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 New England farmers have integrated poultry enterprises in their operations to increase farm income. As efficient converters of feed to meat and eggs, poultry requires less space and fits nicely as a complementary enterprise on many types of farms.

This 3-year long project was designed in 2009 to equip a group of interested agricultural service providers in the 6-state region in applied poultry science with the ultimate goal of assisting poultry producers in their respective states. Secondary goals of the project included the development of educational materials and tools to measure impacts of the providers’ efforts. Year-1 of the project focused on the basics of poultry production such as anatomy, nutrition and facilities while Year-2 focused on poultry health. In 2012, Year-3 focused on the business aspects of poultry.

Twenty five agriculture service providers from around New England continue to actively participate in this professional development project in 2012. These participants represent a variety of backgrounds related to agriculture, technology, education and service.

Six successful poultry producers from the region continued to play an important role in 2012 by serving on the advisory committee and sharing their knowledge and expertise. In June, members of the advisory team met with project leaders and were informed of the progress that the project was making. They reviewed materials that were developed by project participants and provided guidance in shaping the annual training by developing an outline of business considerations for poultry producers.

This year, project participants developed several new materials for use with poultry producers as well as by other agricultural service providers. In August, fourteen project participants and guests toured a USDA-inspected poultry processing facility in New Haven, Vermont to learn more about the process, equipment and regulations. In October 2012, fifteen project participants took part in a three-day training that focused on the business aspects of poultry production.

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

Participating agricultural service providers were involved in several learning opportunities in 2012. Three project participants attended the 2012 International Poultry Exposition (IPE) in Atlanta, Georgia in January where they gained knowledge about all aspects of the poultry industry and gathered information for their work with farmers. A practical webinar on “Trouble Shooting for Small Scale Poultry Producers” was broadcast for the group and poultry producers on February 9, 2012 with Dr. Jacquie Jacob as the lead instructor. On August 31, 2012, several project participants took part in a facilities tour of Misty Meadows Farm – a USDA inspected poultry processing plant in New Haven, VT. The project sponsored an egg producer school held in Fairfield, ME on March 24, 2012. Extension Poultry Specialist, Dr. Michael Darre of the University of Connecticut was the instructor for the day-long school. Over 40 egg producers took part in the training that was designed for small scale and mid-size producers of eggs. Fifteen of the participating 25 agricultural service providers took part in the 20-hour applied poultry science training that focused on poultry as a business that took place in Freeport, ME from October 17-19, 2012. A 60-minute webinar introducing the Poultry Break Even Calculator was broadcast via eXtension on December 4, 2012. This spread sheet for poultry enterprises was developed by Adam Hady of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension. Seventy-nine individuals participated in the live webinar. At least another 20 producers viewed the archived webinar and received the spreadsheet following the broadcast. In general, solid progress was made in 2012 in equipping agricultural service providers in applied poultry science.

Milestones
1. Participants will demonstratively gain knowledge and skills in applied poultry science. This will be assessed annually with pre and post testing. Using a prepared template, participants documented the knowledge and skills which were gained or reinforced related to the business aspects of poultry production as they participated in the annual applied science training over a three-day period in October. This measurement was used in lieu of a pre-test, post-test exercise. In addition, participants were surveyed electronically immediately after the training. One hundred percent of the respondents found the training useful and felt they had a better grasp of farm business as it related to poultry production and marketing. They documented gaining practical skills and knowledge in business planning, business structures, enterprise budgets, cash flows, business management and marketing. As part of the training, participants interviewed and interacted with a turkey producer, a couple who produce broiler chickens year-round; and a farmer who has a seasonal small-scale hatchery business.

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 as participants assist clients with poultry related issues in their counties or states. All project 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, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Starting in 2011, farmers from around New England 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, 110 individuals have signed up to be notified of future educational events hosted by project personnel. The Principal Investigator had a goal of having statewide poultry producer mailing list in each of the six New England states by 2012. This goal has not yet been fully reached. However, he will continue 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-five project participants from the six states have interacted with approximately 150 individuals with poultry enterprises over the past two years. However, a better system to monitor this number needs to be implemented for the project to provide an accurate count and identification of impacts

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. Workshops for small scale poultry producers were organized and presented by project participants in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine in 2012. It is estimated that a total of approximately 150 individuals participated in these workshops. A one-hour webinar on the topic of troubleshooting poultry problems on February, 2012 in which 29 people participated in the live broadcast. Lastly a 60-minite webinar was broadcast on December 4, 2012 of the topic of a poultry breakeven calculator for which nearly 80 producers and agricultural service providers took part. Lastly, our Internet records show that project homepage http://umaine.edu/poultry/ received 2,445 page views in 2012.

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. It is hoped that business plan templates for egg enterprises and poultry meat enterprises will be made available to potential and established producers in 2013.

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 steadily coming to fruition. The Principal Investigator gained the assistance of a professor and student of agricultural economics at the University of Maine in 2012 to help with this aspect. The team, with the input of four project participants, has developed a producer survey to measure this impact. The PI is currently preparing the Institutional Review Board application for use with human subjects to measure the economic impact of at least six individual poultry operations in their respective New England communities. Interviews with producers should be underway in early 2013.

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 2012, the following materials were developed by participating agricultural service providers: An information sheet on poultry diseases common to New England; a fact sheet for on-farm poultry processing for Maine; a publication on a model for poultry processing unit in Massachusetts with an accompanying spreadsheet; a publication on the regulations for selling eggs in Massachusetts; a publication for starting a layer flock in Massachusetts; a fact sheet on minimizing Salmonella in backyard laying flocks; a mailing list of alternative poultry keepers in Massachusetts; a video clip on distinguishing layer hen productivity; a fact sheet on heritage turkeys; a fact sheet on Mycoplasma gallispeticum (a disease of poultry); a PowerPoint presentation on constructing a low-cost chicken tractor for layers; a PowerPoint presentation on the basics for backyard poultry producers; and a checklist of agricultural service providers in working with clients. In addition, small scale poultry producers in Maine were survey electronically in December 2012 by two project participants in an effort to identify possible short comings of poultry performance as it relates to poultry nutrition.

The Principal Investigator continued to cultivate 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) to assist the project in developing more educational webinars.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Twenty-five agricultural service providers in the six-state region have continued to participate in this professional development project in 2012. These individuals 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 six project participants.

“I have learned so much & feel much, much, much more comfortable when talking poultry with our members”

“Sam and I have been learning a tremendous amount from the program and are applying it to our programs with farmers.”

“I plan to share the excel balance sheets with poultry growers to assist in their business planning.”

“The training was great! Although by its nature it might not have been quite as engaging as performing a necropsy or halving and quartering broilers, I found this session to have the most transferable information for my own work. It’s easy for all of us to get caught up helping backyarders, but helping those who want to start a poultry enterprise is usually where we can have the biggest impact. This training gave us the tools to do it.”

“As a result of my participation in this project, my work with the statewide poultry growers association has been enhanced. I now have the confidence to address identified needs with sound educational programs and help farmers succeed with their poultry enterprises. I have learned so much about poultry!”

“The training was a great time to network among cohorts. I appreciated the input that each participant made in discussions and presentations. I developed quite a list of pieces of knowledge that I gained or that was reinforced. I will use the reference notebook.”

“This felt like a great wrap up on the 3 years of content. Business management was a nice way to synthesize all the other elements that we learned about in previous years.”

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