Minimizing Farm Business Succession Risk in New England: Delivery of Transferring the Farm Workshops

To minimize the risks associated with farm business succession among New England farmers, Transferring the Farm workshops were held in March 2003. The workshops introduced farm families to elements of transfer planning, including current estate tax laws, methods to transfer farm assets, and determining family and farm goals. More than 200 farmers and others participated in the workshops. Participation was balanced across age and gender, and represented a diversity of farm enterprises across New England. There was a statistically significant increase in participant knowledge gained at the workshop and strong satisfaction with all aspects of the program

Effectiveness of nutrient management plans on vermont dairy farms

A nutrient management plan (NMP) is a tool that helps livestock farmers optimize crop nutrient use. A survey of Vermont dairy farmers was conducted to learn about farmers\u27 implementation of and perceptions about the effects of NMPs. Results showed that 46% of the 301 respondents had NMPs, particularly large and medium size operations. The majority followed the plans most of the time (barring weather and other constraints). The study revealed that NMPs affected total perceived fertilizer use and adoption of conservation practices. It showed that the person(s) updating the NMP affected the frequency to which the plan\u27s recommendations were consulted

New England Workshops Increase Participant Knowledge of Farm Transfer Issues

During 2004-2006, Extension and non-profit groups in New England joined together to conduct 12 Transferring the Farm I workshops for 521 participants in six states. The workshops addressed farm transfer/business transition issues facing farm families through a 1-day workshop that included presentations on family communications, basic legal issues, farm linking, and conservation easements. A panel of farmers who had transferred their farms was included in the workshop. From workshop evaluations, the participants were highly satisfied with all aspects and showed statistically significant increase in knowledge in goal assessment, retirement planning, business transition, and estate planning

Evaluation of the eOrganic Webinar Program

eOrganic evaluated webinars on organic agriculture topics to assess the size and composition of the audience, how attendees heard about webinars, webinar quality and utility, whether participants use other eOrganic resources, and the impact on farmer and advisory practices. Results showed that eOrganic webinars reached their target audience. An average of 97% of respondents indicated that the webinars improved their understanding of the topics to some degree, and 96% intended to apply information to their work to some degree. Follow-up surveys on a subset of webinars revealed that they influenced changes in farming and advisory practices

eOrganic: The organic agriculture community of practice for eXtension

eOrganic is the organic agriculture community of practice (CoP) and resource area for eXtension. eOrganic\u27s primary community of interest (CoI) is organic farmers and the agricultural professionals who support them. The 250 members of the eOrganic CoP include farmers, researchers, certifiers, and extension/other agricultural professionals. eOrganic\u27s mission is to build a diverse national CoP and use web technologies to synthesize existing information, emerging science, and practical knowledge into information resources and training materials for its CoI. eOrganic strategies to achieve that mission include collaborative publication, stakeholder engagement, community development, projectmanagement, evaluation, and fundraising. eOrganic\u27s public site currently offers 240 articles, 250 videos, 80 webinars and broadcasts, and 100 frequently asked questions (FAQs). eOrganic CoP members have answered more than 1000 \u27Ask an Expert\u27 questions. eOrganic authors collaboratively develop articles in eOrganic\u27s collaborative workspace, which undergo review by two anonymous reviewers andNational Organic Program (NOP) compliance review. eOrganic will offer online courses in 2012. eOrganic stakeholders evaluated eOrganic articles and videos in 2010 and overall they stated that they were relevant, science-based, and useful. Three quarters of webinar and broadcast participants said the webinar improved their understanding of the topic, and 83% said they would recommend the webinar to others. Sixty-nine percent of webinar survey respondents stated that they changed practices or provided others with information as the result of the webinar. eOrganic surveyed active CoP members in 2011. Members view eOrganic as important because it is the only national organic agriculture resource with direct ties to university research and they considered all of eOrganic\u27s core activities important. eOrganic is supported by small grants from eXtension and subawards in more than 20 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) research/extension projects. To enhance its financial sustainability, eOrganic will work to solidify its partnership with NIFA programs and diversify its funding sources to include course fees and underwriters