2021 Oklahoma Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Model State Program - Program Assistant

Information and results from SARE grant program activities was distributed and promoted through articles, field days, presentations at conferences and other appropriate events. Fact sheets, production manuals and handbooks are generated using the data from this work. These materials were then posted on our print-on-demand (PODS) website sponsored by OCES. Announcements are sent out to all extension personnel when new materials are ready for distribution. One of the most efficient and popular methods for assimilating information regarding OkSARE funded trainings has been the use of social media. Various cooperators maintain Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook pages where announcements are routinely sent out with links back to pertinent materials. If funding permits, these materials are printed and distributed to target audiences at sustainable agriculture events. Southern SARE provided materials are also made available to all new Educators and presented for distribution at targeted meetings through the state.

In 2021, OkSARE  participated on Agriculture and Natural Resource teams that have been established to strategically plan trainings in targeted program areas. These areas include: Sustainable Crop Production, Small Acreage Programs, Vegetable Gardening, Local Food Systems, Livestock Production, Farm and Ranch Management, Drought, Weather, and Water Issues, and a relatively new but long overdue area, Disaster and Emergency Preparedness. OkSARE participants will be actively involved in planning these trainings, encouraging and assisting attendance at these trainings and developing curricula for each of these identified topics. The objectives below will address these topics.

1.) Sustainable Crop Production concepts which may include cover cropping, crop rotations, irrigation practices and pesticide/herbicide use will be included in programing for/by at least ninety agricultural educators. a) In 2021, if pandemic conditions permit, OSU will offer a Master Irrigators Training to be held in February to a limited number of attendees in a face-to-face multi day training. The OSU Winter Crop School, Red River Farming Conference and various Small Grains Cropping Systems meetings will be scheduled as allowable.

2.) That fifty agriculture professionals will be able to provide information, education and guidance on Small Acreage Programs. a) In 2021, A new program which has been proposed as a direct result of Educator participation in a previous SSAWG Conference will be a series inservice training sites to be established to train Educators and Producers with hands-on experiences in the production/management of honey bee colonies to support pollinators and provide new and alternative products for producers in our state. Additionally, a program to cover the basics of backyard poultry keeping is planned to encourage responsible management of poultry on small acreage farms. Other topics which are scheduled to be addressed for the small producer are forage production/stocking rates, fruit and vegetable production for beginners (Organic and Conventional), food preservation methods and disaster/emergency preparedness. OkSARE will, as always, be providing significant support for the Langston University Annual Goat Conference in addition to the a fore mentioned trainings.

3.) Twenty educators would receive training on Local Food Systems. a) In 2021, the ANR Team has proposed trainings on the following topics to be developed: Direct Marketing considerations for fruit/vegetable producers, designing a Small Scale Farm Operation curriculum for Educators/Producers, a clearinghouse for community garden information, health department regulations (FSMA, hydroponics, aquaculture, etc.) and strategies to alleviate food insecurity.

4.) Eighty agricultural professionals will be able to provide the latest information with respect to the environmentally sound management of natural resources - especially water, soil and air, particularly as they are affected by Drought, Weather and Water issues. Specific topics that have been identified to meet these needs are: Droughts preparedness and response, Pond Management, Water Conservation and Crop Efficiency, Weather Extremes, the development of a comprehensive water plan. a) In 2021, these issues will be addressed through the OSU Winter Crop School, the Panhandle Crops Clinic, the Red River Crop School, and the Oklahoma Irrigation Conference.

5.) Twenty extension educators would be better prepared to assist and provide technical direction for producer driven research and on-farm demonstration activities through producer program granting opportunities such as the USDA and SARE. a) In 2021, this will be encouraged through the distribution of Educator Kits containing information with respect to the SARE, ODAFF and USDA granting programs.

6.) Fifty educators and others will receive training in Farm and Ranch Management covering topics such as analyzing production costs, transition and estate planning, marketing and cash futures, finance programming and USDA programs and the farm bill to subsequently help producers in developing and sustaining their operations. a) In 2021, this will be accomplished with previous mentioned programming.

7.) Sixty professionals will be trained in sustainable alternative livestock practices to cover analyzing feed costs and supplements in a production system, marketing, reproduction and herd health and other biosecurity concerns. a) In 2021, this will be addressed through the Oklahoma State University Meat Goat Boot Camp and the Langston University Goat Conference programs as well as rotational grazing presentations at the Red River Crop School and the OSU Winter Crop School. We will also work closely with coordinators of a recently funded NIFA Sustainable Ag systems Grant entitled “ Enhancing livestock production from rangelands in the great plains” to facilitate training on multi-species patch burn grazing strategies.