Organic Farming Education for Agricultural Professionals

Organic Farming Education for Agricultural Professionals

Summary

A total of 275 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. Attendees have gone on to host their own training sessions for farmer constituents. Over 800 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.

The project was initiated in 2002 and active throughout 2003 and 2004, but put on hold for all of 2005. A funding extension was approved through March 31st, 2007. We are submitting this annual report to update on the progress of the project in 2006.

Objectives/Performance Targets

• At least 100 CES, NRCS, and other professionals from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin will have general knowledge of the characteristics of organic farmers, the status of the organic farming sector in the region, and markets and other factors that influence its viability as a profitable farming alternative.

  They will have specific knowledge of organic crop, livestock, dairy, and fruit and vegetable production and practices and will feel confident and comfortable discussing organic agriculture at meetings or with individual farmers.

  They will have general familiarity with national organic standards, allowed inputs, recordkeeping, and other federal requirements for certification and will know where to refer farmers requesting more specific information. Those from Iowa, which has a state certification program, will be familiar with its requirements.

  They will be able to use reference notebooks, directories, and other materials provided over two years of training to respond knowledgeably to most questions from farmers relating to organic agriculture. They also will be familiar with certifiers serving the 3-state region, Midwest organic farming organizations, outstanding organic farmers, land grant specialists involved in organic research and education, and other sources of organic farming information and assistance.

  They will know where to go or who to ask for any additional information needed to serve organic farmers.

  They will be able to provide information needed by conventional farmers considering a transition to organic farming.

  They will be able to help their own agencies develop in-service training, technical assistance, publications, and other initiatives and activities that will help them do more to serve their organic farming clientele.

Accomplishments/Milestones

• Comprehensive 2 year organic-specific training for at least 100 NRCS, CES and other Federal, State and agency professionals.
  * During 2006 75 additional CES and other Federal, State and agency professionals attended four organic trainings.
  * 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.
  * Four trainings were held in 2006
  * August 23 in Chaska, MN titled “Organic Training for Agricultural Professionals” with a focus on beef and feed crop production.
  * Sept 21 in Arlington, WI titled “Organic Dairy Farming Training for Agriculture Professionals.”
  * September 28 in Cherokee, IA titled “Organic Crops and Organic Livestock Training for Agricultural Professionals.”
  * October 11 in Marine on St Croix, MN titled “Organic Market Garden Production: Training for Agricultural Professionals.”

  Monthly project electronic newsletter including a regional events calendar and reports on new organic resources
  * The “Organic Update” electronic newsletter was issued five times in 2005 but suspended in 2006. It was re-instituted as a bi-monthly electronic newsletter in January 2007. It is sent to over 200 individuals directly and several in-house networks, including UW AG Extension, WI NRCS and IA Extension and NRCS for a total distribution of approximately 800. Archived issues may be viewed at www.mosesorganic.org/update/index.htm.
  * A web page for Agricultural professionals was created in 2003 and has been kept current. It is an important resource for those interested in current events, easy-to-use fact sheets and other resources useful in organic education.

  Continuous updating of electronic version of Midwest Organic Resource Directory
  * The UMORD was updated as the 6th edition in print in June 2006, 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. Updating of the seventh edition was begun in 2006 with an expected print date of Feb 5th, 2007.

  Participation in organic farm tours, field days and workshops at the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference.
  * Participants in the trainings and electronic listserve have been encouraged to attend organic farming events around the region, with primary notice being through the electronic Organic Update newsletter and MOSES online calendar. Fliers for events were included in handouts at trainings. Participants were encouraged to attend the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference, and in 2006 numerous training attendees also attended the UMOFC.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Project coordinators have been extremely pleased with the broad success of this project. The primary product of the project was a planned series of trainings on organic production and certification to agricultural professionals. Our initial assumption was that 100 agricultural professionals would attend a total of 12 trainings. In the first 18 months of the project we had double that number of participants (200) in only 9 trainings. Through the project extension into 2006, conservative spending has allowed us to hold an additional 4 trainings, which 75 additional agricultural professionals have attended. As of the date of this report an additional (and last) training in January 2007 served an additional 20 professionals for a grand total of 295 trained by the project, two and a half times the expected number of agricultural professionals directly impacted.

Ongoing strong partnership was key to the success of this final year of the project. The MOSES name is well known throughout the region for offering quality educational programming. Combined with support from state and regional Extension and NRCS offices and word-of-mouth recommendations from past attendees, programs were well attended with engaged participants. Field trips offered at a majority of the trainings proved to be a real draw, as participants were able to see successes and talk first-hand to organic producers. The farm visits reinforced and clarified the outlined production and certification techniques given in classroom session.

Participants were highly enthused by the subject matter, presentation, presenter, farm tours and resource material. Evaluations responses were highly favorable. Colleagues communicated with each other and encouraged participation at later scheduled sessions.

In the four years of this project life interest in organic production in the Midwest has strengthened significantly. Pressures on traditional sources of agricultural information, including Extension, NRCS, Technical Colleges, banking institutions and others to answer questions relating to organic production and certification have increased dramatically. Attendees to our trainings express tremendous appreciation for the quality and thoroughness of our trainings, and ongoing access to information through the comprehensive notebooks they take back to their offices.

Each training offered a very comprehensive resource notebook to supplement verbal and hands-on training. Initially offered in three-ring notebooks, the format was changed in 2006 to spiral-bound books. The advantage of the books was that they could be printed and collated off-site, and pages could be numbered for more easy access during and after the presentation. Offering a diversity of custom prepared and non-copyrighted information, the notebooks were so well received, in fact, that after the September presentation in Chaska Iowa an attendee, Martin Kleinschmidt from the Nebraska Center for Rural Affairs, asked to purchase an additional 75 copies of the resource notebook to use in a project in NE similar to ours. We complied with this request, billing Mr. Kleinschmidt for printing and mailing costs. The SARE logo and acknowledgement of SARE support was affixed to the color covers of all of the notebooks, including those copied.

The Organic Update email newsletter was on sabbatical in 2006 and re-instituted as a bi-monthly e-newsletter in early January of 2007. In January 2007 the Updated direct distribution list numbered 274, with group e-lists and forwards bring the distribution list to an estimated 800 individuals. Even throughout 2006, when we did not put out issues of the e-Update, we received numerous requests from Ag professionals to be added to the Update mailing list.

Post-event surveys, feed-back and conversations show that this project has had a positive impact on the knowledge of over 275 Agricultural Professionals in WI, MN and IA regarding organic issues. Attendees feel more confident in their ability to answer constituent questions, and use the notebook of resources to back up their knowledge with written materials. Materials in the resource books are prepared and offered for copying and further distribution to constituents. Incoming calls to the MOSES office from participants of the trainings show that attendees trust us as an accurate and efficient source of information about organic production and certification. Past participants of our trainings are now hosting farmer sessions on organic production and certification, showing that their confidence level has reached the level we have hoped for, in this train-the-trainer project.

Continuation of the Project
The project will be completed in March 2007. The last in-person training took place on January 11th, 2007 in Cresco, IA with 20 professionals attending. As a follow-up, final evaluations will be mailed to a majority of the participants in the 14 trainings that have been offered. We will ask about how they have used the information they received through the trainings and what other resources would be of value to them. Included with the evaluation will be a newly updated (2007) edition of the Upper Midwest Organic Resource Directory, with a publish date of January 2007. The Organic Update will be continued indefinitely as a bi-monthly e-newsletter and sent to 800+ agricultural professionals. This element of the project will continue after the project period is completed. A final report for the project will be submitted in early April 2007.