Project Title:  North Central Wisconsin Organic Cooperative   Round 1 (2003)           

Project Leader (s):  Mark Kopecky, Price County UWEX and Aliesha Crowe, Rusk County UWEX

Project Category:   Outreach/Education

Situation:  A number of farmers in the Price and Rusk County area have expressed interest in either switching from conventional dairy farming into another enterprise or diversifying their operations.  Many of the farms in this area have been operated with minimal chemical inputs and we feel they could make the transition to organic production fairly easily. The project was led by the UWEX agriculture agents in Price and Rusk Counties using funding from a Kohl USDA Agriculture and Entrepreneur Education Grant.

Response:  The objective of this project was to educate farmers in Price and Rusk Counties about organic dairy and vegetable production and to examine the feasibility of forming a processing and marketing cooperative to accommodate their production. To achieve this, we conducted a series of meetings and educational programs as follows:

We held a meeting in Rusk County on 6 August 2003 to determine interest among vegetable growers in working together with a local dairy processing plant to process and market organic vegetables.  Because of a fairly small turnout from growers and the reassignment of the plant’s director, we did  not pursue this idea further.

Next, we held a meeting in Rusk County on 2 October 2003 to get a preliminary idea of whether there was interest among dairy farmers in the notion of transitioning to organic production. The farmers who attended expressed interest in learning more about this, so we next conducted educational programs in both counties on 4 December 2003 to educate dairy farmers about the requirements for producing certified organic milk.  These workshops were taught by MOSES education director Jody Padgham of MOSES and organic dairy inspector Harriet Behar. An evaluation of this effort indicated the need for more programs that would help farmers understand how to make the transition from conventional to organic production.

As the project progressed, it became evident that different programs were needed in each county, so the project leaders agreed to pursue the goals of the program on a county-by county basis. The activities conducted in each county through October of 2004 are as follows:

We offered scholarships to help farmers attend the Upper Midwest Organic Conference in La Crosse on 26-28 February 2004.  One Price County farmer took advantage of the scholarship and attended all three days, and decided to transition his cropland to organic production. One Rusk County farmer took advantage of the scholarship.  He is interested in transitioning to organic crop production.  Three other Rusk County farmers have taken advantage of scholarship opportunities to attend other trainings.

On 17 March 2004 Price County hosted a workshop on transitioning from conventional production to organic certification. The presenters for this meeting included MOSA certification review manager Diane Collins along with representatives from Organic Choice and Organic Valley (the representative from Wisconsin Organics couldn’t attend because of a family emergency).   Seventeen farmers and guests attended the program.

On  20 May 2004 Price County hosted a seminar on organic livestock health care taught by Dr. Paul Dettloff, which 19 farmers attended.  On 3 June 2004 Rusk County hosted two more meetings on organic production and certification, which 16 people attended.. There seems to be growing interest among farmers in the notion of organic production and certification, so we will continue this educational program with the goal of helping those who are interested to attain their certification and procure markets.  It should also be noted that the interest in types of production includes dairy, crops, fruit, vegetables, and there is a feed mill interested in converting as well.

Rusk County and the Spooner Area agents cooperated on an organic dairy production field day at a newly certified organic farm in Exeland on 24 September.  This event was very successful, with about 35 farmers attending.  An apparent added benefit of the field day was that milk from the farm, which is located in an area quite distant from existing organic milk routes, is now being picked up by one of the organic processors. Prior to the field day, the processor was unwilling to send a truck to the farm.

In 2005, Price County continued the organic production education program by providing scholarships for growers to attend the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference in February in La Crosse.  Three people attended with financial help from this grant, and another five attended the conference under a scholarship from another Kohl grant (direct marketing).

On 26 May 2005, Price County hosted another educational meeting for people to learn about the basics of organic production and certification. Twenty growers attended this program, which was taught by Faye Jones of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES).  MOSES used program money provided to the EAM Team through another Kohl Grant to offset the cost of materials and travel for this program, so we got very good mileage out of our grant money.

Results:  The people who participated in the educational programs in Price County participated in several program evaluations during the course of the project.  The evaluations of the individual programs and the project in general were used both to evaluate the progress of the project and to guide plans for future programs.  At the conclusion of the project, a final evaluation survey was sent to the 42 people who attended programs in Price County through the grant project.  Twenty-two responses were received back (52% response rate). A summary of the survey results is as follows:

Participants were asked to respond to two statements to assess the usefulness of the project on a scale of one to five (1 = of little use, 3 = moderately useful, and 5 = exceptionally useful).  In response to the statement, “The program(s) provided information that helped me understand organic production and/or certification better,” 13 people (59% of respondents) selected “5,” another eight (36%) selected “4,” and one selected “3.”   Therefore, 95% of respondents found the program more than moderately useful in understanding organic production and/or certification better.

In response to the second statement, “The program(s) helped me decide if organic production and/or certification is appropriate for me,” eight people (36% of respondents) selected “5,” nine (41%) selected “4,” four (18%) selected “3,” and one (5%) selected “2,” indicating that 77% of respondents found the program helpful in deciding if organic production and/or certification was right for them.

Of the respondents, 11 (50%) indicated they were involved in a commercial, full-time farm or garden operation, 9 (41%) had a commercial, part-time operation, and two (9%) engage in farming or gardening as a pastime. Eight of the  respondents (36%) already farm or garden organically and plan on becoming certified; three (14%) use organic production practices but don’t plan on becoming certified; eight others (36%) use some organic production practices, but not exclusively; and three (14%) don’t follow organic production practices now, but may in the future.  When asked how likely they are to transition part of all of their production to certified organic status within the next three years, six (27%) indicated they absolutely would; five (23%) indicated they probably would; five (23 %) indicated they possibly would; three (14%) indicated they probably wouldn’t; and one indicated he or she definitely would not (two of the respondents are already certified).

Growers who received scholarships to attend educational programs were asked to indicate how useful the event was for them (using the same scale as the first two items in the survey).  Four of the six respondents to this item (67%) indicated these programs were more than moderately useful.  Interestingly, two respondents (33%) also expressed dissatisfaction with programs they attended through a scholarship by indicating ratings less than moderately useful.  Eighteen survey respondents (82%) indicated that they would like to see an organic education program continued in Price County.

Overall, growers seem pleased with the project and the information they learned through it.  Here are some of the comments received on some of the evaluation surveys:

“I have learned a lot from the various programs I attended that were held in Price County and sincerely hope such programs continue and can be expanded.”

“We feel the program has been helpful and informative.  We hope the program continues as we will have questions after starting this year, plus comments that may help others.  Thanks for starting this program. J  “

“I thoroughly appreciate your efforts in bringing these…people to Price County.  It makes a difference for me.”

“I think you are doing a great job.  I would like to see more Ag agents as open minded and involved as you are.”

“Learned a lot each meeting I went to.”

“We thank you for all of the information!”