Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
Proposal abstract:
Texas's Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Committee meets annually to oversee the state program that trains agricultural professionals in sustainable agriculture concepts. The program involves a multifaceted effort that provides training opportunities for County Extension Agents, FSA personnel, NRCS personnel, producers, and other agricultural professionals, and also incorporates concepts of sustainable agriculture in existing, statewide training efforts. These training opportunities include conferences, field meetings, and workshops held at various locations in Texas. Another approach of the Texas Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Committee is to support the travel of selected professionals to regional and national conferences on sustainable agriculture, with the intent that participants gain knowledge and skills they will share with other agricultural professionals in Texas.
Program evaluation will be conducted using pre- and post-tests designed to measure knowledge gained from participating in educational programs. A subset of attendees will be mailed an additional survey instrument four to eight months after the training to determine if participants have adopted any of the sustainable concepts presented. The evaluation aims to assess the knowledge gained and to determine whether new knowledge will be applied in future programs for their clientele.
Project objectives from proposal:
The program involves a multifaceted effort that provides training opportunities for County Extension Agents, FSA personnel, NRCS personnel, producers, and other agricultural professionals, and also incorporates concepts of sustainable agriculture in existing, state-wide training efforts. These training opportunities include conferences, field meetings, and workshops held at various locations in Texas.
Projects designed to train Extension agents from Prairie View
A&M and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and will meet
agents' requests for sustainable information to assist local
farmers. Concepts of sustainable agriculture have been and will
continue to be disseminated through new agents' training,
leadership training, seminars, workshops, farm tours, publications,
websites, manuals, videos, and other events (e-mail, telephone
contacts, farm visits, etc.).
Sustainable agriculture training for agents, agency personnel,
and mentor farmers should show impacts across Texas with advances
in the areas of food and fiber production, environmental awareness
and protection, organic, IPM, and alternative production methods,
marketing, farmer cooperation, and development of
multi-disciplinary teams to reach common goals. Administrative
success stories and awards should reflect these programs'
teaching
sustainable practices.
Researchers, Extension agents, and other Extension personnel will indicate an increased knowledge of sustainable agriculture and sustainable production techniques by reporting contacts, outcomes, and narratives regarding educational activities on a monthly state-wide report available to program coordinators in the form of contacts, subject material, narratives, evaluations, and on-farm contacts or sustainable demonstration projects.