Final report for SLA20-001
Project Information
The Louisiana State University AgCenter (LSUAC) in collaboration with the Southern University Agricultural Land- Grant Campus (SUAREC) will implement programs that enhance the capabilities of Louisiana’s agricultural professionals in the area of sustainable agriculture. Themes for 2020 – 2021 include: sustainable farm tour, pollinator workshop, fall garden workshop (vegetable grafting, NRCS grant opportunities), spring garden workshop (sustainable poultry production), the Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) annual
meeting, and the Louisiana SAWG annual meeting, as well as regional sustainable agriculture related conferences and workshops. The target audience for trainings will be extension, non-profit representative, and mentor farmers who will share information and skills gained with local audiences. LSUAC and SUAREC extension personnel will be strongly encouraged to attend the training sessions. Information delivery systems to be utilized include trainings, workshops, conferences, networking sessions, farm tours, field days, hands-on demonstrations, handouts, resource manuals, SARE publications and informational bulletins. The Louisiana Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Board will meet twice annually for programmatic planning and evaluation. The program assistant (half-time), funded by this project, will be responsible for maintaining the state SARE website (http://www.southernsare.org/SARE-in-Your-State/Louisiana) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/LouisianaSARE/). The other duties for this position include coordination of state workshops and field days, SSAWG travel awards and arrangements, promotion of SARE resources and grant opportunities, promotion of related sustainable agriculture resources, events, and opportunities across the state, management and reporting of the PDP organization of advisory board, and collaboration with advisory board members’ programs when applicable.
The overall objectives of the Louisiana Model State Plan (MSP) are:
• Conduct workshops on sustainable agriculture for extension and agriculture professionals.
• Maintain the state SARE website with sustainable agriculture materials and resources, and links to related state organizations.
• Conduct bi-annual state advisory board meetings with the purpose of revising and modifying the strategic plan.
• Identify annual training objectives with the input from the Louisiana Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Board.
• Encourage extension and agricultural professionals to continue to attend sustainable agriculture meetings such as the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group annual meeting.
• Continue participation in workshops, meetings, and field days that highlight sustainable agriculture practices.
• Promote the SARE program results, resources, and grant opportunities in Louisiana.
Advisors
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Education
Due to the COVID-19 health pandemic, in-person farm tours were no longer possible because many social-distancing restrictions mandated by local, state, and the federal government. In order to still provide their clientele with insight into some innovative farms around the state, the Louisiana SARE program coordinator as well as program assistant decided to record those tours instead and provide these recordings to their clientele online allow others to watch from home and thus virtually participate in these farm tours.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
Provide LA SARE clientele with the opportunity to virtually participate in four (4) sustainable agriculture farm tours.
The Louisiana SARE program team travelled to four (4) farms in Louisiana and Mississippi to video record a tour of the agricultural operations and provide these recording later to their clientele so that they can participate in the tour virtually. The farms visited and toured were Mushroom Maggie's, a sustainable mushroom farm in St. Francisville, LA; River Queen Greens, a sustainable vegetable farm in New Orleans, LA; Fullness Farms, a sustainable vegetable farm in Baton Rouge, LA; and Compostella Farm, a sustainable farm in Picayune, MS. The latter is located in Mississippi, however, provides its products to many Louisiana residents via New Orleans area farmers' markets. The tours typically included a walk around the farm, especially highlighting the fields as well as washing and packing stations, and featured the owners and operators speaking about the background of the operation as well as other important information.
These recordings will allow farmers as well as extension personnel to participate virtually in four (4) farm tours and learn more about the operations and the sustainable agriculture practices and methods they utilize. Louisiana SARE is able to promote sustainable agriculture and highlight innovative farms around the state while adhering to the guidelines and restrictions set in place to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 virus. Unfortunately, it has taken longer than anticipated to create the videos due to the ongoing health pandemic, however, the farm tours were conducted. Because of this, no virtual participants have seen the video yet, no in-person participants were part of the farm tour due to COVID-19.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
Due to the COVID-19, it has taken longer to create the videos but the farm tours were conducted. Because of this, no virtual participant has seen the videos yet, no in-person participants were part of the farm tour due to the ongoing health pandemic.
Face of SARE
SARE educational materials are distributed at all of our SARE trainings and other relevant programs in Louisiana both at Southern and Louisiana State University. SARE materials are distributed to the public by state and county faculty that participate in our programs. SARE books and educational materials are distributed to our advisory council, county agents, mentor farmers, and scholarship recipients. SARE trainings, information, and resources are advertised and shared on social media pages and the Louisiana SARE website. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, much of our materials and trainings were delivered virtually this year.