Advanced Training in Sustainable Production Systems in the Northern Great Plains

2005 Annual Report for ENC03-074

Project Type: Professional Development Program
Funds awarded in 2003: $63,556.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2007
Region: North Central
State: South Dakota
Project Coordinator:
Dr. Roger Gates
SDSU Extension

Advanced Training in Sustainable Production Systems in the Northern Great Plains

Summary

Professional development training was held June 2005 at a cooperating farm near Madison, SD. This training was designed to expose participants to real-world livestock production system issues and demonstrate not only the complexity of the system but also the complexity of system responses resulting from management changes. Extension Educators and NRCS personnel led most of the field sessions and also led an intensive evening session on how to put together a comprehensive management/business plan. IRM teams presented initial information on their cooperating producers’ operations and the issues that they were beginning to work through with them.

Objectives/Performance Targets

1. Teach community-based ag advisors (CBAA, mostly Extension Educators and NRCS employees from SD and ND) about the components of livestock production systems and teach them to better understand the complexity of these systems and the need for a systems approach to solving producer problems.

2. CBAA understand adult education concepts, information dissemination, and enhance presentation skills.

3. CBAA incorporate knowledge of production systems into their programming efforts.

4. Experienced CBAA assume the roles of teacher, coach, and mentor to those just starting in the training.

5. CBAA develop a network of people to serve as their coaches, mentors, and IRM team members.

6. IRM teams identify and work with a producer in their region to help solve problems and develop a management plan using the concepts from their training.

7. CBAA encourage/invite new participants to continually strengthen the teams.

8. CBAA, Specialists and producers work together to develop a long-term feedback mechanism to monitor success of educational efforts.

Accomplishments/Milestones

• 44 CBAA and Specialists participated.

• IRM teams described the livestock production/farming operations of their cooperating producers to the group and discussed the progress made toward obtaining necessary information for developing management plans.

• CBAA led an extensive learning session on management and business plans, emphasizing the kinds of data needed to evaluate the sustainability of the various components of an operation and to complete an analysis of a ranch/farm.

• Field sessions were held at the cooperating farm. Participants got a first-hand look at how complex a small family farm/ranch can be. One of the greatest outcomes of the field session was that participants were faced with, and had to deal with, the unavoidable realization that simple “cures” from within a single discipline would not resolve problems, and might even cause more problems for the producer.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Exit evaluations showed participants’ ability to approach complex systems from a systems perspective was greatly improved, as well as natural resource monitoring techniques. Teams left the training with more information regarding specifics of developing the ranch business plan. They were also made aware of the importance of financial records in developing the business plan. The resource inventory techniques were new to many of the IRM team members, and this knowledge will help them make suggestions to their cooperating producers. More training sessions will be held in the future to gather input from the IRM teams and continue training in the areas of natural resources, economics and livestock.