Training-2025 SSARE MSP

Commodities

Practices

This project will support the ongoing development of a Sustainable Agriculture Community of Practice among Agriculture Outreach and Technical Assistance Providers in Kentucky. This will be accomplished through quarterly convenings of agricultural professionals to receive education from experts in the field, as well as ample structured and unstructured networking time for these professionals to learn from each other and build stronger partnerships to better serve Sustainable Agriculture producers and marketers across the commonwealth. We will also encourage attending professionals to seek outside additional sustainable agriculture professional development through travel scholarships. Scholarship recipients will be expected to report back on their experiences and expanded knowledge at a quarterly meeting.

In 2025, we will continue to support education and relationship building for sustainable agriculture outreach and technical service providers as well as increasing their knowledge as well as their ability to communicate that information to their clientele. We will accomplish this through 4 in-person intensive lecture and networking workshops. We plan to focus on programming related to:

• Supporting Rural Communities
• Soil Health II
• Environmental Stewardship + Economic viability for small enterprises
• Water quality management

We will have a separate stand-alone set of two trainings for ag professionals regarding farm labor, trends, and tips for supporting producers.

While we have identified the general topics at the time of this proposal, specific topics within the above categories will be further developed in collaboration with our advisory committee. We will also support professionals in pursuing other professional development through attendance at an event or conference of their choosing. The Program Assistant will manage the call for proposals for that support.