extension programs in food systems, including Regional Specialized Agents whose work includes both on-farm production and post-farm gate aspects of food system development.
- Expand participation of minority, women, urban, and limited resource farmers and professionals in SARE activities and programs, ensuring that these groups are well represented in the full range of SARE-funded professional development opportunities.
Florida SARE Expected Outcomes:
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- County faculty members will participate in regional and national training programs in sustainable agriculture and will apply the lessons learned in their own programs.
- At least two of the statewide Extension priority teams will include information and resources about sustainable agriculture and SARE in their professional development training programs and Extension programming.
- Extension agents and farmers will identify opportunities, such as SARE-funded Research & Education, Professional Development, and On-Farm Research projects, for the development of alternative crops and enterprises and will play key roles in outreach and research projects that focus on alternative crops and enterprises.
- Regional and local county agents will develop new collaborations with organizations, agencies, and groups working in sustainable agriculture, including non-profit and for-profit organizations involved in post-farm gate food processing, marketing and distribution, and policy development.
- State, regional, and county Extension faculty members and agents will make increased use of resources to support programming in sustainable agriculture, including fiscal resources such as Southern SARE grants.
Subject Matter Topics:
- Sustainable Solutions for Florida Agricultural Production:
- Agronomic and horticultural production systems increasingly face emerging pest threats, competition with other uses for scarce resources, and increasing international competition in traditionally high-value crops. The rapidity with which new challenges emerge requires that service providers be knowledgeable not only of technologies and strategies that are fully tested and “ready for use,” but also of the most promising solutions under development. Equally important, we need to shorten the distance between research and application, an imperative long recognized by SARE.
- Advancing Extension Capacity in Sustainable Agriculture:
- This initiative provides individualized training in specialized topics in sustainable agriculture. County and state faculty can participate in training relevant to their state and county programs that may not be a focus or an emphasis in the other Florida SARE initiatives. We allow county and state faculty to develop their own training objectives and propose venues that will provide the training they need. We also advertise training opportunities that may be of interest to Florida faculty.
- Entrepreneurial Innovation in Sustainable Agriculture:
- This initiative focuses on advancing Extension that provides support for nontraditional agricultural businesses and promotes sustainable food systems to address social and economic community issues. Healthy growing agricultural and natural resource-based businesses can contribute to local development and economic vitality if barriers to the establishment and growth of businesses are addressed. We will facilitate workshops, strategic planning, and joint programmatic development for Extension and community partners.
Training Events:
- Sustainable Solutions for Florida Agricultural Production:
- What Does Social Science Have to Do with SARE?
- The target audience for this training is county Extension faculty. County Extension faculty are under increasing demand to identify sustainable solutions for rapidly changing food and agricultural systems and encourage behavioral change. This requires Extension faculty to understand why people resist a change in behavior despite knowing that change is needed. This training gives participants an opportunity to develop a road map that addresses changes needed in the food and agricultural sector, with a focus on farmers. Training objectives:
- Provide Extension faculty with access to science-based evidence for models of behavior change.
- Extension faculty will be introduced to contemporary approaches to programmatic development based on logic models, using science-based data.
- Identify the components of a strategic logic model.
- The target audience for this training is county Extension faculty. County Extension faculty are under increasing demand to identify sustainable solutions for rapidly changing food and agricultural systems and encourage behavioral change. This requires Extension faculty to understand why people resist a change in behavior despite knowing that change is needed. This training gives participants an opportunity to develop a road map that addresses changes needed in the food and agricultural sector, with a focus on farmers. Training objectives:
- What Does Social Science Have to Do with SARE?
- Advancing Extension Capacity in Sustainable Agriculture:
- How to Source Extramural Funding to Sustain Your Extension Program:
- The target audience for this training is county Extension faculty. County Extension faculty are under increasing demand to find extramural funding for their Extension programs in Florida. Yet, most are unaware of many services provided by UF Office of Research that apply to Extension, nor do many know how to search other public data bases that identify likely sources of funding for their programs, such as the national database of foundations. This training gives participants an opportunity to develop a strategic approach to seeking funding for new and existing Extension programming for sustainable agriculture and sustainable community food systems, drawing on both public and private sources. Training objectives:
- Work with appropriate on-campus resources to help them identify potential funding sources for their programs.
- Enroll in and use the grants.gov and foundation.org systems for identifying potential donors.
- Identify the key components in a RFA.
- Read and understand the key components in the RFA that determine eligibility and guide the applicant toward the most promising venues for funding.
- The target audience for this training is county Extension faculty. County Extension faculty are under increasing demand to find extramural funding for their Extension programs in Florida. Yet, most are unaware of many services provided by UF Office of Research that apply to Extension, nor do many know how to search other public data bases that identify likely sources of funding for their programs, such as the national database of foundations. This training gives participants an opportunity to develop a strategic approach to seeking funding for new and existing Extension programming for sustainable agriculture and sustainable community food systems, drawing on both public and private sources. Training objectives:
- Advanced Individualized Training:
- The target audience consists of county Extension faculty who are members of a Florida Extension Professional Association. Scholarships are available to support travel to a professional development program in which the faculty person will receive training in topics relevant to sustainable agriculture. Program objectives:
- Increase participation in trainings related to sustainable agriculture that are associated with the SSARE Program.
- Increase participation in relevant national and regional trainings offered by other programs and organizations.
- Enhance the ability of the participant to develop and deliver local extension programming relevant to the goals of the Florida SARE program.
- Expand the current Extension responsibilities of the participant to include programming related to sustainable agriculture and food systems.
- The target audience consists of county Extension faculty who are members of a Florida Extension Professional Association. Scholarships are available to support travel to a professional development program in which the faculty person will receive training in topics relevant to sustainable agriculture. Program objectives:
- How to Source Extramural Funding to Sustain Your Extension Program:
- Entrepreneurial Innovation in Sustainable Agriculture:
- Successful Grant Writing for Extension Programming:
- The target audience for this training consists of county Extension faculty, service providers, community-based organizations, and producer organizations. The funding opportunities for community-based and producer organizations provide important resources to foster community and farm development. Successful proposal development is a learned skill. While the specific requirements for each proposal will vary depending on the goals of the donor, objectives, and proposal requirements, there are commonalities to most proposals. The objective of this program is to provide participants with an understanding of key factors that donors commonly use to evaluate proposals and how to respond to these factors. Training objectives:
- Write a problem statement that is responsive to the priorities of the donor.
- Develop goals, objectives, and outcomes to address the problem statement.
- Develop and describe objective-based activities.
- Construct an appropriate evaluation strategy.
- Develop an objective-based budget.
- The target audience for this training consists of county Extension faculty, service providers, community-based organizations, and producer organizations. The funding opportunities for community-based and producer organizations provide important resources to foster community and farm development. Successful proposal development is a learned skill. While the specific requirements for each proposal will vary depending on the goals of the donor, objectives, and proposal requirements, there are commonalities to most proposals. The objective of this program is to provide participants with an understanding of key factors that donors commonly use to evaluate proposals and how to respond to these factors. Training objectives:
- Successful Grant Writing for Extension Programming:
Revision of State Strategic Plan:
The 2023-24 Florida SARE programming continues building upon our previous years’ work. We focus on outreach and training that enhances the environmental and economic benefits of production agriculture. We develop trainings that emphasize local and regional food systems to address issues and policies that impact our food system. We adapt to the changing training needs of state and county faculty. County, regional and state Extension personnel continue to press for more training in how to develop research and outreach proposals and how to assemble and train teams to implement their projects. We will continue to expand this training to include identification of potential funding sources (public and private). County faculty want access to cutting edge research in sustainable ag to reduce the time between research and adoption. We are accommodating this need by involving county faculty in field assessments of various research projects. Through this venue, county faculty have a voice in the development of research projects and in the data generation process. We will expand our training program that integrates grower and technical advisor input into ecological and biological research to enhance research outcomes to include farmer-designed on-farm trials and stakeholder advisory panels. This program helps extension faculty strengthen the outreach and evaluation components of extension projects. One of the most useful roles we play for IFAS faculty members is to gather preliminary data regarding grower needs, barriers, and priorities. We will develop protocols for this kind of data collection and work with faculty members to facilitate the data collection. These data are often critical to the development of successful grant proposals.
Advisors
- (Educator and Researcher)
- (Educator)
- (Educator and Researcher)
- (Educator and Researcher)
Education
Our educational approach for our “sustainable solutions for Florida agricultural production” initiative has two components:
- To provide in-service trainings where the target audience consists of Extension agents, producers’ associations, non-profit, state, and local organizations, and private sector technical advisers.
- To facilitate participation by Extension agents, growers and industry representatives, and representatives of non-profit, state, and local organizations in on-farm and on-station research, grower assessments of demonstration and research trials including annual events at any of Florida Research & Extension Centers, field days on-farm and on-station, and workshops.
Our educational approach for our “advancing Extension capacity in sustainable agriculture” initiative has three components:
- To conduct professional development trainings focusing on the needs of Extension professionals in the state.
- To allow county and state faculty to develop their own training objectives and propose venues that will provide the training they need.
- To advertise training opportunities available within the Southern SARE region and nationally that may be of interest to Florida faculty.
Our educational approach for our “entrepreneurial innovation in sustainable agriculture” initiative has one component:
- To offer an in-service training about successful grant writing to enhance Extension programming.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
Agronomic and horticultural production systems increasingly face emerging pest threats, competition with other uses for scarce resources, and increasing international competition in traditionally high-value crops. The rapidity with which new challenges emerge requires that service providers be knowledgeable not only of technologies and strategies that are fully tested and “ready for use,” but also of the most promising solutions under development. Equally important, we need to shorten the distance between research and application, an imperative long recognized by SARE.
Future of Sustainable Agriculture in Florida Webinar Series:
The target audience for this webinar series consists of county Extension faculty and other local service providers. The purpose is to expose participants to research conducted in Florida focusing on new projects and technologies supporting sustainable agriculture. By exploring emerging research from a wide variety of disciplines related to sustainable agriculture, participants may collaborate and provide relevant and timely sustainable agricultural programming to their clients. This training is offered as a webinar series to increase participation. In 2022-23, the webinar series will focus on the SSARE funded project, Bridging the Food Supply and Sustainable Agriculture Systems with the Nonprofit Sector. The webinar will highlight a new web-based directory of food and agriculture nonprofits. After completing this training, participants will be able to identify potential collaborations between Cooperative Extension and nonprofit organizations to increase the sustainability of Florida agricultural production systems.
Improving Research Outcomes through Stakeholder Feedback:
The target audience for this training consists of state and county faculty with Extension and research appointments and staff working with these faculty members. The pace of change in food and agriculture has increased greatly due to increased international trade, expanding regulatory requirements, and a diverse consumer population with distinctive and in many cases non-traditional preferences regarding food products and tangible and non-tangible attributes. These changes make it more important than ever to ensure that agricultural research can respond quickly to producer needs. We have developed techniques for incorporating grower and technical advisor (especially Extension) input into the design and implementation of agricultural research. The approach improves the quality of research because the key concerns of end-users of the research are involved in directing the research away from solutions that will not be acceptable to farmers, will direct research toward the most critical constraints and needs of producers, and will fully incorporate the expertise and experience of growers and their advisors to develop treatments and identify the kind of data needed by growers for their decision-making purposes. We have used these techniques in three research projects at the University of Florida with outstanding results that have contributed some of the most innovative treatments in research and helped us avoid commitment of time and effort to approaches that will ultimately fail the test of adoption. The objective of this IST is to provide participants with a systematic, tested approach to incorporating grower input into the research process. Training objectives:
- Develop a protocol for stakeholder driven adaptive research which includes facilitating an advisory panel, conducting research assessments, and farmer-designed on-farm trials.
- Complete the IRB protocol that will ensure your study meets federal requirements for human subjects research.
- Develop the appropriate data collection instruments and procedures for the study.
- Conduct the procedures involved.
- Analyze the results of the assessment.
Southern Region Cover Crops Council
We are a member of Strategy Team 4. The objective of Strategy Team 4 is to foster basic, applied and participatory cover crop research in the Southern Region and establish a multi-state research project.
Graduate Student Grant Writing Workshop
This hands-on workshop was open to any graduate student in the Southern region interested in improving their grant proposal writing skills. Dr. Mickie Swisher discussed the keys to write a successful grant proposal. Students had the opportunity to work on their own proposals at the workshop, as well. Students from any department were encouraged to attend. At the end of the training, the participants were able to: (1) Explain why proposals are rejected; (2) Identify the key elements of a call for proposal; (3) Craft their own proposal.
Enhancing the Sustainability of US Cropping Systems through Cover Crops and an Innovative Information and Technology Network
Transformative changes are needed to address agriculture's grand challenge of increasing food production while maintaining environmental integrity. Changes must mitigate agricultures high energy demand; impending water scarcity and herbicide-resistant weeds; consequences of climate change (more frequent flooding, droughts, and extreme heat); and decline in soil health, critical for improving soil and water quality. This proposal will address these unprecedented threats by providing the infrastructure necessary to support and accelerate cover crop (CC) use nationwide, thereby meeting NIFA program goals of 1) increasing total factor productivity, 2) improving water and nitrogen use efficiency, and 3) reducing losses due to biotic and abiotic stresses. An integrated transdisciplinary approach of research (54%), extension (30%), and education (16%) components will address our objectives. A nationwide team of dedicated research, extension and NGO personnel from 28 institutions will establish on-station and on-farm research networks, novel teaching curriculum, and extensive social-science based outreach. Our overall goal is to increase crop productivity, conserve natural resources, and reduce our agro-ecological footprint through increased and improved use of CCs. Our role on the project includes coordinating field research assessments with service providers and growers to evaluate the potential usefulness of the research and possible barriers to adoption. We are also responsible for coordinating the Farmer Think Tank Panel activities and presenting at conferences.
Evaluating the Dual-Purpose of Chickpea: A Cash and Cover Crop for Agricultural Production Systems in the Southeast
This Southern SARE sponsored Research and Education proposal was funded in 2021. The aim of this project is to evaluate chickpea to improve our knowledge on this multi-purpose crop and learn whether it can be grown for its full growth potential in the Southern Coastal Plain region as an off-season (winter) dual-purpose crop (cash and cover) in corn production systems. Our evaluation will be based on yield and economic returns, potential N-credits, and impact on major insect pests of the major summer cash crop (corn). We will identify the best maturity chickpea varieties for production (high yielding and nutrient rich) to enhance diversity, and environmental and economical sustainability. The specific objectives are (1) evaluate yield, nutritional quality and N-fixation of chickpeas integrated into corn cropping systems, (2) assess N-fixation by chickpea and N credit to the subsequent cash crop, by combining 15N tracing at one research site (PSREU) on the three most promising varieties with more traditional N cycling measurements at both research sites and on growers’ fields, (3) measure insect and disease pressure in the rotational crops, (4) evaluate and compare the economic feasibility of production for evaluated chickpea varieties, and (5) incorporate stakeholder’ recommendations in the evaluation of project activities, conduct outreach and training, and disseminate findings on the potential dual-purpose of chickpea in agricultural production systems.
Future of Sustainable Agriculture in Florida Webinar Series
We began developing the series in 2022. Topics will include cover crops, high tunnels, low tunnels, soil health, plant breeding/seed saving/regional seed production, pests and diseases, alternative crops. We will assess the participants’ change of knowledge with pre and posttest evaluations.
Improving Research Outcomes through Stakeholder Feedback
We presented our first virtual research assessment training at the 2021 Northeast Cover Crops Council Conference. This served as a pilot virtual training for our upcoming Florida SARE training scheduled for 2023-24.
Southern Region Cover Crops Council
In collaboration with Strategy Team 4 we secured a SAS CAP grant that supports cover crops research in Florida. See “Enhancing the Sustainability of US Cropping Systems through Cover Crops and an Innovative Information and Technology Network.” We attended the Southern Cover Crops Conference in 2023.
Adapting and Expanding High Tunnel Organic Vegetable Production for the Southeast
In 2021, we recruited five additional advisory panel members and hosted our third meeting, we recruited nine participants and conducted our third research assessment at PSREU, we recruited eight participants and conducted a virtual research assessment on Zoom, and we started production on several virtual field days and project videos to highlight the activities and results of this project. We also presented at the 2021 ASHS conference (virtual), 2021 FSHS annual meeting (in-person), and the III International Organic Fruit Symposium and I International Organic Vegetable Symposium (virtual). In 2022, we produced 5 short videos highlighting the project. Four additional videos and virtual field days highlighting some of the treatments grown at the UF/IFAS Plant Science Research and Education Unit in Citra, FL are currently in production. We also hosted our final advisory panel meeting, our last virtual research assessment, and completed on-farm trials at five farms in Florida. In 2023, we published and disseminated our videos through our website, YouTube channel, and Florida SARE listserv.
Graduate Student Grant Writing Workshop
Thirty-eight students registered for the grant writing workshop and twenty students attended the end of course Q & A session.
Enhancing the Sustainability of US Cropping Systems through Cover Crops and an Innovative Information and Technology Network
In January and August 2021, we hosted our first two Farmer Think Tank meetings with five farmers representing five states. We hosted our third, fourth, and fifth Think Tank meetings with eight farmers representing eight states in 2022-23. We will host our final Think Tank meeting with the eight farmers in 2023. In March 2021, we presented our first research assessment training at the Northeast Cover Crops Council Conference and hosted our first research assessment at WFREC on the cover crops grown in common experiment 1. In May 2022, we hosted our final research assessment at the PSREU on the corn crop grown in common experiment 2. In November 2022, we presented findings from our first four Farmer Think Tank meetings at the 2022 Tri-Societies Conference in Baltimore, MD. In 2024, the cover crops project continues to grow. In November of 2023, a full proposal was submitted to the Conservation Stewardship Program through the USDA.
Evaluating the Dual-Purpose of Chickpea: A Cash and Cover Crop for Agricultural Production Systems in the Southeast
Our activities began in 2021. We recruited an advisory council and hosted our first meeting in 2022. We will host our second meeting in 2023. In 2023 we continued to assess soil health and evaluate N-credits to corn by setting up an experiment at PSREU to trace 15N. We will have a field research assessment for corn, in Citra, in the last week of June. We will quantify the major corn pests including the corn earworm (CEW), European corn borer (ECB), and Southern corn rootworm (SCR) as well as beneficial insects such as parasitoids and predators. There will be an advisory council on Zoom by July 15, 2024.
This initiative provides individualized training in specialized topics in sustainable agriculture. County and state faculty can participate in training relevant to their state and county programs that may not be a focus or an emphasis in the other Florida SARE initiatives. We allow county and state faculty to develop their own training objectives and propose venues that will provide the training they need. We also advertise training opportunities that may be of interest to Florida faculty.
Southern SARE Site Visit to Florida SARE Program
The target audience for this initiative includes county Extension faculty who are members of a Florida Extension Professional Association. Discussions are held either in-person or virtually through Zoom, to allow distant individuals participate.
Advanced Individualized Training:
The target audience consists of county Extension faculty who are members of a Florida Extension Professional Association. Scholarships are available to support travel to a professional development program in which the faculty person will receive training in topics relevant to sustainable agriculture. Program objectives:
- Increase participation in training related to sustainable agriculture that is associated with the SSARE Program.
- Increase participation in relevant national and regional training offered by other programs and organizations.
- Enhance the ability of the participant to develop and deliver local extension programming relevant to the goals of the Florida SARE program.
- Expand the current Extension responsibilities of the participant to include programming related to sustainable agriculture and food systems.
Grant Proposal Mentoring
We reach out to faculty members in the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, especially those with significant Extension responsibilities, to offer assistance in pre-proposal research and proposal development on topics related to sustainable agriculture. These are one-on-one or small group mentoring sessions.
Advanced Individualized Training
We sponsor travel scholarships for Extension professionals and/or mentor farmers to attend sustainable agriculture training. Upon completion of the training, scholarship recipients are required to submit a report about the conference, what they learned, and how they are using or plan to use what they learned in their work.
Grant Proposal Mentoring
We are mentoring farmers, faculty, and non-profits to develop competitive research proposals. Proposals will be submitted to various USDA NIFA funded programs in 2023/24.
Southern SARE Site Visit to Florida SARE Program
This site visit occurred in 2023. We identified several issues to shift focus to in the coming years. Topics included the impact of artificial intelligence on sustainability, farmers’ mental health and quality of life, student learning in student gardens, dissemination of S-SARE information, equity issues including Women in Agriculture, an online orientation of SARE for new graduate students, promoting future collaborations with regional institutions, and issuing grant calls in Spanish.
This initiative focuses on advancing Extension that provides support for nontraditional agricultural businesses and promotes sustainable food systems to address social and economic community issues. Healthy growing agricultural and natural resource-based businesses can contribute to local development and economic vitality if barriers to the establishment and growth of businesses are addressed. We will facilitate workshops, strategic planning, and joint programmatic development for Extension and community partners.
Successful Grant Writing for Extension Programming:
The target audience for this training consists of county Extension faculty, service providers, community-based organizations, and producer organizations. The funding opportunities for community-based and producer organizations provide important resources to foster community and farm development. Successful proposal development is a learned skill. While the specific requirements for each proposal will vary depending on the goals of the donor, objectives, and proposal requirements, there are commonalities to most proposals. The objective of this program is to provide participants with an understanding of key factors that donors commonly use to evaluate proposals and how to respond to these factors. Training objectives:
- Write a problem statement that is responsive to the priorities of the donor.
- Develop goals, objectives, and outcomes to address the problem statement.
- Develop and describe objective-based activities.
- Construct an appropriate evaluation strategy.
- Develop an objective-based budget.
Specialty Pumpkin: Laying the Groundwork for an Emerging Crop and Lucrative Products
This Southern SARE sponsored Research and Education proposal was funded in 2021. The purpose of this project is to identify and address grower, industry, and consumer needs and constraints for an emerging crop (specialty pumpkin) through Social Science, Food Science, and Cropping Systems research. In addition to the other PIs work, we will interview farmers, operators at sales points and consumers to gain multiple perspectives about potential opportunities and bottlenecks to acceptance of specialty pumpkin products. Producers will include large and small farms, organic and conventional, and those with and without experience in developing new enterprises. We will conduct grower field assessments of on-station and on-farm trials and produce actionable recommendations to guide research over the course of this project. We will convene an industry advisory panel including farmers, actors in the market chain, and other industry stakeholders such as seed providers who will assume major responsibilities for annual review of project progress and develop strategic recommendations for outreach in this project and follow-on research programs.
Florida Women in Agriculture Association (FWIAA)
Florida’s Women in Agriculture Association (FWIAA) envisions a thriving, global agricultural sector where women’s abilities to make strategic life choices and put them into action are strengthened, supporting them to become visible leaders of change and influence. Our mission is to collaboratively build a network that amplifies the voices, knowledge, and contributions of women in the agricultural sector. We strive to increase the capacity of Extension to cultivate the leadership potential of women farmers, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders. Through Extension, we will provide targeted education, resources, mentorship, and tailored support. Ultimately, we hope to empower women in agriculture through a comprehensive and inclusive approach, fostering gender equity, resilience, and sustainable growth. Women have long played critical roles in farming as principal or secondary operators. Principal operators are responsible for day-to-day decision-making while secondary operators are involved in decision-making but are not principal operators. USDA reports that women are principal operators on 14 percent of U.S. farms and are secondary operators on 37%, for a total of 51% of all farm operators. (USDA, Economic Research Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2019 Agricultural Resource Management Survey). Faculty members at Florida A&M University and the University of Florida seek to develop a statewide Florida Women in Agriculture Association (FWIIA), an umbrella organization that will include women throughout the state.
Bridging the Food Supply and Sustainable Agriculture Systems with the Nonprofit Sector
We propose a training program for Florida’s CES agriculture and natural resources agents and field personnel from NRCS. This training will provide Extension agents with the skills needed to build stronger public-private-nonprofit networks to address numerous procedural barriers and policy issues that hinder cross-sectoral collaboration within sustainable agriculture. These networks could reduce food waste, give farmers alternatives to traditional market venues, and generate opportunities for expanded joint programs to address a broad array of problems and needs in the food system. The proposed training program will be achieved through three key objectives.
- Build expertise in Florida’s agriculture and natural resources CES agentsso they can then provide needed training and technical assistance on capacity building to food and agriculture nonprofit organizations.
- Establish an electronic repository of training materialson nonprofit capacity building in food and agriculture organizations.
- Build a directory of food and agriculture nonprofit organizationsto support partnerships between Cooperative Extension and nonprofit organizations.
Social and Community Benefits and Limitations of Urban Agriculture.
Urban agriculture plays a vital role in addressing food and nutrition insecurity in urban communities by producing healthy foods, promoting social interaction, and contributing to economic development and environmental sustainability. We assessed the benefits and limitations of urban agriculture on four primary ways it impacts communities:
- Health and Well-being
- Environmental Sustainability
- Social and Cultural
- Economic and Community Development
We found that activities such as community gardening, urban farming, and indoor food production increased in popularity among urban areas due to the benefits.
Successful Grant Writing for Extension Programming
We developed and are launching a virtual training series focused on SSARE and other USDA-NIFA grant funding in 2023. We will assess the participants’ change of knowledge with pre and posttest evaluations.
Specialty Pumpkin: Laying the Groundwork for an Emerging Crop and Lucrative Products
Our activities began in 2021. We recruited an advisory council and hosted our first meeting in 2022. We hosted our first research assessment in 2023. We will host two additional advisory council meetings in 2023/24. We will host another research assessment in Puerto Rico in 2023/24. We completed 10 interviews with farmers in 2023 and will complete an additional 20 before 2024. Using results from the farmer interviews, we will develop an online questionnaire to distribute to farmers in the Southeast. We will also complete interviews with grocery store/produce managers to learn more about the marketability of Southeast grown calabaza.
Growers have demonstrated interest in growing calabaza as evidenced by seed requests to our program. To-date more than 75 seed packets of calabaza have been distributed to growers. Two local growers in south Florida have tested a few of the breeding lines at their farms on a small scale and have sold their produce profitably (no empirical data available at this point). On-farm trials with grower cooperators later this year (2023) will provide a better understanding of the viability of calabaza production under both conventional and organic systems.
In both the Spring and the Fall, the cover crop used for generating the residue needed for weed suppression was not as effective as was intended and weed infestation was a major problem in both seasons and volunteer tillering of the SSG was an additional problem in Fall. Additionally, the December freeze abruptly ended the Fall trial. Therefore, utilizing a rye cultivar that produces greater biomass and better weed suppression will be explored in future work. Planting the Fall trial by late August will allow for adequate time to evaluate these pumpkin lines during fall prior to occurrence of a frost or freeze incident. Pearl millet will be evaluated as an alternative to SSG to allow for more effective termination with the roller-crimper. Avoiding use of a tilled strip for addition of fertilizer and placement of drip tape should also be avoided to limit the germination of weeds during transplant establishment.
Florida’s Women in Agriculture Association (FWIAA)
FWIAA was the product of a session at the 2023 UF/IFAS Extension Symposium. 43 women attended that session. Those in attendance noted various barriers women face and a lack of consolidated resources or awareness of resources. This promoted the development of a preliminary needs assessment among Extension professionals. Support for a group that would identify and consolidate existing resources as well as provide training for Extension professionals was evident. Thus, the FWIAA continued to work together to shape this association.
Bridging the Food Supply and Sustainable Agriculture Systems with the Nonprofit Sector
We continued to utilize this database of urban agricultural nonprofits and people with students and extension professionals with activities such as sampling. In 2024, a new proposal will be submitted to the USDA.
Social and Community Benefits and Limitations of Urban Agriculture
We produced a publication in January 2023 through the University of Florida and Institute of Food and Agricultural Science’s Electronic Data Information Source (EDIS). In March 2023 a training was held in Ohio as a result.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
Training activities have become more available. Virtual trainings were developed where possible and in-person events began in 2023 and will continue in 2024. There remains some limitation with low participation at in-person events.
Face of SARE
We distribute SARE educational materials at all of our SARE trainings and other relevant programs in Florida. SARE materials are distributed to the public by state and county faculty that participate in our programs. We also distribute SARE books and educational materials to our listserv, advisory council, and scholarship recipients.