Breaking Barriers: Building Capacity to Provide Tractor Education

2015 Annual Report for ENE13-127

ENE13-127 (project overview)
Project Type: Professional Development Program
Funds awarded in 2013: $89,681.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2015
Region: Northeast
State: Vermont
Project Leader:
Beth Holtzman
Email
UVM Extension - New Farmer Project & Women's Agricultural Network

Breaking Barriers: Building Capacity to Provide Tractor Education

Summary

To succeed, farmers must understand the equipment needs of their enterprise, how these needs may change as the business grows, and how to meet these needs safely and efficiently. Unskilled equipment operation can put farmers at serious physical and financial risk. Lack of knowledge about farm equipment can limit farm scale and productivity, and therefore the farm’s ability to provide a sustainable family income.

Yet, new farmers increasingly come from non-farm backgrounds and have limited experience with machinery. Equipment, for example, was the second-most common challenge (after time management) identified by 140 Northeast beginning farmers who answered an open-ended question in a 2010 survey. In a fall 2012 survey, over 90% of 53 beginning farmer respondents indicated that inadequate tractor education was a barrier to the development of their current or planned farm businesses. Over 60% indicated they would need substantial training in tractor use and safety to feel competent, and over 80% indicated they would need substantial training in tractor maintenance and mechanization strategies to feel competent. In many places, access to tractor education is limited. In Vermont, tractor education programs are primarily geared to youth seeking farm employment; the old model of Extension agents sharing the latest tractor and mechanization information on farms has practically disappeared.

This capacity-building project will develop a new, collaborative model for providing tractor education. It will train and support 40 agricultural service providers— including representatives from Extension, agricultural nonprofit organizations and educational institutions, state and federal agricultural agencies, vocational/technical education center staff and experienced farmers—to work across organizations to deliver education that helps farmers gain practical skills, realistically assess and communicate their equipment needs, and make informed decisions, all of which will improve farmers’ efficiency, safety and satisfaction with their businesses. Through online learning hands-on training, and follow-up support, participants will gain skills, knowledge and understanding, enabling them to offer comprehensive farm mechanization training for farmers. After completing training, participants will gain experience as paid trainers themselves through two farmer trainings organized by project staff. Participants will receive ongoing support to work one-on-one with farmers on mechanization strategies, and to organize future trainings.

Objectives/Performance Targets

20 agricultural service providers work in teams to deliver tractor safety, use, maintenance and farm mechanization education to 108 farmers and farm workers; 12 service providers work individually with 40 farmers on farm mechanization plans; 2 collaborating organizations incorporate the tractor education curriculum into their ongoing adult education program.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Milestone 1: 160 agricultural service providers and 380 farmers learn about the tractor education program an receive an online survey about their learning needs and current level of knowledge. Accomplishments: Usinglist-servs, e-newsletters, direct email, and hand-outs at events and conferences, we distributed registration and program information to an estimated 500 agricultural service providers, ag educators and farmer educators in Vermont and the 12 Northeast states.

Milestone 2: Fifty service providers and 90 farmers respond to the survey; eight service providers and 12 farmers participate in in-depth interviews. Accomplishments: 64 agricultural educators and service providers responded to promotion by applying to participate in the program. We conducted in-depth interviews with 9 agricultural service providers/educators and 11 farmers.

Milestone 3: 36 agricultural service providers (who include 6 farmer educators) submit applications to participate in the program. Accomplishments: We selected 43 individuals as program participants. Additionally, two applicants will participate in the project as co-trainers. Everyone who was not accepted into the program has been invited to make use of the online resources on the Ground Work website. The group includes individuals from MA (3), ME (2); NH (3), NY (11), PA (1), RI (1), and VT (22). Participants’ primary affiliation/occupation: Extension/Land Grant University personnel (9), farmers (4), managers of commercial and educational farms (5), nonprofit organization personnel (12), instructors from high school technical education centers (4), and instructors from college educational farms (3).

Milestone 4 &6: 30 agricultural service providers demonstrate increased knowledge of a) approaches to adult farmer education, b)working with diverse audiences, c) strategies for implementing hands on learning; d) mechanization strategies and their relationship to other farm business planning decisions, and e) insurance, liability and logistical concerns associated with equipment workshops after completing online training modules on those subjects. Accomplishments: In 2014, Ground Work offered five webinars as follows:

  • Orientation Introduction to Teaching Adults about Tractors and Mechanization (January 2014)
  • Linking Mechanization to Farm Business Planning (February 2014) with John Hendrickson, Center for
  • Integrated Agricultural Systems University of Wisconsin.
  • Farm Mechanization for Increased Efficiency (March 2014) with Richard Wiswall farmer Cate Farm, and author of the Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook
  • Buying a Tractor: A Guide to Buying a New or Used Tractor with Shane LaBrake agricultural consultant, trainer and teacher
  • Managing Equipment Workshops: Safety, Liability, Insurance, and Beyond , with Andy Pressman, farmer and ag educator, and Stephen Hadcock, Cornell Cooperative Extension.
  • Additionally, we made available a recording of How to Develop and Deliver Education that Helps Farmers Solve Problems and Adopt New Practices with Seth Wilner , University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension.

To accommodate participants’ schedules (especially technical education center and other teachers who often had day-time commitments), all webinars were recorded and available for follow-up viewing. Live participation in the webinars varied from all 43 participants to 25. Response rates to follow-up, evaluation surveys from the webinars was varied widely depending on the webinar. If we were to conduct a similar project in the future, we would look for incentives to getting consistent feedback from participants. Nonetheless, the responses to all webinars showed increased skills and knowledge related to planning and implementing tractor workshops and mechanization education for adult beginning farmers. Several participants indicated that a key change was increasing their confidence in being able to safely and effectively deliver education on these topics. We modified format and content of webinars based on feedback from those who did fill out the evaluations, and the modifications were noted and appreciated in subsequent evaluations.

Milestone 5: 24 agricultural service providers complete in-person training and demonstrate proficiency in teaching tractor safety, use and maintenance to new farmers and farm workers. Accomplishments: All 31 participants completed evaluation surveys. Participants had a broad range of prior experience delivering tractor skills workshops, including people who routinely teach youth and/or college students (3) to those with no experience delivering this content (6). All participants said the day increased their ability to train and evaluate a new tractor operator. All 31 participants indicated that they gained skills related setting up and running hands on tractor skill exercises, and teaching safe tractor PTO and equipment operation. Additionally, 30 of the participants improved skills related to teaching spotting and hitching, basic maintenance of tractors, implementing adult learning principles in education, selecting instructors and selecting equipment and facilities to use as training facilities.

 

Milestone 7: 30 agricultural service providers access the project’s online resource library, downloading: workshop planning materials and checklists; presentation outlines, slides, graphics and video links; farmeroriented hand-outs; and evaluation and target verification surveys. (Aug 2014-June 2015). Accomplishments: In the last year, we have continued to build out the resource hub, adding a variety of print, webinar and video materials. We will continue to add resources and links to related webpages through the end of the project. Twenty two project participants (agricultural educators and service providers) accessed materials from the website in the last year via a subscription to our blog. Additionally, the Ground Work website receives an average of about 60 visits per month.

 

Milestone 8: 20 service providers request and receive support services from the project team as they plan and deliver tractor education workshops and follow-up individual assistance to farmer workshop participants. Accomplishments: Six Ground Work participants have organized eight tractor and/or mechanization education sessions using resources from this project. Seven of the sessions focused on basic tractor and mechanization skills, and were attended by 98 beginning and aspiring farmers. One of the sessions was a train-the-trainer session that focused on helping experienced farm operators and managers gain knowledge and skills in teaching their employees and apprentices about tractor and implement safety and operation.

 

All participants were asked to fill out evaluation forms at the end of the workshops, although the evaluation questions varied from workshop to workshop based on how the sponsoring organization conducts evaluation. Combining data from the various evaluation instruments, approximately 90 percent of all participants returned evaluation forms. Of those, 100% reported increased knowledge of tractor safety and maintenance, and 87% reported increased knowledge in tractor operation. Of the 44 people who were specifically asked, “Did you gain any knowledge or skills today that you anticipate using in the next year,” 40 responded yes, and 25 provided brief descriptions of how they anticipate using the knowledge. Common responses indicated that the workshop will result in in improvements to daily/seasonal maintenance, safety when driving and attaching implements; and considerations when selecting a tractor.

 

Open-ended comments showed that workshops addressed a wide variety of concerns.

  • “What I leaned today is absolutely necessary information for my farming success.”
  • “Having the time for hands-on work helps my understanding.:
  • “I learned a ton — basics and special tricks!” 
  • “I am going to ask my farm to put me on the team that works with tractors and to assign me the daily maintenance checks.”
 

Organizers of two of the workshops offered the following observations:

 

“Many of the young farmers in our network don’t come from farm families or agricultural colleges, and mechanics and engine repair are frequent gaps in their knowledge. Many of the attendees to the workshop—who use machines with small engines on their farms or the farms they work on—didn’t know about combustion engines, how to keep them in working order, and what can go wrong with them. Participants said in their evaluations that the class helped to demystify these machines, and were very appreciative particularly of the hands-on portion of the workshop. Many expressed that they were eager to get back to their work benches and barns to give their machines some work over the winter, and also that they would take better care of them in the coming growing season with hopes of extending the lives of their machines.” 

 

“All eight participant reported that this workshop had an impact on their knowledge of tractor basics, safety, operation, and maintenance. While not everyone agreed that their farm’s profitability will increase as a result of this workshop, all 8 did comment that there are certain measures they will implement that will allow them to operate tractors more safely and to perform basic maintenance. One additional outcome stated in 5 of the evaluations is that there was knowledge gained on shop tools.”

 

“All nine evaluations checked that this workshop improved their ability to operate a tractor, increased their knowledge of tractor safety, and increased their ability to maintain tractors. One participant noted that she has taken several tractor and farm equipment trainings in the past, some of which included hands-on components, but this training provided the most beneficial experience for hands-on learning. Two participants specifically mentioned they plan to do more of their own maintenance as a result of this workshop. Two participants specifically commented on how useful the information presented on purchasing a new or used tractor was to them. The entire group expressed that the resources provided during the workshop were of great value and that they would all recommend this workshop to other farmers.”

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Objectives/Performance Targets: 20 agricultural service providers work in teams to deliver tractor safety, use, maintenance and farm mechanization education to 108 farmers and farm workers; 12 service providers work individually with 40 farmers on farm mechanization plans; 2 collaborating organizations incorporate the tractor education curriculum into their ongoing adult education program.

Progress towards Outcomes: As of the end of 2015, Ground work has supported 12 agricultural educators and service providers (6 who participated in the initial Ground Work train-the-trainer program plus 6 others) to work in teams to deliver tractor safety, use, maintenance and farm mechanization education to 108 farmers, farm workers and aspiring farmers. Follow-up technical assistance will continue this winter and spring and we will report on those outcomes in our final report. Five collaborating organizations have hosted farmer-oriented tractor and mechanization educational workshops and courses, and have indicated interest in incorporating this kind of education their ongoing programs. However, several have also indicated that external sponsorships/financial support may be needed. We will report on the progress toward that goal in our final report.

We plan to formally survey all of our participants and will report on their feedback in our final report.

Collaborators:

Jessica Schmidt

jessica.a.schmidt@uvm.edu
Community and Agriculture Program Coordinator
University of Vermont Extension
617 Comstock Rd.
Berlin, VT 05602
Office Phone: 8022232389
Website: http://www.uvm.edu/newfarmer
Kristen Mullins

kristen.mullins@uvm.edu
UVM Extension
655 Spear Street
Burlington, VT 05405
Office Phone: 8026562034
Dennis Murphy

djm13@psu.edu
Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering Agricultural Safety and Health
The Pennsylvania State University
221 Agricultural Engineering
University Park, PA 16802
Office Phone: 8148657157
Website: http://extension.psu.edu/business/ag-safety
George Cook

george.cook@uvm.edu
Extension Specialist: Maple and Farm Safety
University of Vermont Extension
29 Sunset Dr., Suite 2
Morrisville, VT 05661
Office Phone: 8028884972
Mary Peabody

mary.peabody@uvm.edu
Extension Community Development Specialist
University of Vermont Extension
617 Comstock Rd.
Berlin, VT 05602
Office Phone: 8022232389
Suzy Hodgson

suzy.hodgson@uvm.edu
Project Coordinator
327 US Route 302
Barre, VT 05641
Office Phone: 8024762003
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