Farming for the Future: Cultivating the Next Generation of Farmers

Farming for the Future: Cultivating the Next Generation of Farmers

Summary

We are developing a training program in small-scale, ecologically and economically sustainable agriculture for beginning and transitioning farmers by combining the expertise of county extension and land grant faculty and local farmer experts. This three-part course series emphasizes the practical skills that farmers need to succeed. Offered through county extension offices for college credit or continuing education units, these courses emphasize the development of practical farming knowledge in the areas of whole farm planning, resource stewardship, livestock and crop production strategies, finance, marketing, and business entrepreneurship. A parallel program will also be designed for East Asian and Latino immigrant communities.

Objectives/Performance Targets

1. Develop and offer a WSU course that provides an overview of sustainable, small-acreage farming systems for beginning and transitioning farmers.

   Develop and offer a WSU course that assists new and existing small-scale farmers in developing a business plan.

   Develop and offer an on-farm, for credit internship program for students that have completed the two classroom courses described above.

   Develop and refine the three-part course series described above for East Asian and Latino immigrant farmers and aspiring farmers.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Develop and offer a WSU course that provides an overview of sustainable, small-acreage farming systems for beginning and transitioning farmers.

We have conducted this overview course at two local county extension offices, each making use of local farm experts, county faculty, and WSU faculty to teach the courses. We also made use of real-time interactive video technology to link the courses together with instructors from off-site. A total of 40 new and transitional farmers completed the 11-week course at these two sites.

Develop and offer a WSU course that assists new and existing small-scale farmers in developing a business plan.

We have conducted farm business planning course at two local county extension offices. A total of 39 new and transitional farmers completed the 11-week course at these two sites. As part of the course, each member created a business plan for either their entire farm enterprise or a specific component of their farm enterprise; approximately 80% of participants did complete their business plans. We will be following up one year after program completion with participants to see how many have implemented their plans.

We are developing an on-farm practicum/apprenticeship program, which will be effective for county-based Cultivating Success students. Our pilot for-credit farm internship programs at S&S Homestead Farm on Lopez Island, WA and with farmer Diane Green in the Moscow Idaho area have provided a starting point for developing hands-on education that will complement the Cultivating Success courses.

In 2004 we have accomplished:

Assessment of establishing a Cultivating Success Internship program and the adaptability of the two pilot programs to a generalized format that would be useful in counties around the state.

Continuing assessment of national models for on-farm education

Two farmer input sessions were held at the end of the growing season and we received valuable input on the gaps in practical on-farm instruction for beginning and continuing farmers. Attendees shared their own experiences as interns and mentors, and offered their opinions on the most useful form of WSU on-farm practicums. Farmer input has also been gathered through email queries and in-person conversations. Talking points for discussions with farmers about on-farm learning have been developed.

Preliminary design of three potential pilot on-farm practicum for testing in 2005.

Develop and refine the three-part course series described above for East Asian and Latino immigrant farmers and aspiring farmers.

Two staff have been hired to assist in adapting and translating the Cultivating Success courses, one to lead the Hmong adaptation effort, and the other to lead the Spanish translation effort. We have successfully applied for two additional grants to help us expand this aspect of the program.

The two Immigrant Farming Project coordination staff have been trained by NxLevel in Agricultural Entrepreneurship, and one was able to attend the overview course.

Four listening sessions were held with Hmong farmers, coordinated by FarmLink, to hear grower requests for educational topics.

Twenty on-farm visits were conducted with the Hmong community to assess the educational needs through staff observation and conversation with growers.

Adaptation of the curriculum for the Hmong community is underway and will begin to be piloted in January 2005

Staff has gathered curricula materials from similar programs for Latino and Hmong growers in other regions and have established reciprocal relationships with said programs.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Twenty-two new farmers in Jefferson County completed the WSU 11-week small-farm overview course on December 8, 2004. The farmers received not only a Certificate of Completion for the new farm program but also developed individualized farm plans of their new vision of sustainable local farms and ranches. The size of the local farms varied greatly from 60 to 2 acres and the diversity of the products was great as well with everything from asparagus to wild crafting being produced. Two farms were interested in hosting young people and their families in experience-based farm education and three farms have already started to implement their plans by sponsoring ‘Country Christmas’ and ‘open barn’ holiday sales. One farm had over 1000 visitors at their sale and sold $16,000 in goods in three days.

In King County, students of the overview course reported that the class was very useful and helped them understand the realities of farming. Most students came away with a much greater appreciation of the complexities involved in farming. Key insights reported were the importance of planning and marketing. All reported an increase in knowledge of resources they could go to for more information. Most saw cost and access to land as the biggest barriers to becoming a farmer. These were followed by general concerns about initial start-up costs and then concerns about the challenges of marketing. Students valued on-farm lessons and hearing from guest speakers who were farmers. They would like to hear from more farmers, have more time for small group discussions, and visit more farms. Two or three students felt misled by the title of the class and had thought it would be more production oriented or more oriented toward sustainability and less focused on the business aspect of farming.

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