People to People: Enhancing the Quality of Life and Profitability of Family Farms

People to People: Enhancing the Quality of Life and Profitability of Family Farms

Summary

The People to People project is a continuation and expansion of the Sustainable Farming Association (SFA) of Central Minnesota’s networking and educational programs for farmers, farm service providers and other community members interested in sustainable agriculture practices and issues. It will build on previous projects where farmers and others have come together at farmer-led, on-farm field tours and workshops to share information about farming practices which can make their farm, their community and the environment more sustainable. It will also provide a support network, which brings the fun and opportunity back into farming.

Objectives of this project include:

1) Whole-farm planning – Sponsor at least one workshop and four field days each year in central Minnesota.

2) Farmer travel – Continue to provide travel funds for those attending farm tours, workshops on a variety of topics, exhibits and presentations at events and farm shows sponsored by other organizations.

3) Develop markets and marketing knowledge – Sponsor at least one workshop each year with a marketing focus. Continue to assist farmers with organizational support and in developing marketing skills. Serve locally produced foods at events and include information about the farm that produced the food.

4) Videotapes of farm tours and workshops – Videotape at least four events each year. Continue to edit and distribute these tapes as an information-sharing tool. Continue to distribute the three levels of classroom curriculum produced through the current project.

The focus of this project is to host workshops, farm tours, group meetings, exhibits and presentations at farm shows and other opportunities where farmers provide the moral, practical and informational support for farmers who are trying to make changes towards a more sustainable way of farming and towards improving the quality of life for their families and their local community, both in economic and social terms. Information presented at events will include dairy, grazing, soil nutrient management, cover crops, agroforestry, integrated whole-farm systems, buckwheat and other alternative crop and livestock production methods. A comment from a pasture walk attendee: “It is good to have the opportunities to share ideas with fellow dairy men.” Outcomes will be based on surveys, evaluations and media coverage.

We will continue to coordinate with other organizations and agencies to co-sponsor and attend events and focus on presenting good information learned from previous projects, including a presentation by Ralph Lentz and Larry Gates about the Monitoring Tool Box SARE project and streambank protection. We will announce events, with extra attention to inviting agriculture agency professionals, and we will and request that they announce these events through their communication systems.

We will also plan to: further develop lists of prospective event attendees and announce events to this list, including policy makers and the media; announce events through our newsletter, CornerPost, Extension and Land Stewardship (LSP) newsletters, the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture website, the media, SFA/LSP members, events attendees, lenders and policy makers; serve local foods at events and provide printed menus with source of food, farmer profiles and speaker contact information; videotape events and disseminate tapes as requested; evaluate the value of the project with attendance numbers, follow-up surveys and testimonials of farmers and farm service providers; and document media coverage.

For more information:
Lynda Converse
RR 3 Box 54
Browerville, MN 56438

Collaborators: