Final report for WMT22-001
Project Information
The Montana PDP program for WSARE will utilize grant funding for two types of programs in the years 2022-2024. We will offer small professional development travel grants, and will also offer larger program development and implementation grants for training program applicants.
Montana will continue our professional development mini-grant program, making small allotments of funds available, up to $2,500 per applicant, for use in attending professional development trainings offered across the state, region, and nationally. These professional development travel grants are important to agriculture professionals and organizations throughout the state of Montana. Past grants have been used to travel and attend trainings out of state, as well as to bring speakers and training opportunities into Montana for the benefit of producers and agricultural professionals. We anticipate offering eight to ten professional development travel grants, totaling approximately $30,000 over the period of the grant.
The Montana PDP program will develop and release a call for proposals for training programs of up to $15,000 during the grant period. The training program awards can be used to develop and implement training programs around sustainable agriculture topics in the state of Montana. The call for proposal will encourage development of multi-year professional development opportunities that address topics in: climate change and resiliency in agriculture, COVID resiliency in agriculture, diversity and inclusion in agriculture, and food security. We anticipate awarding two to four training programs of up to $15,000 each during the duration of the grant.
Montana’s objectives through the PDP mini-grant program are to increase knowledge, skills, and understanding of sustainable agricultural practices throughout the state as a result of interactions and involvement with one or more of the proposals funded through the mini-grant system, with the ultimate objective of documented implementation of that new knowledge at the producer and agribusiness level. With the mini-grant system, the Montana PDP program supports multiple projects in different fields of agriculture, and increases the overall impact of funding through offering a wide variety of project types.
In 2021, seed potato producers, beef cattle ranchers, berry growers, certified organic growers, cereal grain producers, Extension professionals, and many other groups of constituents all applied to receive funding for professional development programming. The diversity of opportunity to gain new knowledge and information directly related to the specialty field the agricultural producers and professionals work in helps to inform and encourage a change in practice when presented with new and innovative approaches to agriculture and sustainability.
In the 2022-2024 funding years the Montana PDP program has a special emphasis on increasing the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and application of knowledge learned in adapting to climate change and extreme weather events in agricultural settings. Additional priorities are to increase food security to at risk communities, and to do additional outreach to our underserved populations and communities. Given the realities of the the 2021 growing season we plan to prioritize educational opportunities that will increase knowledge and awareness of sustainable agricultural practices that will lead to the adoption of practices in times of extreme weather events.
Montana’s diverse landscape creates opportunities for agriculturalists in all types of enterprises to find their niche and develop strong sustainable agricultural businesses. From mountains to plains, Montana has it all. The dramatic changes in the landscape create unique differences in how agriculture is practiced in each area.
As the 4th largest state, Montana has over 93,149,312 acres within its borders. Of the total state land area 62.4% is engaged as farm and ranch lands (NASS 2019). While much of Montana’s agricultural lands (66.2%) are pasture and range lands, the state also boasts 28.2% of its land base in agricultural cropland. Agriculture is a $4.39 Billion industry in the state. The largest industry in the state by a significant margin (NASS 2019).
The practice of agriculture can change dramatically across the state's landscape from west to east. Much of western Montana farmland is comprised of fertile river valleys with abundant irrigation water flanked by forested mountainsides. Specialty production of fruit, vegetables, grapes, livestock, and other crops provide a rich diversity of agricultural products. These agricultural lands are in close proximity to many of the larger cities in Montana, and can participate in the regional food economies and direct farmer-to-consumer market relationships supported by a developing local food scene. These areas are also under increasing pressure of residential development and the high land values that come from that increase in population. In the central and eastern parts of Montana the mountains give way to rolling plains and broad river valleys. While some areas have irrigation water, many counties practice dryland cropping techniques and have open grazing range. These counties face very different challenges in land availability, affordability, shortages in labor, and access to markets.
Within Montana's borders are eight tribal reservations, supporting Native American communities with rich histories, challenges, and opportunities within their nations. There are many opportunities to build on programs for sustainable agriculture practices, food security, and food sovereignty in our indigenous communities, and in highlighting the heritage, history, and importance of our native communities across the state.
Regardless of the side of the state, size of farm, or agricultural crop grown, 2021 has proven to be a tough year for Montana as a whole. As of August 2021, every one of Montana's 56 counties was considered to be in a drought status; 37 counties are classified as extremely dry, 8 counties as severely dry, and 11 as exceptionally dry. Climate change and extreme weather are taking a toll on Montana's agricultural systems and leading to small harvests and shortages in available forage for livestock.
The outbreak of the COVID pandemic has also impacted Montana since its beginning. From disrupting food distribution systems, to increasing labor shortages, and increasing food insecurity, the virus outbreak has challenged all communities across Montana.
Montana agricultural professionals bring diverse opportunities to their communities to engage in and learn more about sustainable agricultural practices, and strive to be adaptive to local need while bringing information on new practices to producers across the state.
Advisors
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
Education
Timeline:
We intend to initiate a call for proposals for the professional develop travel mini-grants in each of the three years of the grant cycle in January. Our intention is to distribute approximately $10,000 per year through these one year mini-grants. Successful award recipients should complete the proposed professional development activity and submit a final report and evaluation before December 1st of the year of the award.
We will issue the first call for proposals for the training program grants in the spring of the first year of the grant cycle (spring 2022), and will review proposals as received. The committee plans to award two to four grants over the life of the grant, dependent on the timeline of implementation and the amount of the requests submitted. The continued timeline of progression through the training programs will be contingent on the proposed timeline of the project and proposal being submitted. The committee will release a second call for proposals in the second year of the grant (2023) and will evaluate proposals for a second round of funding if grant monies were not allocated during the year one CFP.
All final reporting and evaluations for all training programs and mini-grants should be received by December 1st of 2024.
Guiding Principles:
Montana is a large state with a diversity of communities, landscapes, and agricultural practices. We implement travel mini-grants and the training program grants in order to allow for a diversity of opportunities in topics, geographic locations, and experiences in order to better serve our constituents statewide. Offering multiple grant opportunities will allow for collaborative teams to develop and offer professional development offerings suited to the region of the state they are present in and that address the needs of producers and professionals in their area.
Our state advisory committee strives to continue to reach out to broader audiences within our state every year. In previous years our awards have been concentrated in and around the Extension Professionals realm of awardees. We are continuing to reach out to non-profit agricultural sustainability groups, other governmental agencies, and underserved populations around our state in an effort to broaden our service to and create awareness of the needs and opportunities that these groups have identified.
Resource Use:
As a committee overseeing the implementation of awards, the committee uses staff time as a human resource through meetings, application reviews, and decision making conversations in order to award and monitor the progress of the awards.
Each award recipient will have additional uses of human, physical, and financial resources as outlined in the their proposals for projects.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
The CSKT Tribal Youth in Agriculture program will increase awareness and knowledge of potential agricultural careers and engagement opportunities for Tribal youth on the Flathead Reservation. The youth participants will learn about topics in food sovereignty, production agriculture, sustainable agricultural practices, and be exposed to what other Tribes around the nations are doing to build and support local food systems on Tribal Nations.
The CSKT Tribal Youth in Agriculture Program developed in partnership with Two Eagle River Tribal High School in Pablo, Montana. An engaged student at the high school applied for and received a scholarship to attend the 2022 Intertribal Agriculture Council Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. There she joined approximately 1,200 other participants in learning and sharing information about agricultural development and projects on Tribal Nations.
The youth participant returned home to her high school to start an after school club focusing on agricultural topics. The club met weekly throughout the school year to learn about and engage in agricultural topics. Club members developed a school yard egg chicken program, grew vegetables in a high tunnel, and went on local field trips to farms, in addition to classroom presentations and nutrition lessons about foods and agriculture.
The high school program reached out to the Flathead Reservation Extension office to further develop the afterschool program. The office helped the youth club apply for a WSARE PDP grant.
Youth used the PDP grant to attend the Intertribal Agriculture Council in December 2023 and 2024. In 2023, one youth member and a chaperone attended the conference. In 2024 six youth and two chaperones traveled to the conference. The youth spent four days learning about agricultural projects on other reservations, and how youth and adults were actively engaged in building a Tribal food system and develop food sovereignty programs in Indian Country.
One youth member engaged in a summer internship with a food sovereignty gardening program learning about vegetable growth, gardening, and food assistance programs on the Reservation.
Youth participants reported an increase in knowledge about agricultural systems and the diversity of agricultural and food sovereignty activities that occur around the nation.
Youth members have used the attendance at the national conference as a spring board to further build their after school program and engage more youth across their school. The The club has grown from three members, to over ten actively engaged youth in the programs and club activities.
Youth members report an increase in considering agricultural jobs and careers as a result of participation in the club and national conference attendance.
Grants funds will be used to offset travel costs for a team of Montana Agricultural Extension
Agents and professionals to travel to the National Association of County Agricultural Agents
(NACAA) annual convention and professional develop conference in 2023 and 2024. The 2023
conference will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, and the 2024 conference will be held in Dallas,
Texas.
The National Association of County Agriculture Agents holds a national conference and professional improvement meeting for its members. These annual meetings are a great opportunity for participants to be exposed to programs and projects about sustainable agriculture that other Extension professionals and peers are engaged in throughout the nation.
Each week-long conference offers professional development topics, area tours, and presentations
about projects and program efforts agents across the nation are implementing in their counties
and communities. It is a great opportunity for agents to learn new approaches, hear about new
projects, and consider bringing some of those programs to Montana for implementation. Agents
will invest personal time and additional funds personally, from association funds, and from
county budgets to travel to the national association conventions.
In 2023 seven Montana Extension agents travelled to Des Moines, Iowa to attend the NACAA national conference. In 2024, twelve member travelled to Dallas, Texas to attend that year's conference. During both years, members learned about projects and topics that could be brought back to their own counties and to the state of Montana for implementation.
Testimonies of impact from participants in both years included:
“There were several great talks in the 4-H tract ranging from furthering livestock programs, embryology, and gardening clubs, but also I also attended 2 sessions on Youth Mental Health First Aid and Trauma Informed Care. This is a part of extension that has grown over time and even though I am not well versed in this aspect, I like to hear how other agents use it in their programming. Ohio has specific curriculum that we can use now too.”
"I learned about hands on livestock-oriented camps that Oklahoma State University and University of Florida host. I hope to start conversations about hosting similar camps in Montana."
"One program I attended was 'AG Wellness – The Greatest Asset is You' – presented by USU agents where they approached mental health concerns from a neighbor helping neighbors’ aspect. They used a polling product called Plickers that I intend to purchase and use in my teaching.
"Several presentations I attended used a videoconferencing platform to have a virtual coffee-hour with producers where a topic was discussed for about 20 minutes, a guest speaker contributed for about 15 minutes, discussion of the topic occurred for about 25 minutes and 5 minutes were spent on CEU’s. This could easily be adapted to Master gardeners, gardening in general, cattle health or any number of other topics. I intend to try to implement something like this in my county this winter."
Deepening knowledge and understanding of Montana's local food economies and how participants can work to engage in local food systems throughout the state.
Following months of planning, the 49th annual AERO Expo was held October 20-21, 2023 in
Helena, MT. The theme of the 2023 Expo was “Moving the Needle: Building Whole-Community
Engagement with Local Food, Stewardship Agriculture, and Renewable Energy.” Breakout
sessions, panel discussions, and community tours increased knowledge and provided
information about sustainable agriculture to producers, nonprofit professionals, Tribal members,
and other agricultural stakeholders across the state. Expo session topics focused on DEI within
agricultural settings and practices; climate change and its impact on Montana agriculture; food
and nutrition security; and best practices for developing resilient community food systems
across the state.
In total, 155 people registered for and attended Expo. We sold 31 discounted rate student
tickets (including 20 students from the University of Montana and Montana State University who
volunteered/supported the event in some capacity and 11 additional students), 4 full ride
scholarships, and complimentary tickets for 29 presenters. The WSARE PDP Mid Size Grant
funds directly supported these costs.
AERO’s Expo intends to create a space where ag professionals can further their understanding
of diverse issues that affect our food system. Many participants’ answers to the open-ended
questions in the session surveys demonstrated that they gained a deeper understanding of the
issues, current work happening in the state, opportunities for change, organizations, and new
ideas or approaches to address systemic change. See below for selected testimonials.
When asked about their main take-aways from sessions, participants’ answers included:
● “Loved having a session that was so tangible and hopeful amongst the heavy system
change conversations.”
● “As an individual, I can continually advocate for the change that these organizations are
working on.”
● “[It is] imperative [to include] folks with lives experience in all of these
gatherings/conversations.”
● “Greater coalition building for local food system initiatives is needed!”
● “[I am] informed on ways to make Montana grown food more available.”
● “Having a more in depth understanding of the barriers different organizations are
experiencing in getting food in local hands. Build and update where these partnerships
have continued to grow and how they’ve collaborated / supported each other.”
● “Everyone is involved in food systems.”
● “Hearing about different entities across the state was pretty inspiring and exciting.”
Increase knowledge of the interactions of climate and agriculture in the northern plains states.
A nine-member steering committee comprised by the USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub (NPCH), USDA NRCS Montana, Montana State University Extension, Montana Association of Conservation Districts, and the Intertribal Agriculture Council Rocky Mountain Region co-developed the agenda for the March 14 - 15, 2023 AgroClimate Workshop for Agricultural & Forestry Professionals and Partners. The two-day workshop attracted 90 attendees from throughout Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, as well as a few guest presenters and attendees from Alaska, Oregon, and Washington D.C. The agenda included a diversity of presenters including, but not limited to: researchers from several universities including from an agricultural experiment station and the Montana Climate Office; USDA NRCS employees; agricultural producers; and native-tribal members.
The workshop included three, strategically scheduled interactive Small Group Dialogues that built on one-another, which were: (1) Scenario Planning; (2) Communicating about climate on the ground; and (3) Putting tools to work. Through these dialogues, participants provided a wealth of information including needs and opportunities such as:
· Create a website dashboard (i.e., one-stop) linking to relevant (e.g., Grass-Cast, Montana’s Mesonet, the US Drought Monitor);
· Adding virtual fencing as an approved USDA NRCS conservation practice;
· Annual or semi-annual agroclimate workshops to bring more awareness of the topics and to increase knowledge.
A pre – post workshop evaluation was provided to participants. Of the participants who completed and returned their (47% response rate) evaluation they reported an increase in:
· Connection to colleagues who share an interest in climate-related challenges on working lands;
· Confidence to use weather and climate resources; and
· Confidence to discuss climate with stakeholders when it comes up in a conversation.
To evaluate the effectivness of handheld quick meters for determining nitrate concentration levels in forages, leading to an economic benefit to local farmers and better quantitative measurements of forage quality and risk of nitrate toxicity.
Quick evaluation of nitrates has been a service provided my MSU Extension agents to Montana
producers for many years. The process and methods that have been historically utilized at the
county office level were developed in the 1960s. Recently a protocol that was developed in
Georgia in the 1980s utilizing a water test strip and leaching the nitrate from the sample with
water was introduced to replace the original evaluation method. This method moved our answer
from a qualitative measure of yes or no nitrate is present to a crude evaluation of the content of
nitrate in the sample. More recently the researchers at the USDA-ARS Center in El Reno, OK
published work that was done to evaluate newer technology methods that would do a better job
of evaluating forage nitrate in the field. These methods were compared to a laboratory analysis
and a couple of technologies were found to be suitable for use in a setting such as the County
Extension office. I have been utilizing a Ion Specific electronic meter during the 2022 growing
season at the Custer County Extension office and find that it holds promise for more accurately
evaluating risk of nitrate toxicity in forages. This project provided the means to purchase five
additional Nitrate meters to be placed in MSU County Extension offices that have a high-volume
demand for nitrate analysis to further evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of field nitrate
evaluation for this instrument at the county office level.
Field faculty collected data using Hariba Nitrate digital probes, as well as backing up results with lab tested samples.
Outcomes of the agent research were inconclusive.
Agents reinforced the need to do additional data collection and comparison to lab certified results to establish a baseline for calibration and comparison of the probes to the more commonly used strip testing facilitated currently.
To increase knowledge and understanding of how drones and remote imagery can be used to increase crop management and efficiency for Extension agents and producers.
In the fall of 2024 five MSU Extension agents formed a learning cohort to further explore the use and opportunities to teach producers about drone technology. These tools are becoming more and more popular as a way to scout fields, better understand field conditions, and save producers time during the growing season.
The Montana PDP program supported the purchase of five drones for the cohort to utilize as they began to learn more about the technology, how it is used in an agricultural setting, and how they as Extension professionals can become proficient in teaching producers about the benefits of the technology.
The Extension professionals engaged in the drone cohort are partnering with the MSU Precision Agriculture team as part of the land grant university to learn more about the technology, and integrate how drones can be combined with other technologies available to Extension offices and producers.
The cohort has plans to become certified to be drone pilots, and to learn to use the technology proficiently. The cohort has planned to engage as a group to learn collaboratively remotely through online meetings and instruction, as well as to come together to build a curriculum that can be used as a resource for producer field days and training sessions.
The work is just beginning with this cohort and has been formed for less than six months. As the group begins to engage with the technology and learn more from its use in agricultural settings, we will look to find data from both Extension agents and producers about the acquisition of new knowledge, and any change management that may come from use of the technology.
Increase of knowledge and application of sustainable agricultural practices through the funding of several small mini-grants.
The Montana PDP program funds a number of small mini-grants to applicants to use as infusions of funds toward professional development, or small scale educational programs.
Programs funded during the 2022-2024 grant cycle include:
- A producer workshop on spring calving.
- A series of home gardening and vegetable production classes and hands-on demonstrations.
- Support for local food training modules and staff
- Support to send an Extension Agent to an Urban Agriculture conference
- A noxious weed species management training program
- Participant support for a Montana Meats Supply Chain and Processing conference
- Support for a beef producers conference in eastern Montana
- Supporting food safety training and certification for a Montana based agriculture non-profit organization.
- Support of a Montana staff member to a national agricultural consultants conference
The outcomes from mini-grants are as diverse as the requests for funding.
- Participants and organizers from the eastern Montana calving workshop reported an increase in knowledge about how to correct dystocia challenges during calving, and really enjoyed the hands on model a Veterinarian brought to the workshop.
- The educator who attended the urban agriculture conference is developing a resources file and examples webpage for people in Montana to access for additional information.
- Food safety training is helping the non-profit agriculture advocacy organization provide better technical assistance to farmers and producers who access their programs.
- Participants in the Montana Meats Supply Chain and Processing Conference report added economic benefits in networking and creating a Montana connection for producers and processors.
- Gardeners in eastern Montana report an increase in success of starting their own seed starts at their own homes after instruction and supplies from the workshop experience.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
The Montana PDP program likes the balance of mid-sized PD awards, and the mini-grant model. It allows for some applicants to build a longer duration, more robust program and professional development experience, while also allowing for others to gain a small amount of funding to support professional development goals.
Face of SARE
Montana PDP has began to travel to and be represented at some of the conventions, conferences, and annual meetings hosted by organizations that work in themes of sustainable agriculture.
Montana PDP promotes the programs of SARE through email contact, at in person events, and through attribution of SARE contributions during professional development activities and events.