Project Overview
Information Products
Commodities
- Nuts: All agroforest nut crops
- Vegetables: All vegetables
- Additional Plants: cut flowers
- Animals: bees
- Miscellaneous: mushrooms
Practices
- Animal Production: genetics
- Crop Production: agroforestry, beekeeping, cropping systems, forest farming, high tunnels or hoop houses
- Education and Training: extension, farmer to farmer, technical assistance, workshop
- Farm Business Management: business planning, labor/employment, land access
- Pest Management: prevention
- Soil Management: composting, soil quality/health
- Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, urban agriculture
Proposal abstract:
The 2025-26 Central State University –Extension North Central Region SARE Professional Development State Sustainable Agriculture Plan of Work will focus on increasing awareness of sustainable agricultural practices for farmers and ranchers, minorities, and underserved populations. In addition, CSU-Extension aims to provide impactful hands-on training, demonstrations, farm tours, and workshops that show growers the recommended best management practices to inspire behavior change. These behavior changes will improve the family farm business economy, reduce environmental inputs, increase production yields, reduce crop losses, and better mentally prepare farmers and ranchers for production. Our initiatives for the 2025-26 cycle are: “Underserved Farmers Engaging in Sustainable Agriculture Initiatives”, Continuing Initiatives – State Specific – “New Extension Professionals Training”, and regional initiative “Paths to Sustainability with farm labor.”
Project objectives from proposal:
Regional Initiative, “Paths to sustainability with farm labor”
Objective:
As part of the regional initiative, “Paths to sustainability with farm labor,” a team of educators from our state will be sent to a regional NCR-SARE training on the initiative to be held in 2025 at a Midwest location to be determined. State SARE funds will be used to provide travel support to the educators attending the training. Following the training event, the participating educators from our state will convene to further discuss and plan and develop a professional program on this labor topic for Ohio. We will communicate with other states in the region working on this, including participating in further information exchange facilitated through the NCR-SARE PDP program. Before the end of the two-year funding cycle, we will implement one or more state-based professional development programs related to the regional initiative topic for educators and farmers in our state. State SARE funds will be used to partially or fully cover the cost of delivering this professional development program in our state.
Description:
A minimum of 25 farmers and ranchers will adopt sustainable practices that reduce labor and improve on-farm efficiency.
- This will include workshops on:
- A discussion with growers to evaluate current need and barriers on the labor issue with a panel of growers who have adopted innovative solutions for urban, rural, underserved farms
- Using cover crops and landscape fabrics to mitigate and deter weeds
- Automated drip irrigation and fertigation workshops
- Affordable farm bot options, innovations, and on-going research
- Specialty Crop Manager Certification Digital Program Module Development
Outcomes and impacts:
Activities
- Workshops, Digital modules, webinars, and tours that address labor that will increase awareness and include measurable practices that can be adopted to reduce labor disruption, without negatively impacting growing systems and production.
Evaluation
- Post-workshop surveys will be administered to participants
- BMP’s implemented as a result of the workshops will be tracked.
Underserved Farmers Engaging in Sustainable Agriculture Initiatives
Objective:
In order to participate in the NCR-SARE regional initiative for 2025-26, one of our state initiative focus areas will be on “Underserved Farmers Engaging in Sustainable Agriculture Initiatives.” Activities under this topic may include workshops, study tours, webinars, or other educational programming. During the two-year plan of work period, we will also offer additional SARE-funded travel scholarships, and where appropriate, mini-grant support to further educational programming that provides professional development for underserved farmers and ranchers on programs related to sustainable agriculture.
Description:
A minimum of 25 underserved farmers & ranchers will adopt sustainable practices that will lead to improved soil health, pest management, and overall business success.
- This will include workshops:
- Business planning
- Pest identification and scouting
- Soil sampling and interpreting the results of the soil fertility reports
- Other sustainable topics as needs are identified
Outcomes and impacts:
Activity
- 25 Workshops and tours that address the needs of underserved farmers will increase awareness of sustainable agricultural production and include measurable practices that can be adopted to improve sustainable production through the adoption of best management practices that reduce the demand for fossil fuels.
Evaluation
- Post-workshop surveys will be administered to participants; the number of BMPs implemented will be tracked.
Continuing Initiatives – State Specific – New Extension Professionals Training
Objective:
Extension Educators, Specialists, and Program Assistants will become knowledgeable about sustainable agriculture and SARE programs and resources.1) Extension Educators, Specialists, and Program Assistants will become knowledgeable about sustainable agriculture and SARE programs and resources.
Description:
- Sustainable agriculture training will be incorporated into new-employee training conducted by OSU and CSU Extension, and one-on-one follow-up support sessions will be conducted for new hires. Each new hire will receive a Sustainable Agriculture Teaching/Learning Kit.
- A half-day workshop on SARE and agricultural sustainability will be conducted for the ANR educators hired by CSU.
Outcomes and impacts:
Evaluation: Retrospective pre and post-program analysis will be conducted to measure knowledge gained.
Timeline:
On-going in 2025 and 2025 as new faculty and staff are hired.
Collaborative workshop for new
CSU- E ANR educators with OSU-E cohorts.