Final report for WNC20-105
Project Information
Michigan Initiative 1: Strengthening the Success and Sustainability of Beginning Farmers
Michigan Initiative 2: Building Sustainable Agriculture Capacity with Diverse Audiences
Michigan Initiative 3: Advancing Sustainable Approaches to Address Production, Environmental and Climate Issues
Michigan Initiative 1: Strengthening the Success and Sustainability of Beginning Farmers
In order to continue the NCR-SARE regional initiative for 2021-22, one of our initiative focus areas will be on “beginning farmers and ranchers.” We will work with members of our state delegation who attended the regional training in Indianapolis on October 1-2, 2019. The Michigan Co-coordinator will lead and coordinate the delegation to develop a database of Michigan beginning farmer and rancher educational programming to directly support beginning farmers and ranchers and/or educators working with these stakeholders. This can include a website, workshops, study tours, webinars or other educational programming. As identified by the Advisory Council: The economic sustainability of CSA models, declining farmers market sales, financial literacy, on-line marketing/connectivity and urban agriculture are issues to address. During the two-year plan of work period, we will offer SARE-funded travel scholarships, and where appropriate, mini-grant support to further educational programming that increases the sustainability and success of beginning farmers and ranchers.
Activities
- Funds will be used to support mini-grant projects and programs to:
- Identify, compile and promote on-line resources for educators and beginning farmers.
- Develop and implement on-line and distance education for the professional development for educators of beginning farmers and food hubs.
- Sponsor activities that promote beginning farmer networks, peer networks and regional workshops.
- PDP for educators of beginning farmers and food hubs through meetings and workshops.
- Funds will be used to support professional development travel scholarships:
- One regional delegation planning meeting per year.
- Two educators/year to attend a national or regional beginning farmer conference.
Expected Outcomes
- 25 educators will be trained in beginning farmer development topics
- 20 educators will use new information to answer client questions and address local issues.
- 20 educators and farmers will develop new contacts and partners for work.
- 50 beginning farmers will incorporate new knowledge into their production system.
- 25 beginning farmers will make a change on their farm to increase their sustainability
Evaluation
- Post-event evaluations will be conducted to determine change in knowledge and intentions to act on new information.
- Educators will complete Michigan SARE PDP post-event evaluation 1 - 6 months after workshops to assess short- and intermediate-term outcomes.
Michigan Initiative 2: Building Sustainable Agriculture Capacity with Diverse Audiences
SARE has an extensive list of sustainable agriculture resources for educators and stakeholders. These resources, while readily available, are not being fully utilized due to language barriers, cultural impediments or a lack/loss of knowledge of their existence. It is understood within Michigan’s sustainable agriculture community that interdisciplinary, multi-organizational collaboration and coordination is essential to further the implementation of sustainable practices among diverse audiences in our food and agriculture system. Latinx farmers are one of fasting growing farmer demographics and translation of additional existing SARE materials would be a very important way to engage this community. The history of systemic racism within US agriculture has impacted circumstances, policies and practices for farmers of color and tribal communities. Understanding and acknowledging these inequities is essential to engaging these groups. Veterans are uniquely positioned to benefit personally from the financial and wellness opportunities in agriculture. Educators would benefit from understanding the unique needs of veterans and veteran families when working with them around sustainable agriculture. Finally, while many individuals within traditional constituent groups (i.e. Extension, NRCS, MAEAP, etc.) use SARE resources, in aggregate, many in these groups are unaware or have lost sight of SARE and its resources. Professional development to re-engage these groups in mass by targeting their unique needs will strengthen the sustainable agriculture community in Michigan.
Activities
- Funds will be used to support mini-grant projects and programs:
- Sponsor activities that promote the understanding and needs of a diverse range of audiences.
- PDP for educators targeting the needs of diverse audiences through meetings and workshops.
- Deliver an MSU Fall Extension Conference program to reach a broader educator audience about SARE and SARE resources.
- Funds will be used to support professional development travel scholarships:
- Three educators/year to attend a national or regional agricultural diversity conference
- Funds will be used to purchase and distribute a sample SARE resources (books, bulletins, thumb drives, etc.) to educators across diverse audiences.
Expected Outcomes
- 50 educators will be trained in the availability and use of SARE resources
- 50 educators will use SARE information to answer client questions and address local issues.
- 20 educators and farmers will develop new contacts and partners for work.
- 100 farmers will incorporate new knowledge into their production system.
- 50 farmers will make a change on their farm using sustainable agriculture practices.
Evaluation
- Post-event evaluations will be conducted to determine change in knowledge and intentions to act on new information.
- Educators will complete Michigan SARE PDP post-event evaluation 1 - 6 months after workshops to assess short- and intermediate-term outcomes.
Michigan Initiative 3: Advancing Sustainable Approaches to Address Production, Environmental and Climate Issues
Agriculture in Michigan is faced with a variety of current and on-going production, environmental and climate issues including soil health, water quality, pest resistance, changing markets, energy and resilience to extreme climate events. Sustainable approaches to these issues are increasingly seen as a part of the solution. Agricultural educators are critical to advancing and fostering of sustainable approaches to agricultural issues at all scales and across sectors. Professional development that provides current and science-based research and educational information for educators and support for dissemination to other educators, farmers, agri-business and service providers will advance the use of sustainable practices and approaches in Michigan. Agriculture educators need to be current on these issues and efforts taking place in their regions of the state. Support of the educator/farmer partnership in program delivery is more effective as farmers learn from other farmers through experience and educational and networking opportunities.
Activities:
- Funds will be used to support conferences, workshops, and field days through mini-grant projects and programs:
- Development of educational materials on sustainable approaches to production, environmental and climate issues.
- Support field days and workshops sponsored by MSU Extension, Conservation districts, NRCS and other partners.
- Support for educator on-farm demonstration projects to support educational objectives.
- Support for travel to educational events.
- Funds will be used to support professional development travel scholarships:
- Two educators/year to attend the Soil Health Nexus Conference or equivalent
- Three educators/year to attend the Midwest Cover Crops Council Conference or equivalent
Expected Outcomes
- 50 educators (Extension, NRCS, MAEAP, agriculture instructors) will continue to enhance their knowledge about sustainable solutions to agricultural issues.
- 25 educators will use this information to answer client questions.
- 50 farmers and educators will develop new contacts and partners for work.
- 200 farmers will incorporate new knowledge into their production system.
- 100 farmers will make a change on their farm to reduce production, environmental or climate challenges.
Evaluation
- Post-event evaluations indicating change in knowledge and intentions to act on new information will be conducted by sponsoring organizations/events.
- Educators will complete Michigan SARE PDP post-event evaluation 1 - 6 months after workshops to assess short- and intermediate-term outcomes.
Sarah Fronczak, Educator – Sustainable Agriculture, Michigan State University (MSU) Extension (MSUE), is the State Co-coordinator for Michigan. Dr. Dean G. Baas served as the Michigan SARE leadership until May 2022 when he retired. The Michigan SARE State Sustainable Agriculture PDP program is coordinated by Sarah Fronczak through MSUE. Sarah has office locations in Hillsdale County MSUE office in Hillsdale, MI, and the Branch County MSUE office in Coldwater, MI. Sarah’s position is partially funded by SARE. Sarah provides overall SARE leadership and coordination with MSU, MSUE, MSU BioAgResearch, and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Michigan is home to more than 300 commodities: with national rankings in the top 5 in production in over 35 different crops ranging from hay to carrots to dry kidney beans. 7th in the nation for maple syrup and milk and 8th in egg production and potatoes. This diversity is only second to California. Michigan agriculture takes place on 9.9 million acres across the state, averaging 193 acres per farm, with approximately 52,000 farms. In the North Central region of SARE Michigan stands out as the most diverse.
Advisors
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Education
A similar educational approach and similar resources were proposed for the three major initiatives, consisting of the following:
- Identify agricultural educators to provide professional development on sustainable agriculture topics.
- Support workshops/conferences to train educators about sustainable approaches to address issues.
- Provide mini-grant support for event planning, promotion and implementation.
- Provide support through sponsorship for recurring conferences in Michigan that provide sustainable agriculture sessions and presentations.
- Provide participant travel to professional development events.
- Provide speaker travel to present at sustainable agriculture events in Michigan.
While the approach describe above was anticipated at the submission of the 2021-22 Michigan State Professional Development Program Plan of Work, the subsequent COVID pandemic limited many of the professional development events that were funded by mini-grants and travel scholarships. Some in-person events returned in 2021, but many remained virtual and travel to in-person events remained quite limited. Virtual programming was supported with SARE mini-grants as appropriate, although required much less support that in-person events. Some funds were re-directed to fund contractor or staff time for the development of on-line webinar training. It is anticipated that there will be a return to professional development travel in 2022, although on-line/virtual trainings will continue to be a component of many events.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
Increase the sustainability of beginning/small farms and therefore the local food system and supply through facilitate discussions, assist issue identification and definition, strengthen networks and support the development of collaborative programs to increase the sustainability of small/beginning farms and local foods in Michigan. During the two-year plan of work period, we will offer SARE-funded travel scholarships, and where appropriate, mini-grant support to further educational programming that increases the sustainability and success of beginning farmers and ranchers.
2021 Outcomes and Impacts:
Restrictions and hesitations due to COVID continued to impact travel scholarships and mini-grants for in-person events. While university policies eased, many educators, individuals, organizations and conferences were varied on their comfort level with in-person events resulting in a mixture of formats. The Michigan SARE PDP program pivoted to soliciting proposals for on-line training to continue the professional development of ag educators for beginning farmer support. Programs included:
- Mini-grant: Sell More Local Food Online: SEO Best Practices webinar. Taste the Local Differences, a Michigan local food consulting, media and marketing agency specializing in communication strategy for Michigan’s local food businesses, was contracted to create a webinar on search engine optimization (SEO). They provided an extensive training to TLD staff that provides Technical Assistance directly to local farmers and provided an education webinar training directly from the experts to the farmers in a virtual setting. The expected outcome was to increase understanding of Search Engine Optimization and provide minimum baseline competency, deliver resources for implementing SEO improvement strategies. The webinar was presented live and the recording is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKc5SuanE-w.
- The webinar was attended live by 5 Extension educators, 17 ag consultants, 13 Non-profit/NGO representatives, 32 farmers and 5 others. To date, another 59 have watched the video.
- Even though only 23 of the 72 participants completed the survey. 8 participants knew nothing about SEO, and over 15 only new the basics at the beginning of the webinar. By the end, all but two had improved their understanding by at least one level.
- Online tool highlighting Michigan Beginning Farmer Resources. Katie Brandt, Educational Programs Manager, MSU Student Organic Farm was supported with funds to identify and categorize beginning farmer resources in Michigan and create an on-line tool to locate and disseminate this information. The result is an on-line tool using google maps to locate and learn about resources. The map is available at https://www.canr.msu.edu/sof/map.html. A number of activities supported the release of the map including:
- MSU Virtual Fall Extension Conference - Tour a Map of Michigan's Beginning Farmer Programs – 10 attendees.
- 4 ‐ Educator Training Webinar ‐ 58 registered/19 live attendees
- 9 ‐ Farmer Training Webinar ‐ 40 registered/21 live attendees
- 10 ‐ MI LandLink Conference ‐ 71 attendees
- 8 ‐ Great Lakes Fruit and Vegetable EXPO ‐ Beginning Organic Track ‐ 41 attendees
- 13 ‐ Included in Jobs & Opportunities email to 180 Organic Farmer Training Program graduates
- MSUE News article titled “Online tool highlighting Michigan Beginning Farmer Resources released” with 744 views in 4th quarter of 2021
- Facebook
- 312 visits, 11 reactions, 5 shares, 32 site clicks to a post on Sep. 28
- 229 visits, 5 reactions, 1 share, 3 site clicks to a post on Nov. 2
- Video views
- YouTube ‐ 15 views
- MSU Mediaspace ‐ 52 Views
2022 Outcomes and Impacts:
Minigrant: Taste the Local Difference Video Series
Wholesale Marketing videos
- Introduction to Wholesaling for Farms – 108 Views - Includes interviews with Nic Thiesen of Loma Farm & Farm Club and Eldon Horner of Oryana Food Co-op about how to ensure that your farm is ready to meet the expectations and challenges of wholesale buyers.
- Wholesale to Retail – 61 Views - Hear what retailers need from farmers in communication, delivery, packaging and more from Alita Kelly of Southeast Market, Raphael Wright of Neighborhood Grocery + Deeply Rooted Garden and Eldon Horner of Oryana Food Co-op.
- Wholesale to Restaurants - 73 views - Learn about the needs of restaurant buyers from Andy Chae of Fisheye Farms, Jeff Hatfield of Seeds & Spores Family Farm, Nic Thiesen of Loma Farm/Farm Club and Nick VanCourt of Barrel + Beam.
- Wholesale to Institutions - 37 views - Learn the how, what and why of selling to food distributors from discussions with Reid Walborn of Grow Eastern Market, Clarence Rudat of FARM Accelerator - MSU Product Center, Sharon Ostrowski of Sharkar Farm and Fred Monroe of Monroe Family Organics.
- free toolkit of wholesale marketing materials and templates.
- Why is marketing important? 58 views
- Three Online Marketing Methods for Businesses 45 views
- Developing & Maintaining Your Digital Marketing Strategy 47 views
Minigrant: Think inside the box CSA Conference- This was held on November 12-13 in Fort Wayne Indiana. The conference was attended by 62 individuals who were either farmers or those who work with farmers.
Increase dissemination to and collaboration between Michigan’s sustainable agriculture community leveraging interdisciplinary, multi-organizational collaboration and coordination to further the implementation of sustainable practices among diverse audiences in our food and agriculture system. These audiences include Latinx farmers, farmers of color, tribal communities and Veteran farmers. Provide professional development targeting their unique needs to strengthen the sustainable agriculture community in Michigan. During the two-year plan of work period, we will offer SARE-funded travel scholarships, mini-grants and sponsorships to further educational programming that increases the sustainability agriculture opportunities for diverse and under-served audiences. Solicit and support Michigan tribal colleges in applying for NCR-SARE 1994 Land Grant Colleges and Universities grant funding.
2021 Outcomes and Impacts:
Restrictions and hesitations due to COVID continued to impact travel scholarships and mini-grants for in-person events. Underserved audiences, in particular, were adverse to in-person events, while acknowledging the importance of in-person networking to their programs and professional development. This led to the cancellation of all in-person events serving these audiences in Michigan. Some, but not all were replaced with virtual events, albeit most were abbreviated in nature. The Michigan SARE PDP continued to support these events and programs where possible, however the need for funds were minimal with virtual formats. Travel scholarships were non-existent for this initiative in 2021. Support was provided for the following:
- Michigan SARE Collaborated with Michigan Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS) to hold a virtual SARE Farmers Forum. MIFFS mission is “Connecting beginning and historically underserved farmers to each other and resource opportunities; ensuring social justice, environmental stewardship, and profitability.” This event had 48 registrants, 22 views on youtube and 316 views on Facebook. The event included the following SARE presentations:
- Organic IPM for Swede Midge on Small-Scale, Diversified Vegetable Farms
- Intercropping Systems for Small Scale Vegetable Production
- Designing a Mobile Milking Parlor for a Multi-site Educational Goat Farm
- Bees, Pleeze! - Adding an educational component to a wildflower field at a Midwest blueberry farm
- SARE Grant Programs
- Baas served on the planning committees for the Michigan Family Farms Conferences (MIFFS) and the Food Sovereignty Symposium (Kewanee Bay Indian Community) both in-person events were cancelled in 2021 due to Covid. These serve under-served and indigenous communities and will be returning either in-person or virtually in 2022 with MI SARE collaboration and support.
- Baas contacted and supported the three 1994 tribal colleges in Michigan in applying for the NCR-SARE Food Sovereignty/Sustainable Ag Funding.
- Bay Mills Community College applied for and received funding from both the first and second calls for proposals.
- Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College applied for and received funding from the first call for proposals.
- Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College has been contacted numerous times, but as yet have not applied for funding.
2022 Outcomes and Impacts:
Mini-grant: 2022 Organic Intensives. The Michigan Organic Food and Farming Association's (MOFFA) Organic Intensives was a full-day, intensive program in a single topic areas. In 2022, sessions were held on three topics (see below). This program included:
18 hours of group instruction/discussion
5 hours of on-farm/experiential learning
88 participants attended three topic sessions:
Organic Mushroom Cultivation and Management – 34 participants
The Farm Ecosystem: Managing for Pollinators, Beneficials, and Pests – 21 participants
In-Row Weed Control Strategies: Fine Tuning Equipment . . . The Details for Success – 33 participants
56% identified as farmers (69% of whom were certified organic)
16% identified as gardeners
12% represented a food or farm related business or non-profit organization
7% were educators (including MSUE and Conservation District personnel)
9% fell into other categories
The summary report the workshop is available at 2022 Organic Intensive Report.
Educational & Outreach Activities Edit
30 Consultations
1 Curricula, factsheets or educational tools
5 Minigrants
4 On-farm demonstrations
4 Published press articles, newsletters
77 Webinars / talks / presentations
3 Workshop field days
Participation Summary:
68 Extension
3 NRCS
20 Researchers
10 Nonprofit
5 Agency
137 Ag service providers (other or unspecified)
514 Farmers/ranchers
653 Others
Learning Outcomes Edit
364 Participants gained or increased knowledge, skills and/or attitudes about sustainable agriculture topics, practices, strategies, approaches
136 Ag professionals intend to use knowledge, attitudes, skills and/or awareness learned
Project Outcomes Edit
484 Farmers reached through participant's programs
Increase the sustainability of agriculture in Michigan that is facing a variety of current and on-going production, environmental and climate issues including soil health, water quality, pest resistance, changing markets, energy and resilience to extreme climate events. Foster sustainable approaches to these issues at all scales and across sectors through professional development of agricultural educators. During the two-year plan of work period, we will offer SARE-funded travel scholarships, mini-grants and sponsorships to support professional development that provides current and science-based research and educational information for educators and support for dissemination to other educators, farmers, agri-business and service providers advancing the use of sustainable practices and approaches in Michigan.
2021 Outcomes and Impacts:
Restrictions and hesitations due to COVID continued to impact travel scholarships and mini-grants for in-person events. While university policies eased, many educators, individuals, organizations and conferences were varied on their comfort level with in-person events resulting in a mixture of formats. Travel scholarships were non-existent in the initiative. Support was provided through mini-grants for both virtual and in-person programming. The following support was provided:
- Mini-grant: Michigan Ag Ideas to Grow With Virtual Conference. SARE helped sponsored this event which was the combination of three Southwest Michigan annual events into one week-long virtual conference. Those events were Branch County Farm Days, Ag Action Day and Southwest Michigan Horticulture Days. The online conference included:
- 60 hours of group instruction
- 55 Educational sessions
- 43 Extension Educators and 5 Specialists
- 449 participants attending a total of 1040 sessions
- Evaluation data supported the success of this program with attendees indicting the following:
- 85% of the attendees indicted that the quality of the programming with Excellent to very good.
- 2% of the attendees shared that the program provided excellent and useful information.
- 5% of the attendees indicted that the speakers providing the presentations were extremely knowledgeable in the subject matter.
- 4% of the attendees shared that they gained knowledge from the program.
- 70% of attendees will be able to better manage risk because of the program.
- 41% of attendees intend of change a management practice because of information learned at the program.
- 83% of the attendees shared that they will be able to increase profitability because of the information shared at the program.
- Outreach for this event included attendees that had not participated in the traditional in-person programs with 55.71% of attendees having never attended Ag Action Day, 70.25% of attendees never participating in Branch County Farmers Day and 77.15% of program participants never attending Southwest Michigan Horticulture Days.
- Mini-grant: Soil Health Nexus Regional In-Service. On September 13 – 15, 2021 a regional professional development in-service was held on the latest research on soil health and water quality by the Soil Health Nexus Team at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. This training included:
- 5 hours of group instruction/discussion
- 2 hours of on-farm/experiential learning
- 3 hours of team building
- 14 Extension Educators
- 10 Specialists
- 4 Other University
- 3 Non-profits/NGOs
- 3 Agency Representatives
- Evaluations indicated that participants increased there knowledge of and intent to use sustainable agriculture information.
- Mini-grant: 2021 Beginning Grazing School. Michigan State University Extension offered the Beginning Grazing School online with an in-person component this year. The eight-week course was designed for beginning farmers and livestock owners who graze dairy, beef, and small ruminant animals and want the latest animal and forage research on grazing management. The on-line portion of the event was each Tuesday and Thursday starting September 21 and ending on October 14. The in-person session, will be held in two locations on Friday October 22, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST.
- On-line sessions held were:
- September 21: Introduction to school and overview of grazing terms
- September 23: Graziers are Grass Farmers!
- September 28: Soil Health and Fertility
- September 30: Nutrition, Health and Welfare of Grazing Animals
- October 5: Pasture Establishment and Renovations,
- October 7: Fencing & Water
- October 12: Pasture Allocation, Stock Density, Costs
- October 14: Designing a Grazing Plan for your farm
- In-person sessions held were:
- October 22: In-Person Session Covering Various Topics (9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) Participants chose the location that best fit them. MSU W.K. Kellogg Biological Station or MSU Lake City Research Center.
-
- 33 attended the program
- 1 – MSU Specialist
- 2 – Agency representatives
- 30 – Farmers
- 9 Michigan State University personnel were involved in program delivery
- 6 – Extension Educators
- 2 – Professors/Researchers
- 1 – Specialist
- 33 attended the program
- On-line sessions held were:
2022 Outcomes and Impacts:
With restrictions and hesitations due to COVID easing, the use of travel scholarships and mini-grants for in-person events returned. A mixture of formats continues to exist and may be the new normal going forward. The following support was provided:
- Mini-grant: 2022 Organic Intensives. The Michigan Organic Food and Farming Association's (MOFFA) Organic Intensives was a full-day, intensive program in a single topic areas. In 2022, sessions were held on three topics (see below). This program included:
- 18 hours of group instruction/discussion
- 5 hours of on-farm/experiential learning
- 88 participants attended three topic sessions:
- Organic Mushroom Cultivation and Management – 34 participants
- The Farm Ecosystem: Managing for Pollinators, Beneficials, and Pests – 21 participants
- In-Row Weed Control Strategies: Fine Tuning Equipment . . . The Details for Success – 33 participants
- 56% identified as farmers (69% of whom were certified organic)
- 16% identified as gardeners
- 12% represented a food or farm related business or non-profit organization
- 7% were educators (including MSUE and Conservation District personnel)
- 9% fell into other categories
- The summary report the workshop is available at 2022 Organic Intensive Report.
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Minigrant: Nutrient Management Workshop- Having clean water is important to our health and the health of the world around us. Nutrient management is one of the tools that farmers can use to help keep the nutrients used to grow our food in the soil where they need it and out of the water where it can cause problems like harmful algal blooms and fish kills.
A team of MSU Educators held a workshop to train 42 other educators, technicians, and conservation professionals about the basics of nutrient management planning. The workshop focused on; State law concerning nutrient management and manure, Working with NRCS, Using the nutrient management planning worksheet, Nutrient Financials, and helpful tools. 95% of Respondents said that they increased their knowledge of nutrient management as a result of the program.
The workshop used several hands-on scenarios to prepare the participants to work with farmers on this important topic. 95% of respondents said that they will or may change the recommendations they give to producers based on the program. Participants report that they impact between 900 and 6000 farmers each year. This magnification of impact is significant to reach farmers in Michigan with valuable nutrient management information impacting the sustainability of the farm, farmer, and the environment.
Minigrant: MI Ag Ideas to Grow With- The 2022 MI Ideas to Grow With Virtual Conference over tripled their reach when compared to the 2021 program with 961 participants. This includes 163 participants from other states and 15 participants who indicated that they have a Tribal Affiliation. The group of educators offered 45 hours of instruction focused on livestock production, fruit and vegetable production, precision technology, field crops, irrigation, solar, community food systems, and farm business management, in addition to horticulture and home gardening. A track is also offered for youth participants. This program continues to grow and will be offered again in 2023. With SARE funds providing funding for the initial and secondary program, we have been able to establish this programing opportunity as a staple educational outreach for MSUE and will continue to further the reach and scope of this program. Bill Fisher a participant from Ontongon, Michigan said of program, “What has impressed me the most is the amount of great knowledge offered by MSU Extension, the friendliness and expertise of the speakers, and most importantly how important a good, solid and flexible strategy for managing these trees really is, from placement to soils to amendments to lifecycle stages to timing to pests to pollinators and so on. I’m certainly more well geared, knowledge-wise, for the ’22 vintage, but I still have a loooooooong(sic) way to go; the good part is I enjoy the learning journey a lot and have been pretty good at solving problems, new or old, over the years.”
With restrictions and hesitations due to COVID easing, the use of travel scholarships and mini-grants for in-person events returned. A mixture of formats continues to exist and may be the new normal going forward. The following support was provided:
Minigrant: Field Crop Ecology Ed. 2 was funded for editing. The grant was awarded to Sigg Snapp and her team at MSU. The process will produce a text book used in several MSU courses and in courses at other universities.
Travel Scholarships: Two individuals were sponsored to attend the Climate Intersections conference held in Duluth, MN in July. One attendee said, “It was invaluable to hear the indigenous perspectives on climate change - I'm already thinking of how to honor their voices and include their voices in my programming. Additionally, I met new contacts from MN and WI that I am excited to work with in the future”.
Two educators attended Waste to Worth held in Toledo, Ohio.
Five educators attended the combined Midwest Cover Crops Council meeting and Conservation Tillage Conference held in Ada, OH.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Project Outcomes
Face of SARE
SARE leadership in Michigan changed in 2021 with the resignation of Adam Ingrao, Michigan SARE Co-coordinator, from MSUE.
Face of SARE outreach efforts in 2021 continued to be impacted by COVID19. Early in the year, major winter conferences were cancelled or converted to virtual. By summer there was a return to some in-person events while others continued with virtual programs including a few hybrids. Reported below are events in Michigan where SARE was promoted with the type of event noted.
- 1/15/20 Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District Sustainable Pest Management in Livestock Systems event (presentation): 7 participants
- 1/13/21 Michigan Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS) SARE Virtual Farmer Forum, Virtual Presentation, 20 participants
- 1/22/21 Farmer Veteran Coalition Michigan Annual Meeting, Virtual Presentation, 15 participants
- 1/23/21 IHemp Midwest Conference, Virtual Presentation, 35 participants
- 2/15/21 – 2/19/21 MI Ag Ideas to Growth Virtual Conference, SARE sponsorship, 449 participants attending 1040 sessions
- 3/23/21 USDA Upper Peninsula Listening Session, Virtual Presentation, 32 participants
- 6/25/21 Small Grains for Brewing and Distilling Field Day, In-person, 21 participantd
- 6/30/21 Heroes to Hives Program Resources for Veterans lecture, Virtual Presentation, 4,345 participants Note: This is the total number of students taking the course and this is a required lecture
- 7/8/21 W.K. Kellogg Biological Station and Herbruck’s Organic Field Day, In-person, 75 participants
- 8/17/21 – 8/18/21 AgroExpo Farm Show, In-person, SARE Booth, approximately 2500 show participants, 80 participants
- 8/25/21 Cass County MEAEP Field Day, In-person, 44 participants
- 8/26/21 Cultivating Resilience Field Day - Ottawa/Allegan Conversation Districts, In-person, 101 participants
- 8/27/21 Bracy Ag Services Field Day, Branch County, In-person, 129 partcipants
- 9/1/21 Demonstration Field Day - Monroe Conservation District, In-person, 20 participants
- 9/15/21 Gaining Ground, Soil as a Renewable Resource Field Day, Eaton County, in-person, 26 participants
- 12/8/21 Michigan Thumb Virtual Field Day, Virtual Presentation, 121 participants
- 12/20/21 Integrated Crop and Pest Management Update, Hybrid: In-person and Virtual, 146 in-person and 281 virtual participants
Face of SARE outreach efforts in 2022 continued to be impacted by COVID19. There was a return to in-person events, while others continued with virtual programs including a few hybrids. Reported below are events in Michigan where SARE was promoted with the type of event noted.
- 1/26/22 – 1/27/22 Great Lakes Crop Summit, SARE booth, In-person, Over 1000 attendees, 150 participants
- 2/2/22 – 2/6/22 Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference, SARE sponsorship, Virtual, 250 attendees
- 2/8/22 Southeast Michigan Crop and Pest Management Update, In-person, 33 participants
- 2/11/22 - 12/14/22 Land Acquisition Theme Team meetings – 3 educators and 1 farmer planning curriculum for urban land access for beginning farmers
- 2/21/22 Mid-Michigan Farmer Meetup – 20 farmers and 5 educators – discussed SARE one on one
- 3/3/22 Beginning Farmers DEMaND planning meetings – Discussed Map of Michigan Beginning Farmer Resources, SARE grants & resources and Mentorship opportunities, planning for beginning farmer bulletins, webinars and workshops
- 3/7/22 to 11/14/22 – MSU Organic Farmer Training Program – 11 participants, 15 guest speakers, 26 host farmers, MSU Organic Farmer Training Program Distributed SARE books to 11 OFTP graduates
- 3/11/22 Field Network Farm Training & Incubator Farms meeting - ~15 educators – Discuss OFTP, SOF and SARE projects
- 4/28/22 - 12/8/22 Lansing BIPOC Incubator Farm workgroup monthly meetings – 16 educators, 2 farmers – Discussing potential SARE grant, SARE resources to inform this incubator farm
- 4/29/22 Lansing Urban Agriculture Scenario Planning – 17 Educators and 4 farmers, discussed SARE, apprenticeships and Map with group of 6 and with full group
- 6/1/22 Hazel Park Schools – Discuss SARE Youth Educator grant with 2 educators
- 6/17/22 MSU Extension Master Gardener Conference – led tour of MSU Student Organic Farm and discussed SARE, OFTP, organic and sustainable farming with 30 master gardeners
- 8/23/22 - 10/13/22 SARE R & E proposal assistance meetings and grant review with Crosshatch and Detroit Black Community Food Security Network – 5 educators
- 9/13/22 SARE Advisory Council meeting
- 10/14/22 - 10/28/22 Volunteer groups – discussed sustainable ag, cover crops, SARE with ~30 farm volunteers from 3 student organizations
- 10/20/22 Meeting with new director of Institute for Ag Tech about possibility of a Sustainable Ag or Urban Ag associates degree program – 2 educators
- 10/21/22 MSU Student Organic Farm Visioning session – discussed SARE and sustainable agriculture education, 10 farmworkers, 14 educators
- 10/24/22 Mid Michigan Farmer Meetup – 6 farmworkers, 10 farmers, discussed SARE one on one
- 11/10/22 Pollinate Event organized by Conservation Districts – Promoted SARE to approximately 20 educators and 20 farmers, as part of a women in agriculture and conservation event
- 11/12/22 - 11/13/22 Tri-State CSA Conference – promoted SARE to 62 famers and educators as part of the event
- 11/15/22 Michigan CSA Network Visioning Session – 11 farmers, 23 educators, distributed a packet of SARE flash drives, described SARE grants and resources to full group
- 11/28/22 Michigan Farm Bureau- 400 farmer members, one informational slide about SARE was in a rotation of informational sides viewed before each session.
- 12/4/22 to 12/6/22 Michigan Association of Conservation District Annual Meeting- 250 employees and board members of Conservation Districts around the state. We distributed bulletins and business cards at a booth. SARE was also mentioned in 4 presentations to 116 attendees.
- 12/2/22 to 12/20 4 meetings with Conservation District, MSU Extension, and 6 out-of-state organizations on the Transitions to Organic Partnerships program, discussed organic farmers, beginning farmers and SARE, 14 educators
- 12/6/22 to 12/8/22 Great Lakes Fruit & Vegetable EXPO (Grand Rapids) Distributed SARE pamphlets at at booth near the entrance (attendance 3,002 and promoted SARE at 3 sessions: Organic Marketing (19 Farmers, 3 educators), Beginning Farmer 1 (~12 educators, ~8 farmers), Organic Beginning Farmer (~20 farmers, ~6 educators)