2007 Annual Report for SW06-039
'Living on the Land' Stewardship Education Program Expansion
Summary
The Living on the Land Stewardship Education Program Expansion Grant directly impacted 62 people through the Living on the Land course (LOTL) at four locations in the Treasure Valley of Idaho. Five Youth / Adult partnerships were strengthened through sustainability of their small farms. On-farm research and testing has been cooperatively implemented for grasses, pastured poultry, goat enterprises, vegetable, and fruit crops at 14 locations. Six new or revised LOTL lessons have been written to address identified gaps in the LOTL curriculum. Over 180 LOTL Alumni, project partners and cooperators are better stewards of their Idaho and Oregon lands through SARE-supported education and research.
Objectives/Performance Targets
- The goals of this grant are to strengthen regional Living on the Land (LOTL) partnerships, increase networking, and build alumni volunteer corps by:
implementing an on-farm research and testing component to address market gardening, pastured poultry, and goat enterprises.
further developing this instructional model by training two local instructional teams and other western delivery teams so that LOTL can be expanded to multiple sites in Idaho and Eastern Oregon
empowering the synergy from enrolling youth and their parents as a unit in this course and exploring and demonstrating LOTL paths to family sustainability.
developing a new LOTL module (six lessons) to address gaps in the curriculum identified by the 100+ individuals that completed LOTL in Idaho between 2002-2006.
Accomplishments/Milestones
Living on the Land (LOTL) 2007 participants came to class eager to learn how they can be good stewards and learn skills to better manage and sustain their property. The class was offered at two regions this year. The more urban site rotated between Boise and Caldwell, Idaho, in eastern Treasure Valley. The other site was rural and rotated between Parma and Marsing, Idaho in the western Treasure Valley. Rotating the two sites on Monday and Tuesday evenings made it possible for people to choose which area was more convenient for them.
Class participants were encouraged to take the class with another family member or neighbor as a unit. Many participants chose this unit option. This year’s class included 34 units or 62 individuals from nine counties representing 751 acres in Malheur County in Oregon and the Treasure Valley in Idaho.
In addition, our popular four-week LOTL mini-series, which met the last month of class, attracted 14 additional people from 5 counties.
At the beginning of the course, focus groups were set up to determine the goals, interests, and personal definitions of land stewardship. The goals of each family unit were as varied as the experiences of the small acreage landowners. Primary goals were expanding knowledge and skills about: Animals, Weeds, Pasture Management, Gardening, Increase Income, Horses, Learning New Skills or Information, Irrigation, Organic Practices, Positive Family Outcomes, Grapes, Farmers Market, Water Ponds, Wildlife, Decision Making, Earthworms, and Irrigation.
Definitions of stewardship from each family unit were also varied, but carried a basic theme of caring and sustaining their land. Focus groups’ responses included: manage and care, leave better, improve, produce, learn, use/enjoy, and organic systems.
The results of the focus groups were shared with the LOTL team of instructors so they could customize their instruction to the needs and interests of those attending. Instructors for the course came from a variety of backgrounds. Many volunteered their time and enthusiastically shared with the class. Grant funds to reimburse instructor travel aided in maintaining a high caliber of teachers within our team teaching format.
1) Implementing an on-farm research and testing component to address market gardening, pastured poultry, and goat enterprises.
Market Garden Variety Testing: Cooperator Dr. Steve Love, Professor and Researcher at the Aberdeen Research and Extension Center in Aberdeen, Idaho, began market gardening variety testing at eight sites throughout Southern Idaho. The main purpose of the testing is to determine interest and appeal by market consumers as well as growers. Each site has a minimum of nine fruit or vegetable crops with a maximum of 20 varieties that are being tested. Cucumbers, carrots, spinach, cantaloupe, tomatoes, and peppers are the species being tested. Up to twenty varieties of a species are being grown to determine consumer and grower preferences.
Partners in this effort include University of Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Idaho Research and Extension Stations in Parma (www.uidaho.edu/pses/parma) and Aberdeen (www.uidaho.edu/aberdeen), Idaho Rural Roots, LOTL alumni, and local farmers market groups. This project has just begun for this growing season. Results will be seen through evaluations by consumers and growers as the season continues and crops are harvested.
Turf Trials: Cooperator Terry Finnerty, Idaho Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts/Payette Soil and Water Conservation District, has implemented drought-tolerant, low input turf trials at four sites:
Clay Peak Landfill – Payette County, ID
Lower Payette Ditch – City of Payette, ID
Four Rivers Cultural Center – Ontario, OR
The Oregon Trail Rest Area near Ontario, OR on U.S. Interstate 84
Cooperators and partners on the project: Clay Peak Landfill and Payette County Roads and Bridges Department, Payette, ID; the Lower Payette Ditch Company, Payette, ID; the Oregon Department of Transportation, Ontario, OR; and the Four Rivers Cultural Center, Ontario, OR. Partners involved with technical assistance and outreach, in addition to the principal investigator, are: USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service, Boise, ID; and the University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System, Payette, ID. The University of Idaho Research and Extension Center in Parma, ID, assisted this project by providing facilities and equipment for weighing grass seed samples.
Species selection: Eight different grasses were selected for comparison to Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis). The primary criterion for selection was that the maximum seasonal water requirements for each species would not exceed the minimum seasonal water requirement for Kentucky bluegrass (18”). Aesthetics and adaptability to selected sites (using soil tests for baseline data) were also considered.
All four sites in Idaho and Oregon have been prepped and seeded. It was critical to get these plots established while weather conditions were still favorable, and to meet conditions of the grant agreement. Watering and maintenance of plots is shared with cooperators. The Four Rivers Cultural Center site has recently withdrawn from the project.
Evaluation and assessment for drought tolerance, weed control, erosion control, and aesthetic value will begin next year once plots are established. Promotion and outreach of the project will also increase as plots become better established.
Final phase of the project this year, in addition to establishment and maintenance, will be to develop signs and outreach materials for the site with assistance from UI Extension staff.
Goat Enterprises: Three individuals attended the Langston University Goat Research Field Day (http://www2.luresext.edu/goats/library/fd2007.html) on April 28, 2007, at the Langston University Goat Farm. This year’s theme was “Herd Health – Old, New, and Emerging Issues.” The purpose of the field day training was to help us better understand approaches we might use with goat enterprises in our area. This project will proceed under the leadership of Stephanie Etter, Canyon County Extension Educator. Working with the people who attended the Langston Field Day and other LOTL alumni, goat production sites will be established and a “goat track” is being considered for the 2008 Treasure Valley Small Acreage Conference organized by UI Extension and partners.
Pastured Poultry Enterprises: Part of the LOTL Spring Tour included Homegrown Poultry (www.homegrownpoultry.net) facility, which prides itself on being the first state-approved poultry and rabbit processor in Idaho. Owners were instructors in 2007 LOTL classes. They also support sustainable agriculture – growing food and fibers in a way that doesn’t compromise the ability of future generations to do the same. Discussions about pastured poultry production took place during the LOTL class and tour. Poultry production sites are in the process of identification and establishment.
2) further developing this instructional model, by the training of two local instructional teams and other western delivery teams so that LOTL can be expanded to multiple sites in Idaho and Eastern Oregon.
The first Instructor Training class was in December 2006 with 24 participants. Since the training we have added five instructors who have helped team teach the course. There are presently 29 LOTL Instructors supporting the program at two sites.
The instructional training was implemented in partnership with faculty from University of Nevada, Reno, Idaho State University, Rutgers University, Idaho Rural Roots, and Cinda Williams, Extension Support Scientist, PSES Department at the University of Idaho.
The second instructor training course will take place late fall or early winter 2007 applying many of the changes suggested at the first training. A “Beginning” and “Experienced” training track will be offered as a direct result from evaluations of the pilot instructor class. Plans are underway to expand to a third site for the Living on the Land classes in 2008.
3) empowering the synergy from enrolling youth and their parents as a unit in this course by exploring and demonstrating LOTL paths to family sustainability.
Two youth/adult scholarships were provided this year. One went to a father and son and the other to a mother and her son and daughter. Two adult scholarships were also provided, one to a disabled veteran and the other to a Hispanic man. In addition a partial scholarship, which did not use grant funds, was offered to a senior citizen. All adult scholarships included volunteer service to LOTL during the year.
The 2007 class had five youth-adult partnerships and seven youth enrolled in the Living on the Land class. One partnership unit attended in Parma/Marsing and four attended in Boise/Caldwell. Two youth were enrolled and received college credit and one was enrolled and received high school credit from the course. Youth that attended the course ranged from age 12-18 years. Younger siblings occasionally attended with their parents and participated in the course.
We learned that families that are active in 4H and/or home school are the best candidates for our LOTL youth/parent partnerships. Marketing to these groups is being done through targeted brochures, news releases, and newsletters. A scholarship application specifically designed for potential LOTL youth/adult partnership is available. Spring and summer events such as home school and county fairs plus University of Idaho Extension publications and web site (http://extension.ag.uidaho.edu/) carry the details of the class and scholarship opportunities.
4) developing a new LOTL module (six lessons) to address gaps in the curriculum identified by the 100+ individuals that completed LOTL in Idaho between 2002-2006.
A new Marketing Module was developed. It includes lessons on – Whole Farm Systems written by Kevin Laughlin, UI Ada Co. Extension Educator, Mike Stanton, Zamzow’s specialist, LOTL Alumni, and Cinda Williams, UI Extension Support Scientist; Farmers Market/Organic Approaches by Dr. Karen Strickler, Paradise Pollinator, LOTL alumni, Ben Gisin, Editor of Touch the Soil, and Kevin Laughlin, UI Ada Co. Extension Educator; and Marketing in Idaho by Jonathan Demcak, LOTL Alumni, Market Gardener, Youth, Ron Kelley, Kelley Farms, Toby Green, National Marketing Director for Nutri-Vet Nutritionals, and Kevin Laughlin, UI Ada Co. Extension Educator.
New lessons developed this year include: Feeds & Feeding and Grazing Management by Stephanie Etter, UI Canyon County Extension Educator, and Scott Jensen, UI Owyhee County Extension Educator, and an Idaho LOTL Integrated Pest Management by Dr. Karen Strickler, Paradise Pollinator, LOTL alumni, Tony McCammon, UI Payette County Extension Educator, S. Krishna Mahon, AES Parma Research Center, and Kevin Laughlin, UI Ada Co. Extension Educator.
Lessons were updated on Rodent and Wildlife Management by Dr. Kevin Laughlin, UI Ada Co. Extension Educator, and Karen Frusti, LOTL Program Manager, and Legal Issues and Responsibilities of Surface Water Use by Terry Finnerty, Water Quality Resource Conservationist, IASCD/Payette SWCD, and Jerry Neufeld, Canyon County Extension Educator.
Lessons were submitted to Dr. Susan Donaldson for the Western SARE funded Professional Development Program – Living on the Land grant.
The class evaluation instrument was reviewed by the University of Idaho and Rutgers University Extension evaluation contractor for use with all units enrolled in the 2007 Idaho LOTL course. The evaluation will be submitted for tabulation and further analysis in July 2007.
Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes
Outcomes Expected
–Knowledge Change
New local foods networks of people – LOTL alumni – Local Table – Idaho Preferred
New life and enterprise skills gained
– Small Acreage Conference – LOTL class members
Demonstrate and participate in exemplary land stewardship approaches in the Treasure Valley
–Behavioral Change
Improved fertilization, irrigation and weed management practices
Increased well and septic system care
Improved grazing management
Systems thinking by LOTL alumni related to land management and communities.
–Economic Change
More precise use of resources for fertilization, chemical weed control and livestock feeding.
Increase produce sales at farmers market, on-farm, and value added products.
–Environmental Change
Improved water quality due to:
Less fertilizer and chemical runoff
Improved erosion control practices
Improved soil fertility practices
Reduced spread of weeds (noxious & “obnoxious”)
–Social, Civic Change
Adoption of sustainable agricultural practices
Increase production & consumption of local produce and products
Neighborhood weed management approaches adopted around Alumni sites.
Increase awareness of water rights and responsibilities with western water delivery systems.
1) implementing an on-farm research and testing component to address market gardening, pastured poultry, and goat enterprises.
Market Garden Variety Testing:
The original grant application called for variety testing at four sites. Currently, there are eight sites in two distinct growing areas of Southern Idaho.
Turf Trials:
Demonstration of drought-tolerant, low input grass demonstration trials are being held at three sites that include Payette County, ID and Malheur County, OR. Two sites were originally planned in the grant application.
Goat Enterprises:
Participants returned from the Langston University Field Day with a new awareness of the dangers of internal parasites in their goats. They will check their goats to care for or prevent problems.
Pasture Poultry Enterprises:
Increased interest in organic egg production and pastured poultry occurred during the course and spring tour.
Homegrown Poultry has increased its processing of poultry and rabbits by 200% this past year, serving 110 customers in the past year, 32 of those being in May alone. The interest in poultry by LOTL class members has doubled from two at the initial focus group to four at the concluding focus group.
One new poultry producer, LOTL alumni, describes her reasons to include fowl into her plan.
“LOTL played a direct role in our decision to raise birds. We currently have meat chickens, pullets, three to four months old, chickens and ducks, and geese of various ages. During the class an instructor shared materials/information stating that poultry is potential cash crop. Also the whole farm approach made sense to us to use the poultry to create compost for our plants. In addition using the plants we cull and weeds to feed the poultry makes it less painful to throw away the greenery.”
2) further developing this instructional model, by the training of two local instructional teams and other western delivery teams so that LOTL can be expanded to multiple sites in Idaho and Eastern Oregon.
LOTL Instructor Training
Outcomes from LOTL Instructor Training ~ “This first effort December 1 and 2, 2006, was decidedly different from the model LOTL training conducted by the original Living on the Land design team in Nevada…. on purpose, we tried some new approaches that did not work, and some that did. We learned a lot from testing these different ideas with this pilot group. We were given a lot of great suggestions for improvement in the evaluations. Next year we will make many of the changes suggested and test them with a larger group of instructors, perhaps at two different levels, ‘Beginning Instructors’ and ‘Experienced Instructors.'” Kevin Laughlin, UI Extension Educator – Ada County
The team teaching component of the LOTL training, developed as a result of the Western SARE grant, was featured as Successful Team Teaching – Living on the Land…Best Ideas for Sustainable Programs, at the Mountain Plains Adult Education (http://www.mpaea.org/ ) Conference April 25 -28th in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho.
Comments from participants in the instructor training class:
Lydia B. Blalock, Ph.D., Extension Specialist in Youth Development Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, stated in her evaluation of the Instructor Training:
“THEY GOT IT! It (the evaluation session) was directly applicable and drilled the importance of matching objectives to evaluation home – they were empowered (as in the title of my presentation) to evaluate the evaluation and they understood in a way that I could not have duplicated with a ‘sample’ because it was directly relevant. The learners became the teachers – and if we can stand back a bit – we could even say that this moved the Community of Learners to a Learning Community on this subject!”
“I learned a lot about educational methods and very practical ideas for making presentations more fun. The highlight was finding out what type of learning style I was. The Department of Environmental Quality air pollution activity would be fun to do with kids as well as adults. It would be nice to have kits available for check out from a local office.” ~ Stephanie Etter, UI Extension Educator, Canyon County, Caldwell
Stephanie Etter and Kevin Laughlin presented Living on the Land…Stewardship for Urban Small-Acreage Landowners Workshop at the North Central Urban Extension Conference ( http://extension.missouri.edu/urbanconf/ ) in Kansas City May 7 – 10th. They addressed 37 individuals from 18 states. Livings on the Land CDs provided by author Susan Donaldson were distributed to 33 people. Many indicated an interest in starting the program in their area.
3) empowering the synergy from enrolling youth and their parents as a unit in this course by exploring and demonstrating LOTL paths to family sustainability.
Four youth completed the program, and two others came to over half of the classes. An additional three young people came to one or more classes with their parents.
Comment from Ron Davidson, a 50-year-old farmer from Oregon: “Chris, my 15-year-old neighbor, is attending with me so he can see another side of farming and maintaining his property. He has uncles who have a traditional commercial farm who aren’t interested in making any changes or learning anything new. I wanted him to have an opportunity to see something else so he can make decisions for himself when the time comes.”
A recipient of a youth/adult scholarship, Deanne Landreth from Kuna, ID in Ada County, attended with her son and daughter. She said, “We greatly appreciated our scholarship; it allowed us a great opportunity. Basically we learned that we can make a difference to our land. Our goals and plans for our acreage are more focused now and we have the knowledge or know where to go to get the answers to questions.”
4) developing a new LOTL module (six lessons) to address gaps in the curriculum identified by the 100+ individuals that completed LOL in Idaho between 2002-2006.
One module and five lessons have been added to the curriculum.
The concepts from the original Marketing module completed by Dr. Kevin Laughlin, UI Ada Co. Extension Educator, Mike Stanton, Zamzow’s specialist, LOTL Alumni, and Cinda Williams, UI Extension Support Scientist, are now being used as a template for the revision of the LOL curriculum coordinated by the University of Nevada Reno Extension.
Feeds and Feeding and Grazing Management lessons were created as a direct result from requests to have basic information for all species including horses, goats, poultry, swine, rabbits, cattle, and sheep.
Integrated Pest Management, Rodent and Wildlife Management, and Legal Issues and Responsibilities of Surface Water Use were updated by their author/presenters who have expertise in that topic. The lessons now reflect specific characteristics of the Treasure Valley.
We continue our partnership with PI, Dr. Susan Donaldson, University of Nevada Extension, on the Western SARE Professional Development Program – Living on the Land grant to revise the LOTL modules as agreed to in our grant proposal. We met in June 2007 to review the progress.
The final evaluation was given to all course attendees. Results from this comprehensive evaluation tool are still being tabulated. We look forward to results and recommendations about the course and program by the contracted evaluator before a planning meeting in September 2007.
Oregon State University Extension requested a copy of the Rodent and Wildlife Management lesson to use in assisting clientèle in Malheur County, OR.
Preliminary results of the evaluations:
What mattered most for you from the 2007 LOTL class?
The soil and water modules, the tractor workshop, the planning and making adjustments needed to make the plans workable, and the people I’ve met.
Looking at the overall picture can help determine future outcomes for acreages. It helped to support many of our ideas about developing our property.
The interaction with students and instructors, including being exposed to the kinds of questions people have, is what mattered most to me. Being exposed to Kevin’s dedication and enthusiasm and giftedness for program development is a plus. The module that was the most interesting for me was the planning and zoning section.
The chance to learn how to gather information and knowledge from varied sources, sources I was not aware of before I took the course.
As a result of your learning in this class, please explain “how” you have become a better land steward:
I have taken many of the lessons and applied to our land development including placement of well-septic house, pasture development. Planning is key.
I have a direction now. While I still want to grow buffalo grass (because I think it might be an answer to horse health problems) I can see the first steps toward making my property beautiful and perhaps even self-supporting. I made some changes in my thinking. While I dislike pesticides and herbicides as much as ever, I can see situations where their use might be justifiable.
I care much more about the land than I did before I took the classes.
By simply learning how to evaluate and resolve basic land issues before buying and managing the land I am a better steward of the land, my time, and finances. Additionally, I have learned about soil and water testing and soil management to enable me to correct issues with my current and future properties.
A plan can help determine future outcomes for my land. The class helped to support and add to many of our ideas about developing our property.
This class has opened up our thought process. Our decision was based on what we really want to commit to our lifestyle. We can be very good at maintaining our six acres as a landscaped property. Our lifestyle was one of mostly recreational activities. Do we really want to be animal ranchers or do we want to commit to crop production? Both can be very rewarding. Now only we can decide on how to proceed.
Final thoughts:
In answer to a hydrology question on her mid-term-exam, Ann Finley, a graduate student, beautifully describes her understanding of the role she plays in sustaining her acreage:
“Southwest Idaho is one of the places where the desert of the Great Basin meets the forests of the Pacific Northwest. (Someone once defined the Pacific Northwest as “everywhere a salmon can swim.”) The hydrological cycle can be observed at work when summer clouds mass over the Boise Front and often in the late afternoon double rainbows are viewable from the flat country below. Sometimes a gully washer roars down creek beds that are dry in the summer, ripping out trees and cutting new channels. The riparian area may appear devastated after one of these storms.
After about 20 years of living on a ranch in the foothills, I came to believe that — surprisingly, perhaps— storm washed areas can readily repair themselves with attention and cooperation from the landowner. That would be a landowner who works with the land instead of against it. A custodian, as they say. Still, I was unprepared for the chaotic look of the riparian area on my newly acquired property after an unusually heavy spring runoff. Downed trees and sawn logs from somewhere upstream were not on my five-year plan. And where did all that silt come from?
I’ve always been in awe of the hydrological cycle. Scenario: a drop of water seeps from a snowpack high in the Sawtooth Mountains. It takes a couple hundred years for the drop to percolate through the soil and rocks down to the Snake River Aquifer, where it heads for the Pacific Ocean. Unless waylaid by a well, dam or somebody’s sprinkler system, the droplet eventually gets to be part of a wave on a surfing beach. Just when it gets the hang of surfing, it evaporates. In the sky it is raised from warm to cold air by another mountain range, where it hitches a ride on the wind. A minority among drops, somehow it makes it over the mountains to the rain shadow on the leeward side. As part of a cloud, it crosses the desert. One day it joins a million other droplets around a condensation nucleus, which happens to a speck of dust. Droplets and nuclei are now officially a raindrop. The raindrop falls on a leaf of a tomato plant in my garden. It starts to evaporate. Evaporation from the leaf creates a pumping action which draws water and nutrients from the soil up the stem, a process called evapotranspiration. And the awesome cycle goes on.”
Awesome indeed is nature and the choices we make in responding to it. Living on the Land assists in opening the eyes of people in the Treasure Valley and helps them realize how their choices make a difference.