Professional development for agricultural service providers in applied poultry science

Professional development for agricultural service providers in applied poultry science

Summary

In response to increasing consumer demand for local foods, many farmers have started or are very interested in integrating poultry enterprises in their operations to increase farm income. Poultry are efficient converters of feed to meat and eggs, require less space, and fit nicely as a complementary enterprise on many types of farms.
Extension agricultural service providers were recently surveyed on the issue of poultry. Over 92% of the respondents felt they were not effectively serving poultry producers. Only one of the 40 respondents was confident in answering poultry related questions. At least 81% of the respondents were interested in gaining knowledge and skills in poultry science.

This project, lead by a team of poultry experts, will involve working with 20 agriculture service providers in New England. These participants will come from a variety of backgrounds related to agriculture, technology, education and service. Each will have a solid history of working with farmers and farm families. They will gain knowledge and skills in basic poultry science in egg and meat production, alternative feeds, breed selection, biosecurity, processing, regulations, marketing, pests, business planning, economics and more for traditionally reared, organic, free-range and pastured poultry. The project will also focus on the joint development of educational materials as well as tools to measure impacts of the providers’ efforts. Successful poultry producers will play an important role by serving on an advisory committee and sharing their real world knowledge, information and situations. This project will involve annual training and regular updates via electronic media. At least twenty agriculture service providers in the six-state region will gain practical knowledge and skills in applied poultry science to confidently design and present educational programs to assist the owners of at least 200 small scale poultry enterprises and assess the local economic impacts of these businesses.

Objectives/Performance Targets

At least twenty (20) agriculture service providers in the six-state region will gain practical knowledge and skills in applied poultry science to confidently design and present educational programs to assist at least 200 small scale poultry producer enterprises and assess the local economic impacts. The annual estimated total net return is $548,750.00 (100 poultry producers with egg enterprises $273,750.00 annually; 100 poultry producers with meat enterprises $275,000.00 annually).

Accomplishments/Milestones

1. Participants will demonstratively gain knowledge and skills in applied poultry science. This will be assessed annually with pre and post testing. Participants took a pre-test and post-test on the topic poultry health at the annual applied science training in October. The results however were inconclusive. However, the participants were surveyed immediately after the training. When asked “was the recent 20-hour poultry health training effective in equipping you with practical knowledge and skills for your work with farmers?” 95% of the 20 respondents said “yes”.
When asked to “identify any KNOWLEDGE gained by marking one or more of the following topics that were presented, participants by percentage responded positively as follows – I gained knowledge in . . .”

characteristics of normal healthy birds 65%
signs of disease in poultry 85%
influence of management on bird health 70%
poultry disease prevention 75%
availability of diagnostic labs in the region for poultry specimens 50%
reportable diseases of poultry 100%
common diseases of poultry 80%
availability and limitations of drugs for poultry 70%
informational resources related to poultry health 80%
poultry enterprise spread sheets 50%
additional informational resources related to poultry 65%
poultry enterprise case studies 80%
fresh egg marketing 85%

When participants were asked to identify the SKILLS gained over the 20 hours of training by marking one or more of the following topics, participants by percentage responded positively as follows – I gained or refined skills in . . .

live poultry handling 55%
live bird evaluation 55%
live poultry observation for external parasites 75%
poultry slaughter and processing 95%
poultry dissection & anatomy 70%
developing questions to ask producers in solving problems 80%

2. Participants will identify poultry enterprises in their areas of service. This will be assessed annually. This information will go beyond the agriculture census data. The accomplishment of this milestone is steadily growing. It is believed that all of the participants have attempted to identify poultry enterprises in their respective areas of service. Statewide poultry producer mailing lists maintained by Cooperative Extension currently exist in Maine and Connecticut. In 2011, farmers were encouraged to sign up on the project web site http://umaine.edu/poultry/ to be on a poultry event notification mailing list for New England. To date, twenty nine (29) individuals have signed up to be notified of future educational events hosted by project personnel. The Principal Investigator has a goal of having statewide poultry producer mailing list in each of the six New England states by 2012. He plans to work with Extension, state-based organic organizations and the state departments of agriculture in each state for resulting mailing lists.

3. At least 200 poultry related enterprises will be started or enhanced over the three year period. This will occur as a result of the participants’ efforts and will be assessed each year. It is estimated that the current twenty-seven project participants from the six states have interacted with approximately 75 individuals with poultry enterprises in 2011. However, a better system to monitor this number needs to be implemented for the project.

4. Two hundred (200) small scale poultry producers in the region will gain skills and knowledge in starting and/or managing a profitable poultry enterprise. This will occur as a result of the participants’ efforts. This will be measured on a yearly basis. Our Internet records show that eight hundred and ninety-four (894) individuals have visited the project homepage http://umaine.edu/poultry/ in 2011. In addition, thirty-one individuals took part in one of the two egg quality schools offered at two sites in October 2011. Workshops for small scale poultry producers were organized and presented by project participants in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine in 2011. It is estimated that a total of approximately 140 individuals participated in these workshops. Lastly, a project participant presented a one-hour webinar on December 20, 2011 on the topic of broiler production in which 24 people participated in the live broadcast.

5. At least one hundred (100) poultry producers in the region will develop a written business plan for their poultry operation and a strong, local customer base for their products. This will occur as a result of the participants’ efforts. This will be measured on a yearly basis. This milestone has yet to be reached. A better system to monitor this number needs to be implemented for the project. In an effort to measure this milestone, the working group on financial farm management has been established and will address this type of need. It is hoped that business plan templates for egg enterprises and poultry meat enterprises will be made available to potential and established producers in 2012.

6. Economic impacts to producer families and the local economy will be identified and measured. This will be accomplished through case studies. However, one or more of the participants will provide more emphasis to this theme and take it on as a special project. This milestone is slow in coming to fruition. A working group on financial farm management has been established by this project and will hopefully address this need in 2012. Project participants have worked with at least 25 producers as case studies in 2011. The Principal Investigator will request the assistance of an economist to lead the group in this effort in 2012.

7. The types and numbers of educational materials developed and used by service providers and their clients will be identified. This will be assessed each year. In 2011, the following was accomplished as a result of project participants’ efforts. The egg processing working group developed a flow chart on egg processing for small scale producers. The poultry marketing working group developed an activity for the evaluation of egg cartons and carton labeling from the consumers’ point of view. The meat processing working group developed materials for small scale producers for meat processing. A biosecurity checklist for agricultural service providers in visiting producers with poultry enterprises was developed. The poultry health working group coordinated a question flow chart to assist a team member in discussing and diagnosing health problems with potential callers. A list of the top ten regional diseases of poultry was assembled. A list of reportable poultry diseases by state was compiled for New England. A power point presentation for beginner poultry producers was developed and used.

In an effort to reach more agricultural service providers as well as poultry and egg producers, the Principal Investigator cultivated working relationships with four Extension poultry specialists (Dr Jacquie Jacob of the University of Kentucky, Dr Ken Anderson of North Carolina State University, Dr Paul Patterson of Pennsylvania State University and Dr. Michael Darre of the University of Connecticut) in 2011 to assist the project in developing a series of educational webinars. In July 2011, Extension agricultural service providers in New England were surveyed electronically to determine the level of interest in poultry science training as well as educational delivery methods, timing and topics. Over 87% of the respondents were possibly interested in gaining more knowledge and skills to help them better work with poultry producers. In addition, 90% of the respondents stated that farmers should be included in these trainings. As a result of this feedback, a series of educational webinars for poultry producers and agricultural service providers will be hosted by this professional development project in 2012. This project will host a webinar on troubleshooting poultry problems, planned for February 9, 2012 and presented by Dr. Jacquie Jacob of the University of Kentucky.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Twenty-seven agriculture service providers in the six-state region have gained practical knowledge and skills in applied poultry science to confidently design and present educational programs to assist small scale poultry producer enterprises.
Following are statements from five project participants.
“I have learned a lot about poultry and the resources involved in ordering flocks, feed, equipment, growing birds and slaughter. I would not have had the opportunity without benefit of this cohort team. The annual seminars have provided a great deal of info on bird anatomy and health that could not be acquired in our day to day work.”
“Excellent education, this training has thoroughly expanded my knowledge in poultry physiology, reproduction and management”.

“I have served over 6 farms by putting their question to the group list serve and forwarding responses. This was very valuable information for them.”

“As a result of my participation in this project, I have gained skills and knowledge that have helped me deliver sound educational programming and support to local poultry farmers. The resources and reference materials have been used several times in my work as an extension educator.

“I have learned a lot so far.”

• Beneficiary Form ENE 10-116

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