2024 Model State Program- University of Arkansas Program Assistant

Commodities

Practices

The Arkansas 2024-2025 SARE PDP Model State Program will focus on increasing
knowledge and developing skills in specialty crop production as well as sustainable
agricultural practices. The developed trainings and events will be made available to
Cooperative Extension staff, UA and UAPB faculty, staff and students, USDA staff,
farmers’ market managers, other agriculture professionals, and farmer leaders.
Proposed activities include a specialty crop agent training and a National Center for
Appropriate Technology Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (NCAT
ATTRA) event on sustainable agricultural practices as well as providing travel
scholarships for agriculture leaders to attend regional meetings focused on sustainable
agriculture. Program participants will be assessed for changes in their knowledge,
confidence, and ability to share new information related to sustainable agriculture. As
a result of these trainings and workshops, the knowledge of, interest in, and
application of sustainable practices by Arkansas farmers and agriculture professionals
will continue to expand in Arkansas, leading to thriving farms and vibrant
communities.

The overall goal of the AR SARE PDP program is to expand the understanding and
application of sustainable agriculture concepts by agriculture professionals including
Extension agents and specialists, farmers market managers, farmer leaders and
others, to facilitate the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices among Arkansas
farmers. We accomplish this through program training events, supporting externally
organized training events, providing travel scholarships to sustainable agriculture
events, and communicating SARE resources, grant results, and opportunities. Our
secondary goal is to increase the awareness of the SARE program among agriculture
leaders in Arkansas, the resources it provides and increase awareness of training
opportunities and scholarships for Arkansas agriculture leaders interested in
sustainable agriculture.
Our annual SARE-PDP plan is developed through the input of the state advisory board,
county extension agents and specialists, and previous workshop participants. The
2024-2025 program builds on past programs and relationships and addresses areas of
interest by producers and ag leaders. We continue to invest in sending agents and
farmer mentors to conferences that provide sustainable agriculture-focused training
including the Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable conference, the Southern Family
Farmers & Food Systems Conference, the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s
Sustainable Agriculture Conference, and the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working
Group Conference. These conferences are well-received by our agents and farmer
leaders and are opportunities for them to gain new information and engage in
sustainable agriculture networks.
There is a growing interest in specialty crop production in East Arkansas. However,
since this area has been predominantly row crop production, agents in this region lack
knowledge of specialty crop production. To support this growing interest, we plan to
provide a multi-part training series that targets different specialty crops: fruit,
vegetable and tree topics will provide us with the opportunity to highlight operations
currently growing these type of crops in East Arkansas.
There is also an increased interest in moving towards more sustainable agricultural
practices in Arkansas. This interest provides an opportunity to collaborate with
organizations such as the NCAT to educate agricultural professionals on a variety of
topics related to sustainable agriculture. These trainings will also allow agricultural
professionals to hear from specialists in these fields and receive updated information
and resources on specialty crop production and sustainable agricultural practices that
they can share with their communities.
Based on this information, our outreach objectives for the AR-SARE PDP program
include:
UADA-CES agents, farmers, and other agricultural professionals will increase their1.
knowledge of specialty crop production and sustainable agricultural practices.
UADA-CES agents will travel to the Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable2.
Conference, the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s Sustainable Agriculture
Conference,the Southern Family Farmers & Food Systems Conference, and the
Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group to increase their awareness and
knowledge of sustainable agriculture concepts and will be better equipped to
provide farmers with guidance on implementing new practices on their farm.
Agriculture professionals in Arkansas (UADA-CES agents and specialists, NRCS3.
staff, farmers market managers, farmer leaders) will increase their recognition of
the SARE program through promotion of SARE and SSARE resources, AR-SARE PDP
activities on listservs, website, and blog through increased visibility at events
around the state.