SUSTAINING AND EVALUATING THE NEVADA BEGINNING FARMER AND RANCHER PROJECT Staci Emm, Extension Educator/Professor Carol Bishop, Extension Educator/Associate Professor Holly Gatzke, Extension Education/Associate Professor Herds & Harvest

HERDS & HARVEST: NEVADA PROJECT Funded in 2011 working with 6 different university faculty participating Refunded in December 2014 with 12 different university faculty participating Overall goal is to increase agricultural management knowledge and skills in basic farming and ranching Mentorship program includes “Great Ideas for Growers” and individual enterprise development. Program evaluation changes from 2011 to 2014

2011 PROJECT GOALS: HERDS & HARVEST Increase communication, agricultural entrepreneurship, business and financial management skills Increase capacity to manage water resources effectively Increase agricultural management knowledge and skills to implement sustainable agricultural management practices Increase skills to develop a marketing strategy that ensures the competitiveness of their agricultural operation Provide ongoing mentorship following workshops

2011 PERFORMANCE We conducted128 trainings between August 1, 2011 and May 30, 2014 Attendance was1,530 at the 128 trainings There were 600 unduplicated BFRs in the program by May 30, 2014

2011 EVALUATION Created evaluation tracking system for all BFR participants in Access. No faculty or staff in the program knew how to operate Access. One staff member was sent to training Put under a research protocol – UNR Institutional Review Board (IRB). Every workshop evaluation had to be reviewed and approved. Changed each workshop evaluation to reflect teaching indicators in the workshop, but were not based on grant objectives so reporting became difficult. Created and maintained mailing list. Mailing list grew every year.

2011 FOLLOW UP EVALUATION Over 65% of the participants reported they made changes or took actions in their agricultural practices based upon workshop education Grass/alfalfa yield doubled due to education about fertilization CSA business doubled after attending the Processing and Selling locally grown meat working and networking with Whole Foods Management

2014 PROJECT GOALS: HERDS &HARVEST Builds upon 2011 objectives but this round we made things easier Expanded topics on… Basic farming skills (soils) Basic ranching skills Small scale poultry production WolfPack Meats Certification Program Basics I: Slaughter and Processing Basics II: Live animal to market Viticulture Hops production and marketing Each workshop will have a printed training booklet created for all the information presented

2014 EVALUATION No individual tracking system of BFRs except the continued effort to expand and mailing lists Follow up with BFRs at various times during the year No research protocol or IRB One evaluation based on the overall objectives of the grant. Indicators are based on the education we said we would provide Evaluation is easier to report because it is specially based on objectives in the grant Added demographic, race, gender and veteran status into evaluation to report in yearly evaluation

ONE-PAGE WORKSHOP EVALUATION

FOLLOW UP EVALUATION In the fall of 2016, there will be a follow up survey sent to all BFRs that attended a workshop The survey will be developed based on the objectives and measure impacts of the program on the BFR producers What are they doing now? What are their future plans? What happened as a result of participating in the program?

SUSTAINABILITY OF THE PROGRAM The BFRDP Nevada project has the largest and mailing list of agriculture producers in the University system The Wolf Pack Meats certification program has a an increased registration fee, which will assist in sustaining the program We are working on a Basics III class that will work within the confines of Nevada workforce development requirements Faculty have been brought together that have never worked together before The evaluation of the program is leading to real time impacts Workshop information is available to the public through workshop workbooks and can be electronically downloaded from the web.

HOW DOES SUSTAINABILITY HAPPEN Impact If a program can continually produce real-time and real life impacts, there is a better chance of additional funding becoming available (i.e. Grants, University or College funding). Identifying successful trainings/workshops and keeping them and eliminating those trainings/workshops that are not wanted based on BFR needs and wants. Those programs that cannot show an impact and are not advantageous (beneficial) to the University as a leader in community outreach and education will not be sustainable once the grant award is not available. In addition, it will be more difficult to be funded again if the original program can not show impact.

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED The number one workshop in 2015 was Poultry Production All producers attending were BFRs It was video conferenced around the state The workshop booklet is still requested because of the regulatory requirements in Nevada We haven’t run the evaluation data or an impact statement would be available

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED Evaluation and Sustainability are tied together. You can not have one without the other Bringing faculty together has made a big difference in the program teams that have been created Market your program and participate in producer driven organizations and events Number your workshop training booklets because two years later someone will request it Meet the needs of your audience. Use your evaluation tool and ask them what they want…not what you think they need

WHAT WE CAN DO BETTER Follow up with producers…take the time (that we don’t have) relax and spend quality time answering their questions Market the program through more social media outlets. Continue to build mailing list and list by attending events and/or programs to reach more BFRs Support the mentoring part of the program Constantly reassess how we do things and ask how or what we can do better Integrate the comments from evaluations into our program.

QUESTIONS? THANK YOU!