Sustainable Livestock Mortality Management

Sustainable Livestock Mortality Management

Summary

The Northeast carcass Management team comprised of Mark Hutchinson, Craig Williams and Jean Bonhotal, developed a Sustainable Livestock Mortality Management Train-the-Trainer program during 2008.

A two-day Train-the-Trainer program was developed by conference call, peanut butter wiki and one group meeting. The pbwiki was an efficient method to share course content, schedules and resource list at our convenience.
Craig Williams set up the program through a secure website. The site has multiple pages for each location and resources. The site will continue to be used to share resources and information for the team.

Penn State-State College PA, Miner Institute – Chazy, NY and Highmoor Farm – University of Maine Experimental Farm – Monmouth, Maine were chosen as host sites based on their geographic proximity to our identified beneficiaries. The trainings at Penn State and Miner Institute have been completed. The third training will be held in April 2009 at Highmoor Farm in Maine.

A total of 39 people participated in the trainings held at Penn State University in State College, Pa and Miner Institute in Chazy, NY. Eight of the thirteen NESARE states were represented at these programs. Participants included representatives from Extension (6), state agencies (23) federal agencies (5) and private Ag service providers (8). Eight teams were formed during the training for people to collaborate on additional training for producers.

As part of their training, participants received a resource notebook and stick drive of all presentations. This material was provided as a tool for teams to prepare workshops and trainings for livestock producers during the next two years.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Three years after training, 60 Agriculture service providers (ASP) across the Northeast SARE region in sustainable carcass management through composting, 500 farmers will adopt composting as carcass management practices. Project duration 4 years.

Accomplishments/Milestones

A core group of 60 Extension and NRCS staff will participate in a Train-the-Trainer program, 20 participants at three locations. 8 months (2008). This milestone has been partially completed. Training was offered at two locations with 39 participants. The third training will be offered in April 2009.

From the core group of 60, 30 will provide feedback on Carcass Management Tools website design. 15 months (2008-2009). Website has not been developed. Training information was made available on stick drives.

The core group will form 20 teams which will host 50 educational programs for producers and agricultural service providers, transfer information through agricultural events and write articles for agriculture publications. Of the 20 teams, 12 will use video teleconferencing as part of their training. Years 2-3 of program (2009-2010). Eight teams were formed during the training. Two teams have started planning educational programs for producers and other agricultural service providers in Pennsylvania and Vermont. An article written by a participant was published by a Pennsylvania farm trade magazine in November 2008. Information has been used by participants in Massachusetts, Vermont and Pennsylvania to form county and state policy.

Core group (60) will participate in two video teleconferences to share successes and assess program progress. Year 3 (2010)

As a result of the educational programs, 500 livestock producers will implement and improve sustainable carcass management practices. Year 3 and 4 (2010-2011)

A program evaluation will be conducted of trained trainers through electronic survey and telephone follow up. Year 4 (2011)

Collaborators: