Ag Entrepreneurship Education Project Updates

Project Title: Understanding Organic Basics: Farmer Education Year Two Round 3 (2005)

Project Leader (s):   Jody Padgham MOSES Education Director

Project Collaborators:  UW Extension, Emerging Ag Markets Team

Project Category: Marketing   

Situation:  There is a substantial hunger for basic education about the fundamentals of organic certification, production and marketing throughout rural communities in Wisconsin. Staff of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) have fielded numerous requests from leaders in a diversity of communities- from school teachers to UW-Extension Agents to managers of Farmer’s Markets- to bring a training program on the basics of organic production and marketing to audiences of farmers and youth throughout the state.

It has become apparent in doing farmer workshops for two years that a series of “frequently asked questions” pop up regularly. Things such as “what do I do first to get certified” and “how much does it cost” and “who can I call for help?” MOSES offers expertise in answering these questions and will provide easy to access answers.

Response  Objective: To educate new, beginning, part-time farmers and established farmers in Wisconsin to the option of organic production and marketing. The Understanding Organic Basics: Farmer Education project held a series of workshops around the state to inform participants of the option and basics of organic production, and discuss marketing tools and opportunities.

The Understanding Organic Basics: Farmer Education Year Two project proposes to continue the series into 2006 with four more workshops around the state. We have received several requests from Extension partners to hold sessions in 2005 that we will not be able to fulfill with current funding and would like to expand the program into FY 05-06. In addition, we will create and distribute a booklet titled Guidebook to Organic Certification, which will answer questions and offer resources for WI producers.

This project proposes to produce a small publication, a Guidebook to Organic Certification that will pull the answers to common questions on organic certification together in one reference and be available to those not able to attend the workshops. We will distribute this handbook to Extension offices, farmers and other outlets as an easy to use reference to answer commonly asked questions on organic certification. The Guidebook will also be available as a downloadable PDF on the MOSES website and the EAM website. We will also distribute copies of the Upper Midwest Organic Resource Directory (UMORD) to Extension offices along with the Guidebook. The UMORD is currently in its fifth edition, and has been praised as an extremely useful tool for organic and sustainable farmers of all kinds. It offers contact information for support organizations and agencies, University and Government agencies, suppliers, buyers, certification agencies, publications and events of interest to organic and sustainable farmers.

Results: 

• 20 individuals attended the Oct 21st training in Westby, WI on Organic Dairy production and certification. 6 were farmers, 7 were NRCS employees, 2 were from UW Extension, others represented industry groups. Although the session was aimed at farmers, it was considered a success to have so many individuals representing educational and support institutions, as they are also hungry for information that they can pass on to farmers through their professional positions.
• Evaluations show that trainings offered very valuable information and that the handout resources will be useful later when producers make production decisions. On a numerical scale of 5 (great) to 1 (poor) the question “Was today’s training useful?” and “Do you feel the course helped you better understand organic certification?” got an average score of 4 or 5.
• The Guidebook for Organic Certification has been drafted and has just returned from content reviewers. It will be laid out and sent to the printer in time for distribution at the Dec ANRE conference.

Evidence: 

• Participant numbers are being tallied through registrations.

Evaluations will be collected at each event and analyzed.