Final report for SNE21-008-NH
Project Information
Problem and justification: New Hampshire agriculture is in transition, both amongst the farming community and within the agriculture service providers (ASP) who offer direct support. The global pandemic resulted in the retirement of many ASPs who had lengthy careers and were well networked across the state. New staff have not had the opportunity to network across agencies or industries resulting in an isolated service provider landscape, each working towards their own individual or specific organizational level needs. A well-connected network results in more efficiently meeting grower needs, is better able to address major issues, and work towards collective goals. In addition, given historic and well-documented racial inequities across the food system, service providers must improve their cultural competencies to better serve an all-incisive agricultural landscape. A baseline understanding of the cultural stressors that all farm families face and how this may influence their professional working relationship with the farm family and farm business will result in a more sustainable agriculture system, where all people are able to farm.
Solution and approach:
Small business owners wear many hats, and owning a successful farm in New Hampshire demands a diverse skill set and a strong understanding of the evolving landscape of agricultural service providers. This project set out to achieve the goal of minimizing farmers’ time spent navigating services while maximizing impact and efficiency through collaboration.
To improve client referrals and foster collaboration, a professional network was created to connect agriculture service providers and enhance awareness of each other's programs. Agriculture service providers, state agencies, and nonprofits alike were invited to be listed on our webpage “NH Farm Network”, modeled after a similar webpage with UMaine Extension. A series of ongoing ‘farm network’ calls were organized. Each call began with a grounding and shared community agreements centered around equity and inclusion. Each call had a speaker, set of speakers, or topic focus, with time scheduled during the final half-hour for open discussion, resource sharing, and questions. While often we focus on learning outcomes, a primary goal for this program was building connections, relationships, and awareness of each other's offerings.
To meet our equity and inclusion goals we published “Measuring Racial Equity in the NH Food System, 2022 Findings”, and held a call to review the findings. In lieu of repeating the assessment in 2024 where not enough time had lapsed for measurable results, we partnered with NH Food Alliance by including Equity Advisors in the publication of the first-ever NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan (anticipated publishing 2025). The role of the equity advisors was to guide the process of applying equity as a lens to the Plan.
Lastly, to bring people together we held in-person Agricultural Professionals Day in 2023 and 2024. These events included a focus on equity and inclusion, and considerable time was allocated towards facilitated networking and getting individuals to meet each other in authentic ways. Finally, we shared our overall goal for the project and the gathering, of a tighter more networked group of service providers who are better able to respond to farmer need in an efficient and timely manner. Participant feedback highlighted the need to strengthen farmer relationships with ASPs and streamline communication through diverse methods like innovative texting services, direct (personal) email, in-person visits, and GIS mapping. Priorities moving forward for the group include creating an interactive, mobile-friendly directory of service providers, fostering better collaboration and referrals among organizations, and minimizing farmers’ time navigating services. There is greater awareness and desire to explore new tools and communication strategies to maximize impact and efficiency with the farmers we serve.
Sixteen agriculture service providers (ASPs) will develop skills in advising farm businesses with improved cultural competencies to better serve a diverse group of New Hampshire farmers. These 16 service providers will change their attitude and awareness in the structural racism present in the food system, and the importance of collaborating as a network to address such challenges. The service providers will be better able to serve New Hampshire farmers though a strengthened more connected network serving 80 farmers.
Agricultural Need: As the states farming community ages (65% of farm owners being 55 or older), so do the service providers who offer support. As retirements occur, we lose the relationships and networks that were developed over individual careers. New staff are not familiar with the skills partner agencies bring or of the specialties of individuals. No single organization has taken leadership in gathering agency partners in networking, communication, collaboration or skill building. We are effectively siloed in our own organizations. Furthermore, barriers to food security, food and land access are reinforced by systemic inequalities across the food system (Conrad, 2020). Racial and cultural inequalities at all levels in the food system are well documented (Conrad, 2020; Rosset, 2008) with many agricultural professionals unaware how they perpetuate these issues. If NH ASPs are not able to effectively communicate across agencies, and continue to operate without cultural proficiency training, they will not be able to effectively or efficiently provide services to New Hampshire’s farmers, or do this in a culturally proficient manner. Tight networks and a shared understanding of racial equity and the food system enhance information flow and result in better services for all types of farmers.
The NH Agriculture Financiers expressed interest and support for an enhanced, tighter-networked ASP landscape. We aim to tighten the network while working towards a more diverse and inclusive agricultural community. This includes opportunity for underserved to have a seat at the table. Additionally, the NH Food Alliance, Racial Equity Team has formed to amplify racial equity in the state’s food system and serve as a resource for food and farm organizations. There is staff-overlap between these teams, providing a natural synergy. At the 2021 statewide food summit, racial equity round table, action items such as “finding partners to unpack racial equity work” and “creating open space for micro-learning opportunities” were identified. This SARE project builds upon this assessment as well as the 21-week racial equity challenge conducted in the summer of 2020, of which the SARE PDP coordinator was a participant.
Farmers, the UNH Beginning Farmer training course, and agriculture service providers have expressed a desire for a single spot to get information germane to their diverse needs. In improving cultural proficiency among a farmer audience, many organizations that work directly with farmers do not know where or how to start (as demonstrated during key informant interviews.) While organizations are unsure how to proceed with incorporating DEI into their work, granting agencies such as Northeast SARE and the NH Charitable Foundation have asked grantees to include DEI goals in request for proposals. Organizations must address how they are advancing racial equity and social justice in proposed projects.
Proposed Solution: To create a cohesive network, year one focused on team and relationship building across industries and organizations. Commitment to equity, inclusion and diversity on behalf of all participants was incorporated into each call, and a set of community agreements was developed and shared.
To address knowledge gaps, we conducted ongoing professional development training sessions through 90-minute Zoom webinars during the second and third years of the program. Additionally, we hosted a full-day networking and professional development event, NH Agriculture Professionals Day, in both years, drawing over 60 attendees to each session.
A significant portion of the event focused on facilitated networking, encouraging participants to connect across organizations, meet new people, and build an inclusive network that transcended status, job titles, or years of experience. Feedback highlighted the event’s value in fostering stronger relationships and enhancing communication among farmers and agricultural service providers. This approach directly supported our goal of reducing the time farmers spend navigating services while maximizing the impact and efficiency of collaborative efforts.
Two publications were developed to help ASPs understand a baseline of racial equity in agriculture in NH. The first published in 2022 “Measuring Racial Equity in the NH Food System, 2022 Findings”, and the second (publication date 2025) integrated equity into the entirety of the first ever NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan. These baseline documents have already facilitated conversation and will be utilized as a tool to measure progress in the years to come.
ASP Interest: Support for the project comes from a direct, expressed need from the agriculture financiers group as well as the UNH Extension Beginner Farmer team, who will be core participants of the project. Engagement will build off the success and recruit participation from the NH Farmers Open Forum where a diverse pool of ASP’s joined a weekly call to address timely topics and the 21 week NH food system racial equity learning group. Over time the invite list for the calls and in person events grew to 144 ASPs from federal, state, local and county agencies, lenders, non profits, farmers, extension educators, and other service providers.
Rosset, Peter. Development, 2008, 51(4), (460–463). 2008 Society for International Development (7) (PDF) Food Sovereignty and the Contemporary Food Crisis.
Conrad, Alison. Identifying and Countering White Supremacy Culture in Food Systems. Duke World Food Policy Center, Sept. 2020, wfpc.sanford.duke.edu/sites/wfpc.sanford.duke.edu/files/Whiteness-Food-Movements-Research-Brief-WFPC-October-2020.pdf.
Advisors/Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
- - Technical Advisor (Researcher)
Educational Approach
Recruitment: Recruitment for this project was built off the NH SARE PDP grant (SNE20-008-NH) where service providers participated in a 2-day Reading The Farm training (RTF). At the RTF, participants were brought together to form a more cohesive network. The NH Farm Network is a continuation of that effort. NH Food Alliance, NH Ag Financiers as well as program team leaders assisted with recruitment of new members. We were not able to secure a core of participants but we did build out a significant list (over 140) of ASPs, many of whom were regular attendees at our calls and in-person events. Recognizing that networks are not static but changing, ‘Open Forums’ (piloted during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic) were used to highlight the network, with a topic-focused open forum/dialogue that encouraged new people to join the network. Planning meetings to solicit input were held with PDP coordinator, regular attendees to our calls, organizational leaders and with backing support from the NH Racial Equity working group. The Equity working group provided significant support and input into the development of the Racial Equity Assessment.
Printed materials were supplied at in-person events, with supplemental material, meeting notes and links shared online on our website. Online posting of notes allowed for increased accessibility to the network for those who were unable to join the call. We were not able to identify three minority beginner farmer liaisons to work with us for the duration of the project. However, we were able to host an open forum and facilitated discussion with three minority beginner farmers and learn about their stories of starting a farm and navigating the complex network of service providers.
Education: The eight PDP training events for the NH ASPs were held via ninety-minute Zoom, specifically designed to address participant needs and knowledge gaps. The NH SARE Coordinator utilized many of the tools outlined in the “Sustainable Agriculture Through Sustainable Learning” Guide for educators by Sandy Bell and Janet McAllister, such as having ASP identify and share their mental models, in particular with DEI trainings. Prior to a training event, ASPs will share their motivation for attending and goals for the day. Trainings were grounded in the understanding that all participants are co-learners and the network is strengthened when we can support each other through difficult situations. Supplemental material, links and reports were shared online for participants to access during the project.
Verification: NH SARE actively sought input over the project period and designed the project to be responsive to the needs at the time. As such this program was designed with flexibility in mind, with a core goal of creating a community of learning that will allow New Hampshire to develop a stronger and tighter network of ASPs. Our secondary goal was to develop professionally in the areas of diversity equity and inclusion, and other “soft skills” (ie: communication). In recognition that ASPs have varying skills and participate in their own ongoing professional development, the specific topics for the training were outlined at the start of the year. We did not have the core competency tool from the northeast agriculture viability group to utilize as planned. However, we did ask what the network meetings have meant to participants, and how they have benefited from the network. Verification of knowledge gain and network impact (connectivity) occurred at the annual summit in years two and three. With 16 responses to our survey with all responses in the positive, this response captures the feeling of the group well: “Connecting with other folks doing this work is what lights me up and inspires me. These meetings help me come up with ideas on new ways to further this work in the community.” Lastly, to assess our networking connectivity goals, we integrated a network assessment at the close of the project.
In year one the NH SARE coordinator utilized the Michigan State University tool: Measuring Racial Equity in the Food System: Established and Suggested Metrics. We focused on the second section of the toolkit “food and farm business: ownership of land and means of production and business support” to evaluate progress in the NH food system. In 2024 we supported the inclusion of equity advisors in the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan.
Milestones
16 ASP participants (the Cohort) and 3 beginner farmer representatives will review the 2021 needs assessment and network analysis to identify professional development needs of NH Ag service providers. Building off these assessments, we will prioritize needs across the service provider industry to develop a strategic professional development plan. During this meeting, we will establish network goals, meeting frequency and time. Additionally the NH SARE PDP coordinator will use the original needs assessment, integrating the Core Competencies from the Northeast Agriculture Viability group, to develop a “skills and knowledge list for agriculture service providers” (self-assessment tool). This tool will be used throughout the project to measure growth and development of the individual ASPs.
3
16
30
December 20, 2021
Completed
March 31, 2022
The NH SARE coordinator had initially planned on utilizing the core competencies from the Northeast Agriculture Viability group that was to be developed by the start of this project. The Agriculture Viability group did not complete the Core Competencies project, and therefore we could not utilize the resource for this project. In lieu of the skills assessment checklist, we held multiple listening and input sessions on the utility of the network, and explored through conversation with a diverse array of service providers what would be most helpful to them in their work. Specific skills vary by position and organization. Needs were identified annually via solicitation from network members. As a wrap up item during each of our in person gatherings and online calls we provided space and time for additional input and suggestions to address educational needs of the network. PDP coordinator and project consultant Jesse Wright utilized this input to organize the annual slate of gatherings. This input was recorded and utilized during planning sessions.
16 cohort participants and 3 beginner farmer representatives will attend a 1-day workshop providing a DEI framework with an agricultural context and engage in a goal setting exercise outlining purpose and mission for the future of the network. Prior to this 1-day training all participants will receive DEI related readings and study material to provide framework and grounding for these conversations. Participants will fill out the “skills and knowledge list for agriculture service providers” at the start of the training.
3
16
3
69
March 31, 2022
Completed
October 17, 2022
Two professional development webinars were conducted for the NH Farm Network. The goals for both of these were to be conversational and informative, challenging how we work as a state and as a network to build a more inclusive and equitable farming support system in New Hampshire. Preparation and input for these was provided through conversations with historically underserved farmers, including new and beginner farmers.
The first on June 6th focused on understanding the baseline racial equity assessment conducted for New Hampshire. 39 agriculture service providers attended. We covered how the project came to be, why building a network with a racial equity lens is important, and then presented the tool, the approach we took in finding data, and shared some of the key findings. Once we presented the data, we included the following prompts for discussion:
- How do you see yourself or your organization using these data / assessment?
- What resources might you need to center racial equity in your work?
- How might you contribute to the data set?
- What would our collective work look like if we operated thru a racial equity lens?
The second, held on October 17th, 2022 with 33 attendees, focused on hearing from underserved farmers. This Open Forum was designed to allow space for service providers to listen to historically underserved farmers in New Hampshire. We invited a panel of three farmers to speak to the group about their unique experiences as new farmers in New Hampshire. We asked service providers to listen for what structural barriers these farmers faced as they told us their stories, being careful not to provide specific recommendations to the individual, but to identify what at the system level prevented success. Invited guests were Paolamantina “Paola” Grullon Livingstone of Living Stone Farm in Wentworth, NH, Nasteho Mohamed - Farm and Food Youth Program at the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success, and Andal Sundaramurthy of Nalla Farm in Wilmot, NH. Speaker prompts were:
- How could you have been better supported?
- What would you have wanted service providers to understand about your journey?
- Is there anything you want to share with a group of service providers to help us better serve others in your same situation?
- Were there certain steps along the process that felt more challenging than they should have?
*This was not a time for service providers to suggest specific advice to farmers, but rather to listen and identify systemic barriers to entry or and long-term success. What about the system prevents farmers from entry? What about the systems prevents farmers from success? How, as a community of service providers, can we uproot these?
We closed with a conversation on where do we need to put the work in? Given what you heard today what would be a short/medium/long-term goal? This could be a self-reflection on your own work or organization.
As a baseline measure to track changes over the course of this project, the NH SARE Coordinator will use the Michigan State University tool: Measuring Racial Equity in the Food System: Established and Suggested Metrics. We will utilize the second section of the toolkit “food and farm business: ownership of land and means of production and business support” to evaluate food system equity in the networks’ work. This analysis and data collection is anticipated to take 6-months and will be contracted out. Once complete, the metrics report will be shared widely and is likely to inform future programming by NH ASPs. (March 2022).
3
3
April 01, 2022
Completed
June 06, 2022
The Measuring Racial Equity in the Food System: Established and Suggested Metrics report was completed, and posted, and a supplemental webinar was offered on June 6, 2022. Much work went into selecting data points to collect, aggregating and locating the data, and finding a consultant to complete this work. Six meetings were held in collaboration with the NH Food System Racial Equity Team, who provided support for the project. Specifically this group helped identify which data points and metrics would be of greatest value to the NH food and farming system, and helped share the results once finalized.
The SARE PDP coordinator along with the hired consultant pulled together the report, now published with the UNH Library system and available online for download. https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2249&context=extension
A public webinar was held to present the findings and the report on June 6th with 60 people registering and 39 individuals in attendance.
The NH SARE PDP coordinator has also been working with the NH Food Alliance, which will be providing financial support to complete the full MSU assessment using staff at the UNH Carsey Institute. This project only supported the collection of agricultural and farming metrics, not nutrition, food insecurity or food service workers.
The NH SARE PDP Coordinator will host/co-host 6 NH Farmer Open Forums, with minimum 10 participants per forum, to create a more cohesive network and knowledge sharing, to benefit both ASPs in their networking ability, and individual farmers who participate in the calls. Forum topics will be identified by the beginner farmer representatives, and focus on food system and agriculture equity topics. These “ag service provider office hours” will be actively promoted thru the UNH Extension Newsletter and social media to the farming public. The open forum structure also functions as an opportunity for continuous feedback from grower constituents. Ongoing input from the grower participants will inform both cohort network meetings and future open forum topics. As grower needs arise, the forum will provide opportunity for immediate input to ASPs (April 2022).
20
10
96
April 29, 2022
Completed
October 17, 2022
In an effort to build support and understanding for the network, we focused initial efforts on small informal meetings or listening sessions with partnering agencies and collaborators before launching a publicly advertised meeting.
These efforts began in October 2021 with a one-on-one meeting with a farm coordinator working with underserved farmers. This was in an effort to understand how the formation of a new support network could best serve underserved farmers, and what their specific needs were in New Hampshire. In March 2022 we met with the NH conservation districts who had expressed the need for a more collaborative networking program. Conversations with District staff helped provide input on the future website build and how the network meetings would be held. Later in March, we discussed the formation of the network with UNH Extension Food and Agriculture staff, again providing input and support on the future of the network, who to invite, and how to roll out the program. Our fourth meeting was May 13th, at the NH Food Alliance Statewide Gathering, as an invited speaker and small group facilitator for the breakout session on Farm Support Networks. The NH SARE coordinator led this session in collaboration with the UNH Extension New Farmer Coordinator, with 22 service providers in attendance. Again, we shared news and plans for the network, collected contact information, and received input on the future utility of the network. On May 19 we met with the NH Agriculture Financiers to report out on the project, as this group provided initial support for the project at its inception.
Once this groundwork was completed and grassroots networking for the project finished, we launched the publicly advertised 'open forum' on September 12th, 2022, with 27 attendees. During this session we shared a draft version of the farm network webpage, and our vision for the network in the future.
16 ASP participants (the cohort) and 3 beginner farmer representatives will engage in two professional development trainings which were identified and prioritized in year one. These PDP events will be organized and promoted by the NH SARE Coordinator 4-weeks prior to the events. We will target the cohort, but will not restrict participation if other ASPs wish to attend. One training will develop ASPs skills in DEI, and one training will meet the express needs of the network at that time. Participants will revisit their “skills and knowledge list for agriculture service providers” to track progress and identify needs. (March 2023).
3
16
63
March 31, 2023
Completed
September 14, 2023
In lieu of a smaller training event, the state coordinator, with support from project partners, organized an in-service day for agriculture professionals. In years past New Hampshire used to have what was called “NH Agriculture Professionals Day” which was organized by department heads as an annual event. Knowing the event continued to have name recognition among our partner organizations we brought it back, but with a new spin. The event was designed to create space and opportunity for discussion and information sharing across agriculture organizations and to inspire each other to action on some of the most pressing and cross-cutting issues. Discussion topics were identified during the open forum calls and we used the network to identify speakers and subject matter experts.
The agenda was as follows: Morning panel discussion on climate chaos & emergency response with NH Department of Health and Human Services and NH Department of Agriculture Markets and Food emergency management contact. The second panel focused on the impacts of innovation, and grower experiences, with UNH Extension, NH NRCS, and an EQUIP participating farmer. The NH Agriculture Financiers group then presented their new resource, the Loan Readiness Toolkit and solicited input from the group on the utility of the tool.
The day was wrapped with eleven lightning round (five-minute flash presentations) on a variety of topics. Everyone in the network was invited to speak during the lightning round which solicited a handful of speakers. Additional topics were identified by the state coordinator.
When asked ‘What brought you here today’ program participants overwhelmingly reported they attended for the networking opportunity, or as one attendee wrote to ‘renew connections’.
As a post-event wrap-up, participants were asked to share what they were bringing forward and what was emerging for them as they left for the day. They responded as follows
What’s emerging:
- Access to federal funds but not enough skilled resources to implement
- Deepening connections and learning about opportunities for our work to cut across organizations and sectors
- Tools to help farmers implement climate disaster plans and funding potentials for innovative technologies
- Trying to figure out why we don’t hear from farmers during a disaster if none of them know about disaster preparation or have plans so we can make our outreach better
- Disaster preparedness even without a farm to think about
- Disaster plans need more focus.
- Need to help farmers make emergency plans
- SARE opportunities for farmers
- Hearing from the NH Queer Farmer Network was great. I plan to reach out to them about striving to make my programs as welcoming as possible.
- I didn’t know the Queer Farmers were represented and I’m glad to hear it!
- There are many programs available to Farmers. Reaching Farmer’s seems to be the most difficult issue.
- Innovation funds. Lots of great ideas, need more Human Resources.
- Better messaging from the state
- $600??? I had no idea & I'm going home to tell all my producers
- The $600 rebate will be nice to share with farms, also some labor tools. Great connections
- All of the resources I was provided with, I am going to pass forward to others.
- The number of free legal aid options was surprising and great to know about
- Hopefully, new partnerships to put conservation on the ground!
- Connections to existing organizations that can enhance my programming
- Learning about all the resources available to NH farmers as someone new to agriculture in the state
- Networking/getting the word out
- Pet vending (raising, buying or selling household pets) is becoming a major agriculture industry. What are the laws and rules about this? What is the difference between a rescue, a shelter, a pet store, a breeder, a commercial kennel, etc?
Press write up about the event: https://countryfolks.com/nh-ag-professional-event-emergency-response-and-loan-preparation/
The NH SARE PDP Coordinator will host/co-host 6 NH Farmer Open Forums, with minimum 10 participants per forum, to create a more cohesive network and knowledge sharing, to benefit both ASPs in their networking ability, and individual farmers who participate in the calls. Forum topics will be identified by the beginner farmer representatives, and focus on food system and agriculture equity topics. These “ag service provider office hours” will be actively promoted thru the UNH Extension Newsletter and social media to the farming public. The open form structure also functions as an opportunity for continuous feedback from grower constituents. Ongoing input from the grower participants will inform both cohort network meetings and future open forum topics. As grower needs arise the forum will provide opportunity for immediate input to ASPs.
20
10
2
60
April 28, 2023
Completed
July 11, 2023
A series of open forum calls were scheduled with each event having strong participation from individuals across a number of organizations as well as good geographic coverage. The list of events, dates and topics is copied at the bottom of this milestone. All meetings began with the sharing of the community agreements and concluded with open space for anyone in the network to share updates and resources. To aid those who could not attend, we had a note taker and shared back notes and resources both via email and post to our webpage. This is in an effort to make information and resources readily available and accessible.
Our first call was to address confusion and a knowledge gap around funding and grant opportunities. With so many new staff across the state, many reported to us their desire for better understanding or one-stop shop listing out all opportunities. We organized the call with two goals in mind. To one, help service providers understand what grants and funding opportunities exist so they can help their clients access these, and two to create a written published resource to persist after the call was finished. During this process and in planning calls with partners, we learned of a resource page on the NH Food Alliance website dedicated to funding opportunities. Having learned they already maintain and add to a grants opportunity page, we decided not to recreate the wheel, but to work with that group to improve their site so it has more utility to farmers. We also asked the site manager to add additional agriculture production-focused grant opportunities that were not already on their page. The site was originally organized for food system-level funding with limited opportunities specific to production agriculture. A thirteen-page shared google sheet was also created, briefly summarizing all known grant opportunities.
During the call, we had nine different organizations speak about their grant programs. Presenters included the NH Dept of Agriculture Markets and Food, North Country Investment Corporation (NCIC), USDA Farm Service Agency, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, NH County Conservation Districts, American Farmland Trust, Northeast SARE, NOFA-NH, and Walden Mutual Bank.
Our second call was focused on resilient and prepared farmers. How we guide farmers to more resilient businesses & tool ourselves to assist our clients. We also worked to build awareness around diversity in agriculture and mitigation of economic and financial risks to support diversity within agriculture. Participants were encouraged to think critically about how we bring equity and inclusion into the community, into our work, or our outreach. In break-out rooms we discussed ‘What does farm resiliency mean to you? Social, environmental, economic, sustainable practice, improvements’. After we centered equity and accessibility and economic risks, we transitioned over to a presentation on farmer & agricultural tax education, and the tax and asset protection program. By first centering equity and accessibility we were able to recognize the barriers and issues surrounding agriculture business management, who can access loans and grants, and tax literacy. At the end, there was an opportunity for network-wide announcements from participants.
The third and final network call for the network in the 2023 calendar year was focused on disaster response. We had been receiving questions from staff who were unsure what role they were supposed to fill in helping clients during and after a disaster event. Was there documentation they are supposed to be helping with and reporting this to FSA or other organizations? What are they supposed to tell growers when they call? What happens (specifically) when disaster strikes agriculture? Be that drought or hail, a terrorism event, or a barn fire? What procedures fall into place in an emergency management response and what role do NH Agriculture Service Providers play in emergency management and planning? How can we be better prepared to help farmers, farm families and farm workers before, during and after any sort of emergency, be that local, county, statewide or national. There was useful discussion but what became clear in conversation was that roles have not been clearly defined in the aftermath of an event. The session and subsequent extreme rainfall events in July that affected many NH Farms led to further exploration of this topic by the state SARE PDP coordinator and others in the network.
Two subsequent networking events were also organized by the UNH Extension Food and Agriculture Program Team Leader, with overlapping goals of the NH-SARE PD Project. The meetings were designed to bring organizations and staff people in the organizations closer together. Similar to the NH Farm Network calls they were structured to be informal and welcoming to new staff, and provided structured and unstructured networking opportunities for staff to connect. On June 12, 2023 NH Department of Agriculture Markets and Food hosted Extension staff for a meet and greet. On July 21, 2023, UNH Extension hosted the NH Natural Resource Conservation Service at the UNH Horticulture Farm for a field day and discussion about furthering agriculture conservation projects.
1/9/23 at 1:00 PM - topic: Focus on Funding (31 attendees) online
4/10/23 at 1:00 PM - topic: Resilient farms – mitigating economic risks (30 attendees) online
7/10/23 at 1:00 PM - topic: Disaster Response (40 attendees) online
6/12/23 NH DAM&F & UNH Extension meet and greet - In-person
7/21/23 UNH & NRCS field day at Woodman Farm - In-person
16 ASP cohort and 3 beginner farmer representatives will participate in a meeting to review input received from the Open Forums. Input will be used to re-identify knowledge and programming gaps within ASP offerings, trainings and one-on-one assistance for NH Farmers. The NH SARE coordinator will create a report that summarizes this review for those in the network. (June 2023).
3
16
5
June 09, 2023
Completed
June 01, 2023
Discussion between various network participants and input from the open forums about interest in an in-person gathering and networking event led to the creation of the NH Agriculture Professionals Day in September 2023. As we had been gathering regularly for the Zoom-based network calls, there was piqued interest in gathering in person. Provided the extreme weather events experienced in NH in 2023 (winter freeze, spring frost, and July rain event) there was a demonstrated need to further address how we respond to weather extremes. Other agenda items for the day were identified by community needs and input from those in the network during the open forum calls. Input and poll reports from the network calls was aggregated and used by the state coordinator in collaboration with network consultants to plan the in-person event. Collaborators included the Extension Program Team leader, NH Agriculture Financiers group liaison, NH Agriculture Markets and Food state veterinarian, and project co-collaborator Jessica Wright.
The 16 Participants of the 2023 PDP training events will revisit their “skills and knowledge list for agriculture service providers” to track progress and identify needs. Input from this survey will inform the PDP trainings for the network in year-3.
3
16
21
July 28, 2023
Completed
September 14, 2023
The Agriculture Viability group did not complete the Core Competencies project, and therefore we could not utilize the resource for this project. In lieu of the skills assessment checklist, we polled participants on what topics they would like to see covered by the network. The information shared with the state coordinator was used as a planning tool for the 2024 network calls and trainings. Additional questions were asked at the 2024 in-person event to help facilitate programming beyond the grant period.
What Topics Would you Like Covered at Future Network Calls?
List of available grants for farmers
Climate Adaptation
IPM assistance options
Success stories
Communications and Collaborations
Question on Labor/workforce challenges - how are NH farmers doing with recruitment/retention of employees?
Rising concern of PFAS/PFOA
Market demands, how growers can keep up with changing markets
Programs to support farmers financially
Discussion on Unmet Needs in NH Agriculture
-Farmer to Farmer Mentorship Needed for beginner+ farmers who have their farm up and
running
-Assisting growers with upcoming FSMA Compliance regulations.
-NH DAMF used to have a grant for small infrastructure projects, but the funding stream has dried up.
Using data from the Year-2 evaluation summary, the NH SARE Coordinator will work with the cohort and 3 beginner farmer representatives to prioritize Year-3 PDP needs of the ASP network. The NH SARE Coordinator will then organize two PDP trainings for the ASP network, with 16 participants. One training will develop ASPs skills in DEI, and one training will meet the express needs of the network at that time. Participants will revisit their “skills and knowledge list for agriculture service providers” to track progress.
3
16
144
April 30, 2024
Completed
September 19, 2024
We reached the third and final year of the SARE-funded grant: “Network Development and Skill Building of Agriculture Service Providers for an Inclusive Food Secure New Hampshire” (2021-2024). Our efforts focused on fostering equity and inclusion across all activities, aiming to “meet people where they’re at” and address the diverse needs of New Hampshire’s agricultural community. To support accessibility, we continued offering Zoom-based open forums, ensuring broad participation regardless of geographic or time constraints. These forums were designed with input from participants and featured invited speakers who shared how their organizations approach work through an equity lens.
We held three open forums with an explicit focus on equity, attracting 83 participants. Topics included:
- Creatively Addressing Climate Risks
- Measuring Impact and Equitable Lending: Spotlight on Walden Mutual Bank
- How Do We Define a Farm?
Each forum emphasized diverse perspectives and actionable strategies to ensure inclusivity in agricultural practices and services.
In addition, we successfully revived NH Agriculture Professionals Day with 61 attendees. To prioritize equity in leadership, we introduced co-leadership roles for event facilitation, amplifying the voices of emerging leaders in the agricultural community. Jessica Wright (UNH Extension Agriculture Business Team) and Cali Lucy (Land For Good) co-led the event, helping shape and deliver impactful content. The day included two facilitated networking activities, a panel discussions, and a lightning round of 11 five-minute presentations, showcasing diverse perspectives and expertise.
following the panel discussion on "communicating with clients - stories from the field" attendees broke into groups of three for an integration discussion. Participants were asked to think about accessibility and inclusion, specifically regarding networks and information sharing. "Given the info you heard in the panel discussion, how might you address accessibility and given that we are trying to reach more and more of the ag community, how might you expand your audiences. Particularly the underserved. What might a strategy be?" Take 10 minutes to discuss. Write down the high points. Report back to large group ~10mins
All attendees were given a note card, and on an individual basis they wrote down what they intended to do differently, or more of or less of as a result of the panel and discussion on reaching new audiences.
Participant feedback highlighted the success of these efforts, with one attendee stating, “This was the best professional training I had ever attended in my life.” When asked about the value of the network, service providers responded:
- “Ag Pros Day was a great resource for connecting with others.”
- “Opened my eyes to services I was unaware of.”
- “Staying informed and connected.”
These activities were explicitly designed to align with the grant’s goal of fostering equitable access, connection, and professional development among agriculture service providers. By integrating DEI principles—from topic selection and speaker diversity to collaborative leadership models—we achieved our objectives and laid the groundwork for continuing this essential work.
January 8, 2024 - NH Farm Network Open Forum Meeting Topic: How do we define a farm?
April 1, 2024 - NH Farm Network Open Forum Meeting Topic: Measuring impact and equitable lending: spotlight on Walden Mutual
Jul 8, 2024 - NH Farm Network Open Forum Meeting Topic: Creatively Addressing Climate Risks
September 19, 2024 – NH Agriculture Professionals Day
News Release write-up about Ag Professionals event: https://countryfolks.com/nh-ag-professionals-day-communications-and-updates/
The NH SARE Coordinator will use the Michigan State University tool: Measuring Racial Equity in the Food System: Established and Suggested Metrics. We will utilize the second section of the toolkit “food and farm business: ownership of land and means of production and business support” to evaluate food system equity in the network. This analysis and data collection is anticipated to take six months, and will be contracted out. Once complete, the metrics report will be shared widely and is likely to inform future programming by NH ASPs. The cohort will meet to evaluate progress based on the 2022 report from milestone 3.
3
7
September 30, 2024
Completed
July 07, 2024
After the successful completion of the assessment in 2022 and the promotion of the publication, we recognized that the vast majority of the metrics published needed more than a two-year timeline to measure progress. Many of the metrics that we were able to collect and publish were pulled from the USDA NASS survey, completed every five years. Putting our energy into running this same assessment over such a short timeline did not feel like an effective use of our resources. Along the same timeline, the NH Department of Agriculture Markets and Food was able to support the NH Food Alliance in producing the first-ever NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan.
The core of the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan consists of 27 briefs covering the products, markets, and issues that are pivotal to a thriving food system in New Hampshire. Each brief will address a specific topic through the lenses of farm viability and equity — current status, barriers, opportunities, and 3-5 specific recommendations from the authors on how to improve, advance, or address the challenges stated in each brief.
The NH Food Alliance knew we had the equity assessment project and knew we were looking to pivot to something more impactful and meaningful. Through conversations, we came to realize we had overlaping vision for layering on equity into this first-ever strategic plan, and decided to use the funds allocated to the MSU assessment and instead support five equity advisors who would be looking over the entire plan. This felt like a great partnership and an even more impactful way to utilize these resources, as hundreds of people are being engaged through this process.
From the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan: Project Equity Plan:
Created a special designation of 'Equity Advisor' within the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan Advisory Committee. The role is intended to guide the process of applying equity as a lens to the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan, and as content experts when it comes to applying equity as a lens in brief development. Equity Advisors provided input, feedback, and ideas on both the process and content of the Strategic Plan, with a special focus on the application of equity as a lens into brief development. (April 2024.)
Before Brief development, we worked with the Equity Advisors to identify underlying issues and inform the research and conversation for each brief topic. We dedicated a UNH Sustainability Institute Fellow to researching and elevating what equity considerations should be included in foundational research for brief development.
During that review and during brief development, we raised the following questions at critical moments of research and writing:
- How does this brief topic disproportionately impact some communities more than others?
- How do different groups experience this issue differently?
- What are the unique challenges around this issue as it relates to equity?
- How can we incorporate lived experience related to this topic into the Plan? Quantitative data tend to tell a generalized story; whose stories are important to include?
The answers to those questions were explored and integrated throughout the briefs, including in recommendations for future action. When possible, challenges and issues raised were addressed through the recommendations – and when necessary, we named challenges that impact this work but fall outside the scope of the work.
Equity Advisors - (a committee of 6 people for all Briefs, listed below, guided the process of applying equity as a lens to the development, drafting and reviewing of the Briefs.
- Josephine Porter, Chief Strategy Officer, NH Center for Justice and Equity
- Chief Lisa Gray, Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation, Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust
- Xochiquetzal Berry, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, Northeast Organic Farming Association of NH (NOFA-NH)
- Ariel Aaronson-Eves, Coordinator, NH Queer Farmers Network
- Ameenah Shabazz, NH Racial Equity Ambassador, Food Solutions New England (FSNE)
- Cameron Huftalen, Project Manager, Food Systems and Economy, Vital Communities
The NH SARE Coordinator will conduct a network analysis to measure progress. Results of the analysis will be compared with those from 2021. The results will then be written into a report, shared with the ASP cohort, and made publicly available. (September 2024)
3
27
September 30, 2024
Completed
September 26, 2024
To complete this analysis we utilized the Qualtrics survey tool. We copied (with slight revisions) the initial survey conducted in 2021. All the questions remained the same, and where specific organizations or groups were identified we added new folks, and removed those no longer relevant. We did not want to make any significant changes to the survey. We were able to get 27 responses to the survey, whereas our initial survey had 21. We invited participants to participate in the survey questions at the annual Agriculture Professionals Day which had 61 attendees, and followed up with the survey link via email the following week.
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Service provider knowledge gain was measured at NH Agriculture Professionals Day in 2023 and in 2024. of the 60+ attendees each year, we got 16 and 17 responses to the knowledge and skill gain questions respectively each year. We know that of the 60+ attendees there was great benefit to all that participated, but we only recieved 33 total verified responses to our learning outcomes. Participants overwhelmingly found the event and networking beneficial to the work they do supporting farmers.
Performance Target Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes - Service Providers
Target #1
16 agriculture service providers will develop skills to serve 80 farmers (in advising farm businesses, with improved cultural competencies. These may include: mediation, having difficult conversations, conflict resolution, farm stress, enterprise budgeting, or whole farm planning.)
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 16 | 17 |
Three workshops/webinars were organized after receiving input from members of the network regarding skills and knowledge gaps. Network call topics were designed to address timely questions or needs of the network at the time. As such, topics included mitigating economic and tax risk, addressing extreme weather and responding to extreme weather events, and funding opportunities in agriculture. Participants were able to put into practice what they learned during these calls and were provided time to ask clarifying questions.
NH Agriculture professionals have an enhanced ability to make referalls to other service providers and are more aware of resources within our state after participating in the NH Agriculture Professionals Day (yr 2 & yr 3).
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 48 | 51 |
Target #2
16 agriculture service providers change attitudes and increase awareness to serve 32 farmers (in diversity, equity and inclusion and in the structural racism present in the food system and importance of building networks to address social challenges in the food system and respond appropriately).
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 69 | 16 | 17 |
Two DEI focused webinars were held with a total of 69 participants from across the agriculture service provider network in New Hampshire. Participants learned about systemic barriers historically underserved farmers face, and were challenged to think about how we as a network and as individuals within our organizations can address and eliminate these barriers. Conversations around equity and accessibility of NH-specific programs is consistently highlighted at the start of each of the network calls. Additionally, the racial equity tooklit continues to be brought forth as a resource for partner agencies and collaborators of this project.
In year three we learned about equitable lending practices at Walden mutual bank. We also learned about the NH Migrant Education Program and how we can be a better resource for migrant farmworkers and their children and how they can tap into existing resources. We also held a panel (including SARE administration) on how we define a farm, challenging the notion of farmer stereotypes and farm ownership necessitating our definition of 'farmer'.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | 32 | 51 |
Target #3
16 agriculture service providers will increase their knowledge on resources and organizations, and expand their professional network of ASPs serving farmers to benefit 80 farmers.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 96 | 99 | 144 |
Through a combination of networking meetings where service providers can get to know each other and each other's organizations, and the web-based platform that provides a single website for all service providers to be listed, ASP's have deepened their knowledge. The opportunity for these 'open' format meetings where all are invited has allowed new staff members, and folks new to the state to integrate more quickly and make client referrals more readily.
Additionally, through an in-person networking event where numerous resources were shared, the ASP's left better able to refer and assist clients. ASP's were surveyed about how they have benefited from and utilized the network during the September 2023 event.
In year 3 we had 144 participants join our calls and in-person gathering. The follow-up survey to NH Agriculture Professionals Day included a question identifying what value the meetings and network have brought them over the last three years. The responses largely centered around the benefits of networking. People responded that they were more aware of other people's (organizations) programs and offerings than they were before.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 69 | 62 | 61 |
| Activity | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curricula, factsheets and other educational tools | 1 | 1 | ||
| Study circles / focus groups | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Webinars, talks and presentations | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| Workshops and field days | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Web Views: 1196 views on the NH Farm Network Page aimed at collating all NH Ag Service Providers in one place.
one workshop in year two, and one in year three: NH Agriculture Professionals Day
One focus group in year three: meeting of equity advisors for the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan
Additional Project Outcomes
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
This project provided additional support for the inclusion of Equity Advisors in the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan, anticipated to be published in 2025. It ensured Equity Advisors were compensated for their time and advanced the proposal's goal of fostering racial equity conversations and baseline knowledge across New Hampshire's agriculture industry.
How have you benefited from this network:
-Very helpful but it was even more helpful to meet the folks I've seen on the screen, in person.
-I love meeting people who have additional resources I can share with my producers.
-I'm walking away with a lot of resources and information
-(I) have found the information valuable to share with farmers I work with and to understand what is happening in the ag community.
-Connecting with other folks doing this work is what lights me up and inspires me. These meetings help me come up with ideas on new ways to further this work in the community.
-I just really appreciate the networking opportunity.
-With all the new staff networking is important, keep it up.
-The network was very valuable, helped me know the agencies and staff in providing ag services.
Evaluating a network poses challenges that differ from a traditional PD Program in that our focus was not on knowledge gain of a specific topic (ie soil testing, or cover crop selection) but rather on the connectivity of working professionals, and the ability of a new professional entering NH agriculture to effectively and efficiently join and connect with others, and to do so in a welcoming manner. Or rather to feel welcome in this space. To that end, we did not differentiate in our network analysis how long an individual has been working in the field, which could have been an interesting metric as we know seasoned professionals are more tightly connected than new staff.
SARE Outreach
1. Each UNH Cooperative Extension Field Specialist meets one on one with the NH SARE Coordinator to understand the full offering of the Northeast SARE Grants. Each field specialist is empowered to share about the grants, espeically the farmer grant, when they are out on site visits or meeting with clients. This form of grassroots outreach is most effective for us in "selling" SARE.
2. Each UNH Cooperative Extension Field Specialist is provided with the full SARE library when they are hired to better understand what SARE offers and relay that information to farmer clients.
3. All Grant deadlines and openings are shared in the UNH Extension, Food and Agriculture Newsletter, the NH Food Alliance Newsletter, and the Weekly Market Bulleting as published by the NH Department of Agriculture Markets and Food.
4. The NH PDP coordinator in Collaboration with the PDP Staff hosted Northeast SARE staff, State Coordinators and the Advisory Council for a state tour. The tour was written about in a blog post on the UNH Extension site: https://extension.unh.edu/blog/2022/09/northeast-sustainable-agriculture-research-education-supports-new-hampshire-farmers-researchers
5. The SARE PDP coordinator fields calls and inquries about the grants from the public, from growers and from university scientists.
6. SARE Coordinator attends grower events to promote SARE farmer grant and resource library/database on SARE website. Events inlcuded NOFA NH Craft of farming tours, Northeast Hightunnel Conference (vendor), and UNH extension sponsored farm tours.
Recieved information about SARE grant programs and information resouces:
| Audience | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service providers | 18 | 63 | 61 | 142 |
| Farmers | 33 | 80 | 40 | 153 |