Organic Farming Education for Agricultural Professionals

Organic Farming Education for Agricultural Professionals

Summary

200 Agricultural Professionals have been trained on the basics of organic production and certification. These attendees are more confident of their ability to respond to constituent questions on organic production. They have comprehensive resources that they may copy and send to farmers requesting follow up information. Agricultural professionals and others in the Midwest and beyond receive regular information on current organic opportunities, research and events through regular Organic Update e-newsletters.

Accomplishments/Milestones

-Comprehensive 2 year organic-specific training for at least 100 NRCS, CES and other Federal, State and agency professionals.
-Double this proposed number, 200 NRCS, CES and other Federal, State and agency professionals attended organic trainings held in 2003 and 2004.
-Four short courses over two years on organic farms in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
-4 WI trainings and 2 IA trainings were held in 2003. 2 WI and 1 IA training wer held in 2004, for a total of 9 trainings. The grant extension will cover 4 additional trainings in WI, IA and MN. Trainings were generally from 9:30 am to # pm, and included a morning classroom session, a lunch (separate fee) and afternoon farm tour. Each participant was given a 2” notebook full of resource material relating to organic production and certification.
-May 20, 2003 Jefferson, WI Organic Agriculture: Regulations and Production
-July 30, 2003 Shelburg, IA Organic Agriculture: Regulations and Production
-August 13, 2003 Fond u Lac, WI Organic Agriculture: Grains and Row Crop Systems
-August 21, 2003, Plymouth County, IA Organic Agriculture: Grains and Row Crop Systems
-September 10, 2003 Eau Galle, WI Organic Agriculture: Grains and Row Crop Systems
-November 5, 2003 Black River Falls, WI Organic Agriculture: Regulations and Production
-June 24, 2004 Stratford, WI Organic Agriculture: Dairy Production and Certification
-June 29, 2004 Mt. Vernon, IA Organic Vegetables and Open Pollinated Corn
-July 21, 2004 Hancock, WI Organic Production and Certification of Vegetable Crops
-Monthly project electronic newsletter including a regional events calendar and reports on new organic resources
-The “Organic Update” electronic newsletter was begun in March of 2003 and will be continued past the duration of this project. It is sent monthly to 185 individuals directly and several in-house networks, including UW AG Extension, WI NRCS and IA Extension and NRCS for a total distribution of over 500. Archived issues may be viewed at www.mosesorganic.org/update/index.htm
-Continuous updating of electronic version of Midwest Organic Resource Directory
-The UMORD was updated in print in June 2004, with continuous updates of the online version occurring before and after that printing. The online version can be viewed at www.mosesorganic.org/directory.htm
-Participants in organic farm tours, field days and workshops at the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference
-Participants in the trainings and electronic listserve have been encourage to attend organic farming events around the region, with primary notice being through the electronic Organic Update newsletter and MOSES online calendar. Fliers for some events were included in handouts at trainings. Participants were encouraged to attend the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference, and in 2004 27 training attendees also attended the UMOFC.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Short-Term Outcomes:
•At least 100 CES and NRCS professionals in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin will have general knowledge of organic agriculture, the status of the organic farming sector in the region, and markets and other factors that determine its viability as a profitable farming alternative.
•They will have specific knowledge of organic crops, livestock, dairy, and fruit and vegetable production and practices in the Midwest and will feel confident and comfortable discussing organic agriculture at meetings and with individual farmers.
•They will have general knowledge about national organic standards, allowed inputs, approved practices, record keeping and other federal certification requirements and will know where to refer farmers requesting more specific information.

Overview
Project coordinators have been extremely pleased by the broad success of this project. The primary product of the project was a planned series of 12 trainings on organic production and certification to 100 agricultural professionals. So far, we have had double that number of participants in only 9 courses. We expect participation in the four courses planned for the extension period in 2005 to continue to be strong. Higher than expected participation indicates that these courses served a strong need in the agricultural professional community for resources on organic production and certification.

Participants were highly enthused by the subject matter, presentation, presenter, farm tours and resource material offered at the sessions. We received several follow-up contacts thanking us for the quality of the presentation. Colleagues communicated with each other and encouraged participation at later scheduled sessions. Some project partners offered internal credit for employee attendance to our organic trainings, and in one case the WI-NRCS called MOSES to request a specific training be set to accommodate the schedules of staff who were not able to attend pre-planned sessions. Some participants attended numerous sessions. Evaluations collected at sessions were highly positive, with many claiming “the best training I’ve ever attended.”

Follow-up evaluations showed that participants felt more prepared to answer constituent questions about organic production and certification, and that they found the resource manual extremely useful. All materials presented in the notebooks are in a format that is designed for copying and distribution to constituents. (See attached evaluation result analysis.)

The Organic Update e-mail newsletter has also been a strong success in keeping agricultural professionals and others informed about events, research and news updates in organic agriculture. The Update is advertised through the MOSES website and sent to all attendees of classes, plus several institutional lists (such as WI Ag Extension, WI NRCS, WI Department of Ag personnel, IA NRCS and IA Extension, MN Department of Ag personnel). We receive 3-4 requests per month from individuals wishing to be added to the e-mail list. These individuals, who are finding the newsletter either on the MOSES website or through forwarded examples from friends or colleagues, is expanding the audience beyond the original reach of the project geographically and also into the business world. Comments show us that people appreciate the concise format of the e-mail, and the relevant information about organic issues and events. We plan to continue the Organic Update on a regular basis even after the grant requirement is completed.

Continuation of the Project
Project staff look forward to continuing this project into 2005. In 2005 we will continue to produce regular online Organic Update e-newsletters, and will hold 4 trainings for agricultural professionals in WI, MN and IA. We expect to set the dates for those trainings in February, and begin publicizing them immediately. We will continue to do updates to the online Upper Midwest Organic Resource Directory. We will mail follow-up evaluations to all 2005 session participants to assess the impact of the training materials a few months after attendees complete the training and return to their responsibilities. We will prepare a final report in the fall of 2005 in which we will analyze the full impact of the project.