Development and Implementation of the Agriculture Community Education (ACE) On-line Learning Modules for Northeast Texas Limited Resource Producers

View the project final report

Commodities

• Agronomic: annual ryegrass, clovers, grass (misc. perennial), hay, millet, sorghum sudangrass, triticale
• Vegetables: greens (leafy), okra, peppers, tomatoes, turnips
• Additional Plants: herbs
• Animals: goats, poultry, swine
• Animal Products: eggs, meat

Practices

• Animal Production: animal protection and health, feed/forage, feed management, feed rations, free-range, grazing management, grazing - multispecies, grazing - rotational, livestock breeding, manure management, mineral supplements, parasite control, pasture renovation, pasture fertility, probiotics, vaccines, watering systems, winter forage
• Crop Production: conservation tillage, cover crops, crop rotation, double cropping, drought tolerance, fallow, greenhouses, high tunnels or hoop houses, intercropping, irrigation, no-till, nutrient cycling, nutrient management, pollinator habitat, shade cloth, water management, water storage
• Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, mentoring, networking, on-farm/ranch research, workshop
• Farm Business Management: agritourism, e-commerce, value added
• Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity
• Pest Management: compost extracts, cultural control, field monitoring/scouting, mulches - killed, mulches - living, mulching - vegetative, trap crops, weeder geese/poultry
• Production Systems: holistic management, integrated crop and livestock systems
• Soil Management: composting, green manures, organic matter, soil microbiology, soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: community services, partnerships, quality of life, social networks

FINAL REPORT: Development and Implementation of the Agriculture Community Education (ACE) On-line Learning Modules for Northeast Texas Limited Resource Producers Project: EDS22-38

Executive Summary

The Agriculture Community Education (ACE) project was launched through SARE Education Grant EDS22-38 to create and implement a series of online training modules that make sustainable agriculture education more accessible to limited-resource and underserved producers in Northeast Texas. Building on more than a decade of face-to-face instruction at Northeast Texas Community College’s (NTCC) Sustainable Market Farm, the ACE initiative aimed to transform existing hands-on courses into flexible, on-demand learning opportunities.

Five modules were developed covering core topics essential to small-scale regenerative production: Healthy Soils, Backyard Poultry, Meat Goat Production, Greenhouse Management and Vegetable Gardening. Each module featured multimedia instruction, real-farm demonstrations, assessments, and discussion components, delivered through NTCC’s Blackboard Ultra learning platform.

Implementation spanned two years and included integration into college coursework (HALT 2321 Small Farming, AGRI 1315 Horticulture and others), in-field demonstrations, and multiple public outreach events such as AgFest, Homestead Fairs, and student-led community poster sessions. A Texas YES grant extension in Year 2 allowed additional year for students to contribute to module refinement and program expansion and paid internships for graduating students to modify lesson plans.

Measured outcomes include a 32% average gain in student knowledge, 93% of participants reporting skill improvement, and over 70% noting financial benefit from practice adoption. Demonstrated impacts ranged from improved soil health and crop yields to better animal management outcomes. Additionally, the ACE project inspired the development of new Occupational Skills Awards (OSAs) in Homesteading Management and Plant Production Management, along with enhanced outreach through the new Farm Day Fridays initiative geared at underserved audiences including young adults with special needs.

Through a blend of online flexibility and real-world application, ACE has transformed NTCC’s agriculture program into a regional model for accessible, applied regenerative education. With curriculum updates planned, new modules in development, and broad community interest, the ACE project leaves a lasting legacy and scalable framework to support sustainable farming in Texas and beyond.

Total project budget for 2 years is $35,667. Breakdown includes: supplies: $6,425, Outreach: $2,800; Personnel: $23,200; NTCC indirect costs $3,242.  The 2024-2025 year extension was utilized to offer two summer internships through the Texas Yes funds of $4950 that were primarily salary paid to instruct course modules for the summer which also included an additional 10% in indirect costs. Breakdown for Texas Yes grant funds awarded: $4100 Wages + $400 Materials and Supplies + $450 indirect costs.

The primary goal of the ACE (Agricultural Continuing Education) project is to enhance the long-term sustainability of small-scale farmers in the Northeast Texas region by providing targeted, practical education through online learning modules. Content for the online courses for sustainable practices in our biome was not readily available.  NTCC Regenerative Farm is a community college agriculture program with a regenerative farm or laboratory that is set up to instruct area producers.  NTCC Sustainable Ag Program Grant would provide the labor to build each online module as taught on our farm.  Each module focuses on improving best practices in a key area of sustainable agriculture. Student learning outcomes are assessed based on knowledge gained and the adoption of improved practices, with evaluation metrics tied to measurable improvements in farm performance.

The following measurable objectives guide the project:

• Soil Health Improvement: Participants will demonstrate improved soil health through pre- and post-course soil sample analysis.

• Backyard Poultry Flock Performance: Participants will show improved egg production in their backyard layer flocks, measured before and after module completion.

• Meat Goat Production Efficiency: Participants will achieve reduced parasite loads and improved weight gain in goats, evaluated through fecal sample comparisons pre- and post-instruction.

• Greenhouse Pest Management: Participants will apply integrated pest management techniques to greenhouse vegetable production, assessed via improved germination rates.

• Vegetable Crop Yield: Participants will adopt cover cropping and companion planting strategies to increase vegetable yields, measured through comparative harvest data.

Additional skills and behaviors specific to each topic area may also be measured. Participants will be asked to evaluate the financial impact of the course by identifying whether they experienced increased profits or reduced input costs as a result of adopting practices taught in the modules.