Final report for WSP18-012
Project Type: PDP State Program
Funds awarded in 2018: $28,636.00
Projected End Date: 03/31/2022
Host Institution Award ID: G160-19-W7506
Grant Recipient:
University of Nevada - Reno Extension
Region: Western
State: Nevada
State Coordinator:
Stephen Foster
Board of Regents, Nevada System of Higher Education on behalf of University of Nevada, Cooperative Extension
Project Information
Abstract:
SARE-PDP funds will support participation of Nevada agricultural professionals in appropriate sustainability related training opportunities, such as the Society for Rangeland Management Annual Meeting, Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting, the Western Alfalfa and Forage Conference and the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference. Applicants will request funds using the SARE-PDP Travel Scholarship form.
SARE-PDP funds will also, support travel expenses for experts at demonstration sites and conferences in Nevada. SARE PDP funds may be used for purchasing or printing educational materials for use in symposiums or training programs.
Producers will may be involved in tours and in developing the content for other trainings and conferences. The State SARE Coordinator will actively solicit and review proposals/request from faculty for individual professional development.
Proposals for Mini-Grants, to support sustainable agricultural programs, may be submitted. The advisory committee for approval will review these mini-grants. A small portion of funding will be allocated to support project administration and related costs.
Project Objectives:
1) Expanded skills and knowledge about agriculture sustainability related to WSARE goals among Extension and other professionals.
2) Integrate skills and knowledge about agriculture sustainability into ongoing educational programming for agencies, producers and communities.
3) Increased networking among professionals on an individual, regional and national basis.
Advisors
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Education
Educational approach:
Western SARE for Nevada.
Nevada’s program follows the WSARE goals:
- Promote good stewardship of the nation’s natural resources by providing site-specific, regional and profitable sustainable farming and ranching methods that strengthen agricultural competitiveness; satisfy human food and fiber needs; maintain and enhance the quality and productivity of soil; conserve soil, water, energy, natural resources and fish and wildlife habitat; and maintain and improve the quality of surface and ground water.
- Enhance the quality of life of farmers and ranchers and ensure the viability of rural communities, for example, by increasing income and employment, especially profitable self-employment and innovative marketing opportunities in agricultural and rural communities.
- Protect the health and safety of those involved in food and farm systems by reducing, where feasible and practical, the use of toxic materials in agricultural production, and by optimizing on-farm resources and integrating, where appropriate, biological cycles and controls.
- Promote crop, livestock and enterprise diversification.
- Examine the regional, economic, social and environmental implications of adopting sustainable agriculture practices and systems.
Interactive video, social media and email list serves share information concerning WSARE grants and educational materials. Members receiving this information include University of Nevada Reno faculty, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension tenured faculty, administrative faculty and community-based instructors, NRCS personnel. In addition, state, regional and local farmers/ranchers can also, receive this information.
Education & Outreach Initiatives
1. Farm to Fork Tour, Douglas County. ($450)
Objective:
a. This tour not only highlights some of the exciting things being done in agriculture and agritourism in Douglas County, but also exposes attendees to possible value-added enterprises they could take back to their communities.
Description:
- It will also be important for tour participants to better understand why the prices of these local items may be more expensive versus what people would find in a large supermarket.
- Additionally, all these tours focus on family and preserving the rural and agricultural heritage in the Carson Valley. I also anticipate that attendees will learn more about challenges each of these tour stops face with natural resources (i.e. water, climate), working with local government, succession plans in transfer of ownership, and working to find varieties of crops that excel in our high-altitude desert climate.
Outcomes and impacts:
- Attendees will also learn about the opportunities that exist for these families as well. For example, Bently Distillery is very interested in sourcing as much of their botanicals for the spirits locally as possible, which creates opportunities for numerous local producers.
2. Soil Health Workshop, Humboldt County. ($500)
Objective:
a. The five soil health principles will be implemented across the state: 1) Keep soils covered; 2) Minimize soil disturbance; 3) Increase plant diversity; 4) Keep living roots in the soil throughout the year; and integration of livestock grazing. Increase the integration of our cropping and livestock production systems. This will benefit producers through improvement of soils, increase production of crops and livestock and increase the profits at a local and statewide level.
Description:
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- NRCS State and regional soils experts described soil health, the opportunities to improve soil health and ecological, production and economic benefits of healthy soils. This workshop was a precursor to workshops throughout the state in partnership with NRCS, CD’s and Extension.
- List partners and/or collaborators:
- NRCS (State and regional soils experts)
- NV Association of Conservation Districts
- Quinn River Conservation District
- Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
- UNCE
Outcomes and impacts:
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- The five soil health principles will be implemented across the state: 1) Keep soils covered; 2) Minimize soil disturbance; 3) Increase plant diversity; 4) Keep living roots in the soil throughout the year; and integration of livestock grazing. Increase the integration of our cropping and livestock production systems. This will benefit producers through improvement of soils, increase production of crops and livestock and increase the profits at a local and statewide level.
Professional Development Events
Objective:
During the 2018-2019 project period, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension sponsored faculty to attend the following events, sponsored by the WSARE PDP Grant:
Description:
- International Conference, Society for Range Management, Minneapolis, MN, (February 8-15, 2019).
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- The Society for Range Management is the professional scientific society and conservation organization whose members are concerned with studying, conserving, managing and sustaining the varied resources of the rangelands, which comprise nearly half the land in the world.
- SRM’s members are land managers, scientists, educators, students, producers and conservationists–a diverse membership guided by a professional code of ethics and unified by a strong land ethic. Specific topical sections that were presented at this conference include: 1) rangeland ecology; 2) grazing ecology; 3) adaptive grazing; 4) invasive species/weed management; 5) vegetation management; 6) fire ecology and management; 7) ecological site descriptions; 8) wildlife habitat; and 9) riparian ecosystems.
- Information from this meeting has been used to write one or more trade journal articles and influences Extension publications and presentation in the subsequent year.
- Nevada Farms Conference, Reno, NV, February 14-16, 2019.
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- This travel scholarship was awarded to Reggie Premo, Tribal Extension Outreach Specialist at University of NV Cooperative Extension.
- The Nevada Farm Conference educates producers and the community about regional, commercial agriculture to build economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
- This conference will offer information on Hemp production in Indian Country, how the 2018 Farm Bill relates to this, how to start a business enterprise on tribal lands.
- At the conclusion of this conference, I’ll meet with my tribal leadership to present what I’ve learned & look at options for production, startup costs, equipment, enterprise budgets, etc. and to also present to the community membership.
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- Tribal Green Symposium, Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort, February 19-20, 2019.
- This conference will give information on the legal aspects, growing, and marketing information associated with using hemp as an alternative crop on the Indian Reservations.
- Growing hemp is a crop that can be legally grown, just recently, as authorized by the current farm bill. The various Indian reservations in Nevada are in constant search for profitable alternative crops that could be utilized as an alternative crop and have been approached by various entities wanting them to grow this crop. More information is needed by the tribal groups to identify if this is an acceptable alternative profitable crop that could be grown on the reservations and be conducive to reservation environments.
- National Sustainability Summit & National Extension Energy Summit, Tampa, FL, April 16-19, 2019.
- Information from this conference will help create training for Nevada’s Extension faculty and other agricultural professionals to enable them to help farmers and ranchers understand and prepare for the impacts of climate change. Sustainable agriculture requires an understanding of the impacts of human activities on the soil, water and ecosystem resources upon which production is based.
- Collaboration with local agricultural producers and with key professionals in the Nevada State Department of Agriculture, watershed groups, the NRCS and the State Engineers Office will enable UNCE Faculty to gather the appropriate expertise and the ability to reach agricultural audiences throughout the state.
- Improving our regional economic, social and environmental conditions.
- Netherlands International Agricultural Leadership Travel Project, May 5-13, 2018.
- This valuable experience allows participants to see the agricultural practices, policies, and technologies of another nation up close, and compare these trends to those of our own state and nation.
- Time in The Hague and Utrecht will be filled with networking opportunities, educational tours with producers in-country and meetings with ranking officials in national agricultural policy. Focus areas include seed biotechnology, greenhouse flower and vegetable production, water resource management, and international trade. Additionally, we will witness the role of effective leadership in the global marketplace and explore universal principles to bring back to the workplace.
- The emphasis of this hands-on observation and training in the Netherlands will meet the SARE goals including such things as conservation of water and other natural resources, promotion of urban agriculture for increased food security, expanding the types of crops being considered for production and sustainability in all target audiences.
- Western Sustainable Agriculture, Research and Education Summer Tour, State Coordinator’s Annual Meeting, May 10-24, 2019, Guam and Micronesia.
- The Western SARE region comprises thirteen states and four U.S. Pacific island protectorates. A state coordinator represents each of the thirteen states and four U.S. Pacific island protectorates that are part of the Western region. The state coordinators assist in promoting sustainable agriculture locally through noncompetitive state grants operated through SARE's Professional Development Program and through promotion of SARE funded project results.
- State Coordinators attend the annual meeting to receive updates/changes in the SARE funding/reporting and to learn more about the other SARE programs in the region.
- This year the WSARE State Coordinators Annual Meeting was held in Guam. I was invited to give a presentation on the 2020 annual meeting that will be held in Reno, NV. In addition, teams of state coordinators were invited to give educational workshops on several of the islands in Micronesia. I gave a presentation on “Proper Swine Artificial Insemination Techniques and Estrus Synchronization” on the island of Pohnpei.
- International Drone Conference & Exposition (Interdrone), Las Vegas, NV, September 3-6, 2019.
- The International Drone Conference and Exposition, is where the commercial UAV industry comes together. Participants can connect with other drone pilots, service providers, UAS engineers and developers, UAV manufacturers, videographers and enterprise UAV end-users at the largest, commercially-dedicated show.
- InterDrone boasts the most comprehensive conference program along with drone courses and special events, designed for networking and keeping you up to date on the latest in drone news and the industry.
- The information from this conference will be shared with farmers, ranchers, natural resource managers and government agencies to help them make better informed decision on farm and natural resource management.
- UAV and drone technology is at the forefront of natural resources conservation for farmers and government agencies. It will be important for educators to help stakeholders adopt this new technology in a sustainable and thoughtful manner.
- Soil Health and Sustainability for Field Staff, Fort St Buffalo, WY, September 10, 11-12, 2019.
- Although there is interest in soil health by NV producers, it is difficult to find information about what soil health is and how to apply soil health principles in our cropping and climatic situations. Many producers that have found soil health information from other states indicate that soil health may work elsewhere but may not work in NV. It is my desire to help producers understand that soil health principles will work in throughout NV. The rate of change may differ and implementation may vary across NV, but soil health can be improved through the 5 soil health principles anywhere. It is possible to improve our soils health and receive the benefits of a functioning soil ecosystem.
- I believe that improving soil health and soil health practices meets every SARE goal. Soils are the foundation of all agriculture and agriculture is the foundation of civilization. Promoting good stewardship of resources and increasing agricultural sustainability and economic viability; Improving quality of life through the satisfaction of improved production systems and increased profitability; Reduction of chemical fertilizers and herbicides; increased diversification of plants, crops and enterprises; and
- 2019 California Alfalfa & Forage Symposium – Optimizing Yield and Quality in Irrigated Forages & Forage Irrigation Workshop, November 19-21, 2019, Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV.
- Three Extension Educators attend this year’s Forage Symposium featured a one-day Forage Irrigation Workshop. This workshop reviewed water and irrigation management is a key aspect of high yield, high quality alfalfa production. This one-day workshop is a primer on the skills necessary for managing irrigation on your farm for high quality forage production. The objective was to develop better skill sets to manage soil moisture, and cropping systems to maximize yields, quality, and soil health, and meet water quality regulations.
- Other Sustainable Agricultural topics discussed during the symposium included:
- ET-based Irrigation of Alfalfa: Principles and Practical Implementations.
- Implications of Climate Change Predictions on Forage Production in Western States.
- Rotation Studies with Alfalfa, Small Grains and Corn.
- Grazing Systems on 3 Million Hectares (7.4 million acres) in Argentina.
- Approaching IPM Program for Alfalfa Winter Insect Pests of Southwest Desert
- Importance of IPM Practices for Pesticide Resistance Management.
- Managing Weeds in Organic and Conventional Seedling Alfalfa.
- Teff as a Forage Crop.
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- Many of these topics will used to develop educational programs for local/state forage producers.
Outcomes and impacts:
- Changes in Ag Professionals’ Knowledge, Intention and Action Please list:
All travel scholarship participants must fill out a Professional Development Travel Scholarship Application or Professional Development Mini-Grant Project Application and Professional Development Mini-Grant Project Report to receive WSARE PDP funds.
Educational & Outreach Activities
50 Consultations
2 Minigrants
2 On-farm demonstrations
10 Published press articles, newsletters
1 Tours
1 Workshop field days
Participation Summary:
10 Extension
8 NRCS
5 Researchers
18 Nonprofit
20 Agency
35 Farmers/ranchers
Learning Outcomes
150 Participants gained or increased knowledge, skills and/or attitudes about sustainable agriculture topics, practices, strategies, approaches
50 Ag professionals intend to use knowledge, attitudes, skills and/or awareness learned
Project Outcomes
25 New working collaborations
150 Agricultural service provider participants who used knowledge and skills learned through this project (or incorporated project materials) in their educational activities, services, information products and/or tools for farmers
150 Farmers reached through participant's programs
Face of SARE
Face of SARE:
Western SARE for Nevada.
Nevada’s program follows the WSARE goals:
- Promote good stewardship of the nation’s natural resources by providing site-specific, regional and profitable sustainable farming and ranching methods that strengthen agricultural competitiveness; satisfy human food and fiber needs; maintain and enhance the quality and productivity of soil; conserve soil, water, energy, natural resources and fish and wildlife habitat; and maintain and improve the quality of surface and ground water.
- Enhance the quality of life of farmers and ranchers and ensure the viability of rural communities, for example, by increasing income and employment, especially profitable self-employment and innovative marketing opportunities in agricultural and rural communities.
- Protect the health and safety of those involved in food and farm systems by reducing, where feasible and practical, the use of toxic materials in agricultural production, and by optimizing on-farm resources and integrating, where appropriate, biological cycles and controls.
- Promote crop, livestock and enterprise diversification.
- Examine the regional, economic, social and environmental implications of adopting sustainable agriculture practices and systems.
Interactive video, social media and email list serves share information concerning WSARE grants and educational materials. Members receiving this information include University of Nevada Reno faculty, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension tenured faculty, administrative faculty and community-based instructors, NRCS personnel. In addition, state, regional and local farmers/ranchers can also, receive this information.
150 Farmers received information about SARE grant programs and information resources
50 Ag professionals received information about SARE grant programs and information resources
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.