Common use of Lessons learned Clause in Contracts

Lessons learned. CRAFT programs were originally created by a community of growers with like minded commitments to the education of new farmers; experienced farmers both educated and mentored new farmers. The modified CRAFT model we developed and used for this program supports the education of new farmers by providing the organizational structure to allow expert farmers to be teachers. It was successful in part because of our regional collaborative partner whose farmer board provided a direct connection to the community of farmers in that region. These farmers were willing to commit to the project, lend their expertise to educate specialty crop producers, and promote the series. We recommend and plan to continue the approach of working with a regional partner in other areas of the state. Evaluations were lower in quantity than desired. We developed both paper and electronic evaluation formats. Paper evaluations could be either written in the field or taken home to be completed and later mailed to the NOFA-VT office. Electronic evaluations were available in Survey Monkey. The paper evaluations handed out in the workshop contained a link to the electronic evaluation. We received 12 paper evaluations and 12 electronic evaluations from participants. However, our collaborative partner conducted their own evaluation which had 16 responses, so we gleaned additional information from their survey. Next year we will use a simpler evaluation format to increase participation with check box options. We also plan to ask farmers how many new practices they learned so we can start to quantify the learning experience. CONTACT INFORMATION Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx, Ph.D., Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance Advisor for NOFA-VT Phone: 000-000-0000 x00 and email: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The beginner farmer workshops were marketed through a catalogue of summer workshop offerings; the whole catalogue can be viewed at xxxx://xxxxxx.xxx/sites/default/files/SWS2010.pdf. Below is one section describing the beginner farmer workshops. Note that only some of the workshops (those targeted to specialty crop farmers) were part of this project. Beginning Farmers & Apprentices Workshops 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 & 9 are produced in partnership with the Rutland Food and Farm Link (RAFFL) and funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant; they are offered at no charge. 1Wednesday, July 14 • 6:30 - 8:30pm Marketing Strategies for the Small Farm Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm • Granville, NY Learn the basics of marketing - as they relate to your farm! We will give an overview of different marketing tools, emphasizing those which are a good fit for small farms. We’ll cover our own marketing strategies, focusing on our extensive use of relationship marketing. Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm grows a wide variety of Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, marketing them year 'round through farmers' markets and a CSA. 2Wednesday, July 28 • 5 - 7pm Building Soils: Soil Testing, Composting, Amendments Dutchess Farm • Poultney Farmer Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx, NRCS Soil Conservationist Xxxxx Xxxxxx, and NOFA- VT Vegetable and Fruit Advisor Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx will discuss the need to test soils annually, and how to use soil tests to determine your need for organic fertilizers. We will demonstrate how a cover crop and vegetable rotation system can control weeds and increase organic matter without added manure or compost. We will discuss how to choose a site for vegetable production. Dutchess Farm grows 4 acres of produce using organic practices, selling to a 100-member CSA, the Rutland Xxxxxx'x Market, and the Rutland Co-op. 3Saturday, July 31 • 1 - 4pm Introduction to Pasture Management: Using Ruminants to Improve Pasture Bread and Butter Farm • Shelburne/S. Burlington $10 for NOFA-VT and VGFA members, $15 non- members Livestock expert Xxxxx Xxxxx will cover the fundamentals of setting up a new grazing system for ruminants - or improving an existing one. Using practical examples of grazing systems, we’ll discuss pasture plant species and how to manage them for desirable plants, as well as how to do so with livestock and fence rather than expensive plowing and planting. Topics include plant species, grazing methods, fence, water systems, pasture design and layout, paddock size, and acreage. Cosponsored by the VT Grass Farmers Association. 4 Sunday, August 8 • 2 - 5pm Beginning Farmers and Apprentices Producing Eggs Year ‘Round On Compost Without Purchased Grain & NOFAvore Social Vermont Compost • Montpelier $10 for NOFA-VT members, $15 non-members • Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Vermont Compost Company was founded and sup- ported by organic crop-growing professionals to meet the need for high quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production. Integrated into this production is an innovative system that provides chickens with foraging opportunities to produce eggs along with compost. Come join us for an afternoon with Xxxx Xxxxxx, founder of Vermont Compost, as he gives a tour of the farm and discusses the different enterprises that are intertwined. Following the workshop, there will be a community dinner with the NOFA pizza oven. 5Wednesday, August 11 • 5 - 7pm Business Strategies and Cheese Blue Ledge Farm, Leicester Pre-registration required (limit 20) Get a behind-the-scenes tour of Blue Ledge Farm as Xxxx Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxx- sions extrapolate on what it takes to start and maintain a farmstead cheese operation. We will discuss equipment needs and costs for both the dairy and cheese produc- tion areas, value added ideas, and labor needs. They will “crunch the numbers” as to size and profit. Blue Ledge Farm was established in 2000 and now produces 40,000 pounds of artisanal cheese annually from the milk of their own 80 goats as well as two other area farms. Participants may purchase cheese after the workshop. 6Tuesday, August 17 • 9am - 1pm Processing Chickens on the Farm All Together Farm • Xxxxxxxx $20 members, $25 non-members • Preregistration required (limit 12) Farmers Xxxx and Xxxxx Xxxxxxx will go over the set-up, procedure, and safety of processing your own birds on the farm or at home. They will then lead the group step-by-step through the whole process. Participants can gain more experience by participating in the processing of a batch of their summer broilers. All Together Farm is a small-scale, diversified family farm raising animals on pasture. 71 Wednesday, August 25 • 5 - 7pm Farm Equipment Primer: Safety and Types of Equipment for Small Farms with NOFAvore social and New Farmer Mixer! Xxxxxx Farm • Xxxxx Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Xxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx as we go over basic safety rules for tractors and other typical small farm equipment. We will talk about tractors, PTOs, tillage equipment, and bucket loaders. We will also talk about small equip- ment and, for livestock farmers, safety tips when work- ing with animals. Time permitting, we can talk about preventative maintenance. Xxxxxx Farm is a former commodity dairy farm, now milking 20 Jerseys for raw milk and supplying a local artisan cheese maker, as well as raising grass-fed beef. Plus! Join us for XXXXX’s New Farmer Mixer and NOFAvore Celebration with the mobile pizza oven at 7pm! All new and aspiring farmers are invited to come mix, mingle, and meet new farming friends. A sample of the survey distributed to participants in the courses is as follows: I am a: Beginning Farmer (less than 10 years)

Lessons learned. CRAFT programs were originally created by Lessons Learned from Agritourism Workshop The attendance at this workshop was a community bit lower than we had hoped. However, a recap of growers with like minded commitments the important highlights of information from the panel was posted to the education of new farmers; experienced our farmer blog: What’s Growin’ on. This blog is a communication tool for farmers both educated and mentored new farmersin our region. The modified CRAFT model we developed and post about the workshop has received 54 views to date. In addition, staff used for this program supports the education information learned from the workshop in our communications with farmers who hosted farm tours as part of new farmers by providing the organizational structure to allow expert farmers to be teachers. It was successful in part because of our regional collaborative partner whose farmer board provided a direct connection to the community of farmers in that region. These farmers were willing to commit to the project, lend their expertise to educate specialty crop producers, and promote the series. We recommend and plan to continue the approach of working with a regional partner in other areas Lessons Learned from Farm Tours The content of the statefarm tours were very educational. Evaluations were lower in quantity than desired. We developed both paper and electronic evaluation formats. Paper evaluations could be either written RAFFL staff worked closely with the farmers in the field or taken home weeks leading up the tours to be completed walk the farm and later mailed think about how to effectively work with the public coming on to the NOFA-VT office. Electronic evaluations were available in Survey Monkey. The paper evaluations handed out in the workshop contained a link farm, how to the electronic evaluation. We received 12 paper evaluations and 12 electronic evaluations from participants. However, our collaborative partner conducted their own evaluation which had 16 responses, so we gleaned additional information from their survey. Next year we will use a simpler evaluation format to increase participation with check box options. We also plan to ask farmers how many new practices they learned so we can start to quantify the learning experience. CONTACT INFORMATION Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx, Ph.D., Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance Advisor for NOFA-VT Phone: 000-000-0000 x00 and email: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The beginner farmer workshops were marketed through a catalogue of summer workshop offerings; the whole catalogue can be viewed at xxxx://xxxxxx.xxx/sites/default/files/SWS2010.pdf. Below is one section describing the beginner farmer workshops. Note that only some of the workshops (those targeted to specialty crop farmers) were part of this project. Beginning Farmers & Apprentices Workshops 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 & 9 are produced in partnership with the Rutland Food and Farm Link (RAFFL) and funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant; they are offered at no charge. 1Wednesday, July 14 • 6:30 - 8:30pm Marketing Strategies for the Small Farm Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm • Granville, NY Learn the basics of marketing - as they relate to your farm! We will give an overview of different marketing tools, emphasizing those which are a good fit for small farms. We’ll cover our own marketing strategies, focusing on our extensive use of relationship marketing. Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm grows a wide variety of Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, marketing them year 'round through farmers' markets and a CSA. 2Wednesday, July 28 • 5 - 7pm Building Soils: Soil Testing, Composting, Amendments Dutchess Farm • Poultney Farmer Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx, NRCS Soil Conservationist Xxxxx Xxxxxx, and NOFA- VT Vegetable and Fruit Advisor Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx will discuss the need to test soils annuallydevelop interesting content, and how to use soil tests to determine your need for organic fertilizersincorporate interactive activities. We will demonstrate how a cover crop and vegetable rotation system can control weeds and increase organic matter without added manure or compostfound that we had underestimated the amount of staff time it would take to do this properly. We will discuss how ended up using our general funds to choose supplement the Specialty Crop funds. Lessons Learned from Culinary Workshops The best attended workshop that required people to intentionally attend, versus drop by, was the one led by Xxxx Xxxxxxxxx. Xxxx is a site for vegetable productionknown entity. Dutchess Farm grows 4 acres of produce using organic practices, selling to a 100-member CSA, She is the Rutland Xxxxxx'x Market, chef instructor at Xxxxxxxx Technical Center and the event was held in the facilities at her school. She definitely drew in people from a broad cross-section of the community on a weekday evening during the summer. We surmise that having confidence in the presenter may be one of the critical factors for people when deciding whether or not to make the time to attend a cooking workshop versus not. CONTACT Xxxx Xxxxx 000-0000 xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx 417-1528 xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PEG-TV Rutland Co-op. 3Saturday, July 31 • 1 - 4pm Introduction to Pasture Management: Using Ruminants to Improve Pasture Bread and Butter Farm • Shelburne/S. Burlington $10 for NOFA-VT and VGFA members, $15 non- members Livestock expert Xxxxx Xxxxx will cover the fundamentals of setting up a new grazing system for ruminants - or improving an existing one. Using practical examples of grazing systems, we’ll discuss pasture plant species and how to manage them for desirable plants, as well as how to do so with livestock and fence rather than expensive plowing and planting. Topics include plant species, grazing methods, fence, water systems, pasture design and layout, paddock size, and acreage. Cosponsored by the VT Grass Farmers Association. 4 Sunday, August 8 • 2 - 5pm Beginning Farmers and Apprentices Producing Eggs Year ‘Round On Compost Without Purchased Grain & NOFAvore Social Vermont Compost • Montpelier $10 for NOFA-VT members, $15 non-members • Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Vermont Compost Company was founded and sup- ported by organic crop-growing professionals to meet the need for high quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production. Integrated into this production is an innovative system that provides chickens with foraging opportunities to produce eggs along with compost. Come join us for an afternoon with Xxxx Xxxxxx, founder of Vermont Compost, as he gives a tour filmed most of the farm tours and discusses some of the different enterprises that culinary workshops: xxxx://xx.xxxxxx.xxx/preview?id=T00969&video=152015 Project 6: An Emerging Problem for Vermont Christmas Tree Growers: Root Aphids – Final Report‌ PROJECT SUMMARY Root aphids have become a problem in Christmas tree production in Vermont. Root aphids in New England Christmas tree plantations are intertwined. Following the workshop, there will believed to be a community dinner with the NOFA pizza ovenrelatively new problem that may have developed due to current production practices. 5WednesdayInfested seedlings are stunted, August 11 • 5 - 7pm Business Strategies chlorotic and Cheese Blue Ledge Farm, Leicester Pre-registration required (limit 20) Get a behind-the-scenes tour of Blue Ledge Farm as Xxxx Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxx- sions extrapolate on what it takes susceptible to start and maintain a farmstead cheese operation. We will discuss equipment needs and costs for both the dairy and cheese produc- tion areas, value added ideas, and labor needsroot rot. They will “crunch slow tree growth, delay maturity and impact revenues. In most plantations and cut-your-own operations, trees are cut intermittently throughout the numbers” field as to they reach salable size and profitshape. Blue Ledge Farm was established in 2000 and now produces 40,000 pounds Growers fill gaps with young seedlings, planted adjacent to stumps of artisanal cheese annually from the milk of their own 80 goats as well as two other area farms. Participants may purchase cheese after the workshop. 6Tuesday, August 17 • 9am - 1pm Processing Chickens on the Farm All Together Farm • Xxxxxxxx $20 members, $25 non-members • Preregistration required (limit 12) Farmers Xxxx and Xxxxx Xxxxxxx will go over the set-up, procedure, and safety of processing your own birds on the farm or at home. They will then lead the group step-by-step through the whole process. Participants can gain more experience by participating trees harvested earlier in the processing of a batch of their summer broilersyear. All Together Farm is a small-scale, diversified family farm raising animals on pastureStumps from multiple generations may occur side by side (Fig. 71 Wednesday, August 25 • 5 - 7pm Farm Equipment Primer: Safety and Types of Equipment for Small Farms with NOFAvore social and New Farmer Mixer! Xxxxxx Farm • Xxxxx Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Xxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx as we go over basic safety rules for tractors and other typical small farm equipment1). We will talk about tractors, PTOs, tillage equipment, and bucket loaders. We will also talk about small equip- ment and, for livestock farmers, safety tips when work- ing with animals. Time permitting, we can talk about preventative maintenance. Xxxxxx Farm is a former commodity dairy farm, now milking 20 Jerseys for raw milk and supplying a local artisan cheese maker, as well as raising grass-fed beef. Plus! Join us for XXXXX’s New Farmer Mixer and NOFAvore Celebration with the mobile pizza oven at 7pm! All new and aspiring farmers are invited Corn field ants transport root aphids from harvested trees to come mix, mingle, and meet new farming friends. A sample viable roots of the survey distributed to participants seedlings through channels they make in the courses is as follows: I am a: Beginning Farmer soil. In the past growers have relied on imidacloprid insecticides for management. Stratiolaelaps scimitus (less than 10 yearsformerly Hypoaspis miles), a commercially available predatory mite, has been shown to be effective against a wide range of soil-dwelling pests, including root aphids, black vine weevil, thrips and strawberry root weevil. The goals of this project were to determine the species of aphids infesting Christmas trees and evaluate the efficacy of releasing the commercially available soil dwelling predatory mite S. scimitus.

Lessons learned. CRAFT programs Offer insights into the lessons learned by the project staff as a result of completing this project. This section is meant to illustrate the positive and negative results and conclusions for the project. Provide unexpected outcomes or results that were originally created by a community effect of growers implementing this project. If goals or outcome measures were not achieved, identify and share the lessons learned to help others expedite problem-solving. Because of additional support from foundations and industry associations (see notes partners in PROJECT APPROACH section of this report), LIVE was able to stretch beyond its original goals for this project, with like minded commitments outreach across the Northwest into Idaho, development of marketing tools for members, and analysis of certification data to inform the program’s educational priorities (see enclosed LIVE Winery Progress Report). Without funding and staff time specifically dedicated to the education of new farmers; experienced farmers both educated and mentored new farmers. The modified CRAFT model we developed and used for this winery program supports via the education of new farmers by providing the organizational structure to allow expert farmers to be teachers. It was successful in part because of our regional collaborative partner whose farmer board provided a direct connection to the community of farmers in that region. These farmers were willing to commit to the project, lend their expertise to educate specialty crop producersblock grant award, and promote the seriesthis would not have been possible. We recommend and plan to continue the approach of working with a regional partner in other areas of the state. Evaluations were lower in quantity than desired. We developed both paper and electronic evaluation formats. Paper evaluations could be either written in the field or taken home to be completed and later mailed to the NOFA-VT office. Electronic evaluations were available in Survey Monkey. The paper evaluations handed out in the workshop contained a link to the electronic evaluation. We received 12 paper evaluations and 12 electronic evaluations from participants. However, our collaborative partner conducted their own evaluation which had 16 responses, so we gleaned additional information from their survey. Next year we will use a simpler evaluation format to increase participation with check box options. We LIVE also plan to ask farmers how many new practices they learned so we can start to quantify the learning experience. CONTACT INFORMATION Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx, Ph.D., Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance Advisor relied on contractors for NOFA-VT Phone: 000-000-0000 x00 and email: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The beginner farmer workshops were marketed through a catalogue of summer workshop offerings; the whole catalogue can be viewed at xxxx://xxxxxx.xxx/sites/default/files/SWS2010.pdf. Below is one section describing the beginner farmer workshops. Note that only some of the workshops (those targeted to specialty crop farmers) were part work performed in the course of this project— inspections, web development, and environmental assessment for the materials evaluation tool. Beginning Farmers & Apprentices Workshops Our experience with these contractors was uniformly positive, and illustrated an important lesson: upfront diligence in selection of contractor partners allowed the activities described here to proceed in a timely manner and allowed us meet our responsibilities to funders and the beneficiaries of the grant activities. EMAIL: xxxxxxx@xxx.xxx No single, widely recognized Web site offered the opportunity for wholesale plant buyers to search for availability and new sources of plant material from wholesale growers at a time when online searches for this type of information is increasing and traditional nursery industry marketing and sales methods are becoming less effective. An ineffective online presence—or not having a presence online—represents a serious competitive challenge for growers, especially for smaller nurseries that do not have the resources or know-how to build or maintain a site. Proposed in this grant request were activities implementing and promoting a robust online buyers guide to (1) create awareness of the Oregon and northwest nursery industry; (2) create an easy efficient way to make business-to-business connections; and (3) create a cost effective online platform for growers. It will help smaller growers break into online marketing and will add a greater dimension to the online mix of growers that already have an online presence. We anticipate there will be several secondary benefits as well, 2e.g., 5easier and targeted grower communications about plant pest and disease issues and easier creation of a partial load communication tool. This project helped the OAN construct, 7, 8 & 9 are produced market and operate an online nursery guide valued by plant buyers. The request built on the work done in partnership with the Rutland Food and Farm Link (RAFFL) and funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant; they are offered at no chargeGrant #2808-GR, which identified how various segments of the industry utilized the internet for plant searches, valued functionality for an online interface, and technology platform requirements to support the proposed functionality. 1WednesdayOnline searches for plant information, July 14 • 6:30 - 8:30pm Marketing Strategies sources and availability is an increasingly important tool for the Small Farm Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm • Granvilleindustry. Currently, NY Learn almost 90% of the basics target industry segments use the Internet to find plant information and almost three-quarters of marketing - those go online daily or weekly. [Only trade shows were reported more frequently as a primary method for finding nurseries and growers.] Only 20% said they relate were very satisfied with their search experience, however. The need to your farm! We will give know availability of a plant prior to making a phone call is very high (75%). Most requested features of an overview online resource are new varieties information, my-state/my-zone plant information, shopping list help, and RFP-type functionality. “Type in a plant name and you would get back a contact list of different marketing toolsgrowers who report that they grow or carry this plant” is of interest across target groups. [Source: Pivot Group Research funded by Grant #2808-GR] Before implementation of ODA-3078-GR, emphasizing those which are the Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN) maintained a good fit passive searchable database. Enhancements to the OAN’s online Nursery Guide (xxx.xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx) was needed for small farms. We’ll cover our own marketing strategies, focusing on our extensive growers to keep pace with the growing use of relationship marketingthe Internet in the industry for plant searches. Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm grows a wide variety OAN is convinced that increasing desirable functionality will drive visits to the site and increase site “stickiness,” heightening awareness and desirablility of Certified Naturally Grown vegetablesdoing business with Oregon and northwest-based wholesale nurseries. A more valued online searchable Nursery Guide has the potential to benefit all Oregon and northwest wholesale nurseries, marketing them year 'round through farmers' markets greenhouse and a CSA. 2WednesdayChristmas tree growers selling to garden centers, July 28 • 5 - 7pm Building Soils: Soil Testingbrokers, Composting, Amendments Dutchess Farm • Poultney Farmer Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx, NRCS Soil Conservationist Xxxxx Xxxxxxrewholesale yards, and NOFA- VT Vegetable and Fruit Advisor Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx will discuss landscape professionals regionally and/or nationally. [Note: the need proposed project is not targeted to test soils annually, and how to use soil tests to determine your need for organic fertilizers. We will demonstrate how a cover crop and vegetable rotation system can control weeds and increase organic matter without added manure or compost. We will discuss how to choose a site for vegetable production. Dutchess Farm grows 4 acres of produce using organic practices, selling to a 100-member CSA, the Rutland Xxxxxx'x Market, and the Rutland Co-op. 3Saturday, July 31 • 1 - 4pm Introduction to Pasture Management: Using Ruminants to Improve Pasture Bread and Butter Farm • Shelburne/S. Burlington $10 for NOFA-VT and VGFA members, $15 non- members Livestock expert Xxxxx Xxxxx will cover the fundamentals of setting up a new grazing system for ruminants - or improving an existing one. Using practical examples of grazing systems, we’ll discuss pasture plant species and how to manage them for desirable plants, as well as how to do so with livestock and fence rather than expensive plowing and planting. Topics include plant species, grazing methods, fence, water systems, pasture design and layout, paddock size, and acreage. Cosponsored by the VT Grass Farmers Association. 4 Sunday, August 8 • 2 - 5pm Beginning Farmers and Apprentices Producing Eggs Year ‘Round On Compost Without Purchased Grain & NOFAvore Social Vermont Compost • Montpelier $10 for NOFA-VT members, $15 non-members • Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Vermont Compost Company was founded and sup- ported by organic crop-growing professionals to meet the need for high quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production. Integrated into this production is an innovative system that provides chickens with foraging opportunities to produce eggs along with compost. Come join us for an afternoon with Xxxx Xxxxxx, founder of Vermont Compost, as he gives a tour of the farm and discusses the different enterprises that are intertwined. Following the workshop, there home owner; consumer traffic will be a community dinner with redirected to the NOFA pizza oven. 5Wednesday, August 11 • 5 - 7pm Business Strategies and Cheese Blue Ledge Farm, Leicester Pre-registration required (limit 20) Get a behind-the-scenes tour of Blue Ledge Farm as Xxxx Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxx- sions extrapolate on what it takes to start and maintain a farmstead cheese operation. We will discuss equipment needs and costs for both the dairy and cheese produc- tion areas, value added ideas, and labor needs. They will “crunch the numbers” as to size and profit. Blue Ledge Farm was established in 2000 and now produces 40,000 pounds of artisanal cheese annually from the milk of their own 80 goats as well as two other area farms. Participants may purchase cheese after the workshop. 6Tuesday, August 17 • 9am - 1pm Processing Chickens on the Farm All Together Farm • Xxxxxxxx $20 members, $25 non-members • Preregistration required (limit 12) Farmers Xxxx and Xxxxx Xxxxxxx will go over the set-up, procedure, and safety of processing your own birds on the farm or at home. They will then lead the group step-by-step through the whole process. Participants can gain more experience by participating in the processing of a batch of their summer broilers. All Together Farm is a small-scale, diversified family farm raising animals on pasture. 71 Wednesday, August 25 • 5 - 7pm Farm Equipment Primer: Safety and Types of Equipment for Small Farms with NOFAvore social and New Farmer Mixer! Xxxxxx Farm • Xxxxx Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Xxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx as we go over basic safety rules for tractors and other typical small farm equipment. We will talk about tractors, PTOs, tillage equipment, and bucket loaders. We will also talk about small equip- ment and, for livestock farmers, safety tips when work- ing with animals. Time permitting, we can talk about preventative maintenance. Xxxxxx Farm is a former commodity dairy farm, now milking 20 Jerseys for raw milk and supplying a local artisan cheese maker, as well as raising grass-fed beef. Plus! Join us for XXXXXOAN’s New Farmer Mixer and NOFAvore Celebration with the mobile pizza oven at 7pm! All new and aspiring farmers are invited to come mix, mingle, and meet new farming friends. A sample of the survey distributed to participants in the courses is as follows: I am a: Beginning Farmer (less than 10 years)xxx.XxxxxXxxxxxxxxXxxxxx.xxx.]

Lessons learned. CRAFT All of the projects supported by this grant are continuing program efforts rather that specific and finite projects with identifiable implementation periods and identifiable end periods. Our educational and marketing efforts must be continual. NHVTCTA accepted the funds made available through this grant with gratitude. As we move forward, hopefully other grants may be available. But NHVTCTA does not live in a vacuum. We realize that budget deficits must be brought under control, and that there will be increasing pressure as federal and state agencies allocate scarce resources among many worthwhile projects. It will be incumbent upon NHVTCTA “stand on its own feet” and to do its best to maintain these programs with internal funding and with less reliance on outside assistance. That will be a challenge. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The website is xxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx CONTACT INFORMATION Xxxxx Xxxxx, Executive Director, NHVTCTA; xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx PROJECT SUMMARY A series of seven on-farm workshops for new and aspiring farmers were originally created developed and offered on important production and business-related practices (Soils and composting; Organic plant disease management; Organic weed control; Food safety practices in production, handling and marketing; On-farm energy production and conservation; Marketing practices and strategies; Business and enterprise planning and analysis). The workshops provided attendees with up-to-date practical knowledge and information required for successful commercial organic production and commercial enterprises. PROJECCT APPROAH NOFA-VT received a sub-contract through a USDA Beginning Farmer Rancher and Development Program (BFRDP) to support the expenses associated with organizing, facilitating and evaluating 8 beginner farmer workshops held as part of our on-farm summer workshop series. Because of that, we requested permission to use the $3,496.50 award to support beginner farmer marketing and business planning workshops at NOFA-VT’s Direct Marketing Conference, scheduled for January 8, 2012. In addition, we requested a 30 day extension of our contract to accommodate this change of scope, which was granted. The following list outlines the activities that were proposed and those performed with the change in scope: Winter 2010-11: Develop workshops’ content; identify expert presenters for each workshop; identify host-farms and develop farmer-host involvement on each farm Early Spring, 2011: Develop workshop materials; develop and implement publicity and outreach strategies Spring-Fall, 2011: Host workshops; continue publicity and outreach Fall, 2011: Project evaluation and summary of outcomes Project partners: The 13 member board of the Vermont Farmers Market Association (VTFMA), a project of NOFA-VT, were instrumental in workshop development, and assisting with logistics on the day of the conference. A representative of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and Markets serves on that board. In addition, 4 CSA farmers in Vermont served as advisors, helping develop and present workshops. GOALS AND OUTCOMES ACHIEVED The original proposal was to organize 7 summer workshops to reach 40-60 beginning specialty crop producers. We ended up organizing 12 workshops for specialty crop producers at the January, 2012 Direct Marketing Conference attended by a community total of growers with like minded commitments to the education 140 participants, 89 of new farmers; experienced farmers both educated and mentored new farmerswhom were specialty crop producers. The modified CRAFT model workshops were attended by farmers who sell fruits and vegetables at farmers markets or Community Supported Agriculture farms, or farmers market managers who manage specialty crop vendors. Since the vast majority of direct markets at Vermont only sell specialty crops, it was an easy way to make sure we developed and used were targeting that audience. There were a total of 140 participants at the conference. The 12 workshops that were offered for this program supports the education of new farmers by providing the organizational structure to allow expert farmers to be teachers. It was successful in part because of our regional collaborative partner whose farmer board provided a direct connection to the community of farmers in that region. These farmers were willing to commit to the project, lend their expertise to educate specialty crop producers, and promote were attended by a total of 89 specialty crop producers. There were 7 other workshops offered predominantly for farmers market managers (not themselves producers, but who manage specialty crop vendors) who were the series. We recommend and plan to continue the approach of working with a regional partner in other areas bulk of the state. Evaluations were lower in quantity than desired. We developed both paper and electronic evaluation formats. Paper evaluations could be either written in the field or taken home to be completed and later mailed to the NOFA-VT office. Electronic evaluations were available in Survey Monkey. The paper evaluations handed out in the workshop contained a link to the electronic evaluation. We received 12 paper evaluations and 12 electronic evaluations from participants. However, our collaborative partner conducted their own evaluation which had 16 responses, so we gleaned additional information from their survey. Next year we will use a simpler evaluation format to increase participation with check box options. We also plan to ask farmers how many new practices they learned so we can start to quantify the learning experience. CONTACT INFORMATION Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx, Ph.D., Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance Advisor for NOFA-VT Phone: 000-000-0000 x00 and email: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The beginner farmer workshops were marketed through a catalogue of summer workshop offerings; the whole catalogue can be viewed at xxxx://xxxxxx.xxx/sites/default/files/SWS2010.pdf. Below is one section describing the beginner farmer workshops. Note that only some of the workshops (those targeted to 51 non specialty crop farmers) were part producers referenced in your question. Grant funding was only used to cover the cost of this projectpresenters and organizing the 12 workshops for specialty crop producers. Beginning Farmers & Apprentices Workshops 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 & 9 are produced in partnership with the Rutland Food and Farm Link (RAFFL) and funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant; they are offered at no charge. 1Wednesday, July 14 • 6:30 - 8:30pm Marketing Strategies for the Small Farm Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm • Granville, NY Learn the basics of marketing - as they relate to your farm! We will give an overview of different marketing tools, emphasizing those which are a good fit for small farms. We’ll cover our own marketing strategies, focusing on our extensive use of relationship marketing. Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm grows a wide variety of Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, marketing them year 'round through farmers' markets and a CSA. 2Wednesday, July 28 • 5 - 7pm Building Soils: Soil Testing, Composting, Amendments Dutchess Farm • Poultney Farmer Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx, NRCS Soil Conservationist Xxxxx Xxxxxx, and NOFA- VT Vegetable and Fruit Advisor Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx will discuss the need to test soils annually, and how to use soil tests to determine your need for organic fertilizers. We will demonstrate how a cover crop and vegetable rotation system can control weeds and increase organic matter without added manure or compost. We will discuss how to choose a site for vegetable production. Dutchess Farm grows 4 acres of produce using organic practices, selling to a 100-member CSA, the Rutland Xxxxxx'x Market, held and the Rutland Co-op. 3Saturday, July 31 • 1 - 4pm Introduction to Pasture Management: Using Ruminants to Improve Pasture Bread and Butter Farm • Shelburne/S. Burlington $10 for NOFA-VT and VGFA members, $15 non- members Livestock expert Xxxxx Xxxxx will cover the fundamentals number of setting up a new grazing system for ruminants - or improving an existing one. Using practical examples of grazing systems, we’ll discuss pasture plant species and how to manage them for desirable plants, as well as how to do so with livestock and fence rather than expensive plowing and planting. Topics include plant species, grazing methods, fence, water systems, pasture design and layout, paddock size, and acreage. Cosponsored by the VT Grass Farmers Association. 4 Sunday, August 8 • 2 - 5pm Beginning Farmers and Apprentices Producing Eggs Year ‘Round On Compost Without Purchased Grain & NOFAvore Social Vermont Compost • Montpelier $10 for NOFA-VT members, $15 non-members • Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Vermont Compost Company was founded and sup- ported by organic crop-growing professionals to meet the need for high quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production. Integrated into this production is an innovative system that provides chickens with foraging opportunities to produce eggs along with compost. Come join us for an afternoon with Xxxx Xxxxxx, founder of Vermont Compost, as he gives a tour of the farm and discusses the different enterprises that attendees are intertwined. Following the workshop, there will be a community dinner with the NOFA pizza oven. 5Wednesday, August 11 • 5 - 7pm Business Strategies and Cheese Blue Ledge Farm, Leicester Pre-registration required (limit 20) Get a behind-the-scenes tour of Blue Ledge Farm as Xxxx Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxx- sions extrapolate on what it takes to start and maintain a farmstead cheese operation. We will discuss equipment needs and costs for both the dairy and cheese produc- tion areas, value added ideas, and labor needs. They will “crunch the numbers” as to size and profit. Blue Ledge Farm was established in 2000 and now produces 40,000 pounds of artisanal cheese annually from the milk of their own 80 goats as well as two other area farms. Participants may purchase cheese after the workshop. 6Tuesday, August 17 • 9am - 1pm Processing Chickens on the Farm All Together Farm • Xxxxxxxx $20 members, $25 non-members • Preregistration required (limit 12) Farmers Xxxx and Xxxxx Xxxxxxx will go over the set-up, procedure, and safety of processing your own birds on the farm or at home. They will then lead the group step-by-step through the whole process. Participants can gain more experience by participating in the processing of a batch of their summer broilers. All Together Farm is a small-scale, diversified family farm raising animals on pasture. 71 Wednesday, August 25 • 5 - 7pm Farm Equipment Primer: Safety and Types of Equipment for Small Farms with NOFAvore social and New Farmer Mixer! Xxxxxx Farm • Xxxxx Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Xxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx as we go over basic safety rules for tractors and other typical small farm equipment. We will talk about tractors, PTOs, tillage equipment, and bucket loaders. We will also talk about small equip- ment and, for livestock farmers, safety tips when work- ing with animals. Time permitting, we can talk about preventative maintenance. Xxxxxx Farm is a former commodity dairy farm, now milking 20 Jerseys for raw milk and supplying a local artisan cheese maker, as well as raising grass-fed beef. Plus! Join us for XXXXX’s New Farmer Mixer and NOFAvore Celebration with the mobile pizza oven at 7pm! All new and aspiring farmers are invited to come mix, mingle, and meet new farming friends. A sample of the survey distributed to participants in the courses is as follows: I am aProtecting Your Markets with Safe Food Practices (16 attendees) Merchandising for Maximum Sales (46 attendees) Expanding Direct Markets to Include Limited Income Shoppers (12 attendees) Leveraging Customer Relationships into Year Round Sales (21 attendees) Pricing for Profit – Strategies for Diversified Farms (34 attendees) Hosting Visitors to Build Direct Marketing Relationships (18 attendees) Marketing Toolkit: Beginning Farmer Planning and Measurement Strategies (less than 10 years57 attendees) Effective Off-Farm CSA Management (14 attendees) Business Planning for Farm Success (23 attendees) Safe and Effective Food Demos (17 attendees) Brand Development (18 attendees) Strategies for Grassroots Fundraising (18 attendees) An evaluation completed at the conference was filled out by 58 participants. The first question, with 55 people responding, asked how they would rate the overall quality of the conference. 50 respondents said the conference was excellent or good (91%), and 5 answered that is was fair (9%). When asked if they learned any new techniques they will use on their farms, 39 participants answered yes, and 6 answered no. The majority of respondents wrote that the following information was the most helpful: pricing, advertising, food safety and general marketing. BENEFICIARIES The primary beneficiaries of this project were the specialty crop producers who sell at direct markets in Vermont, including farmers markets, CSAs and farm stands. Other groups that benefited from this work include farmers’ markets managers and organizers who benefit from improved marketing tools. This project was designed to help attendees to be successful farmers and develop successful markets, which in turn will provide improved sales opportunities for hundreds of specialty crop producers throughout Vermont. We operated under the assumption that the better skilled the participating farmers are, the stronger the market – and the stronger the market, the higher the gross sales for specialty crop producers.

Lessons learned. CRAFT programs This project was initiated at the encouragement of one of the DSD vendors, who had actually built two retail sales units for use by his customers (see photo, below). When the retailer surveys were originally created by circulated among grocers, DSD vendors learned that the local produce manager seldom made policy decisions for his or her store; those decisions generally came from higher level corporate managers. Because of the intense competition for retail space in supermarkets, many chains have maintained “clean store” policies for years to avoid “clutter, as well as to keep private brands from competing directly with their own store brands. VTFGA did not have enough time between the time of the SCBGP proposal announcements and submission deadlines to conduct its own survey of retailers. Upon completion of the retailer survey, VTFGA requested that the SCBGP funds be applied to in- store sampling, an activity with which VTFGA had ample experience. The request for a community change of growers scope, unfortunately, coincided with like minded commitments widespread hailstorms and the effects of Tropical Xxxxx Xxxxx. By late September, it became clear that Vermont’s fresh crop apples (U.S. No. 1, Fancy and Extra Fancy grades) would be in extremely short supply. Due to the education of new farmers; experienced farmers both educated and mentored new farmers. The modified CRAFT model we developed and used for this program supports the education of new farmers by providing the organizational structure to allow expert farmers to be teachers. It was successful in part because of our regional collaborative partner whose farmer board provided a direct connection to the community of farmers in that region. These farmers were willing to commit to the projectshort crop, lend their expertise to educate specialty crop producers, and promote the series. We recommend and plan to continue the approach of working with a regional partner in other areas most of the state. Evaluations were lower in quantity than desired. We developed both paper and electronic evaluation formats. Paper evaluations supermarkets contracted with out-of-state suppliers who could be either written in the field or taken home to be completed and later mailed to the NOFA-VT office. Electronic evaluations were available in Survey Monkey. The paper evaluations handed out in the workshop contained a link to the electronic evaluation. We received 12 paper evaluations and 12 electronic evaluations from participants. However, our collaborative partner conducted their own evaluation which had 16 responses, so we gleaned additional information from their survey. Next year we will use a simpler evaluation format to increase participation with check box options. We also plan to ask farmers how many new practices they learned so we can start to quantify the learning experienceprovide apples through spring 2012. CONTACT INFORMATION Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx, Ph.D., Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance Advisor for NOFA-VT Phone: 000-000-0000 x00 and email: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Executive Director; xxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx; xxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Attachment 1: Dear Vermont Retailer, The beginner farmer workshops were marketed through a catalogue Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association would like to help you optimize consumers’ desire to buy more locally-grown apples. We’d appreciate your recommendations and comments on the design of summer workshop offerings; an in-store retail apple display unit. We don’t even need your name or your company’s name. Please simply return the whole catalogue can be viewed at xxxx://xxxxxx.xxx/sites/default/files/SWS2010.pdf. Below is one section describing the beginner farmer workshops. Note that only some of the workshops (those targeted to specialty crop farmers) were part of this project. Beginning Farmers & Apprentices Workshops 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 & 9 are produced in partnership with the Rutland Food and Farm Link (RAFFL) and funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant; they are offered at no charge. 1Wednesday, July 14 • 6:30 - 8:30pm Marketing Strategies for the Small Farm Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm • Granville, NY Learn the basics of marketing - as they relate form to your farm! We apple supplier/distributor and he or she will give an overview of different marketing tools, emphasizing those which are a good fit return your recommendations for small farms. We’ll cover our own marketing strategies, focusing on our extensive use of relationship marketing. Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm grows a wide variety of Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, marketing them year 'round through farmers' markets and a CSA. 2Wednesday, July 28 • 5 - 7pm Building Soils: Soil Testing, Composting, Amendments Dutchess Farm • Poultney Farmer Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx, NRCS Soil Conservationist Xxxxx Xxxxxx, and NOFA- VT Vegetable and Fruit Advisor Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx will discuss the need to test soils annually, and how to use soil tests to determine your need for organic fertilizers. We will demonstrate how a cover crop and vegetable rotation system can control weeds and increase organic matter without added manure or compost. We will discuss how to choose a site for vegetable production. Dutchess Farm grows 4 acres of produce using organic practices, selling to a 100-member CSA, the Rutland Xxxxxx'x Market, and the Rutland Co-op. 3Saturday, July 31 • 1 - 4pm Introduction to Pasture Management: Using Ruminants to Improve Pasture Bread and Butter Farm • Shelburne/S. Burlington $10 for NOFA-VT and VGFA members, $15 non- members Livestock expert Xxxxx Xxxxx will cover the fundamentals of setting up a new grazing system for ruminants - or improving an existing one. Using practical examples of grazing systems, we’ll discuss pasture plant species and how to manage them for desirable plants, as well as how to do so with livestock and fence rather than expensive plowing and planting. Topics include plant species, grazing methods, fence, water systems, pasture design and layout, paddock size, and acreage. Cosponsored by the VT Grass Farmers Association. 4 Sunday, August 8 • 2 - 5pm Beginning Farmers and Apprentices Producing Eggs Year ‘Round On Compost Without Purchased Grain & NOFAvore Social Vermont Compost • Montpelier $10 for NOFA-VT members, $15 non-members • Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Vermont Compost Company was founded and sup- ported by organic crop-growing professionals to meet the need for high quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production. Integrated into this production is an innovative system that provides chickens with foraging opportunities to produce eggs along with compost. Come join us for an afternoon with Xxxx Xxxxxx, founder of Vermont Compost, as he gives a tour of the farm and discusses the different enterprises that are intertwined. Following the workshop, there will be a community dinner with the NOFA pizza oven. 5Wednesday, August 11 • 5 - 7pm Business Strategies and Cheese Blue Ledge Farm, Leicester Pre-registration required (limit 20) Get a behind-the-scenes tour of Blue Ledge Farm as Xxxx Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxx- sions extrapolate on what it takes to start and maintain a farmstead cheese operation. We will discuss equipment needs and costs for both the dairy and cheese produc- tion areas, value added ideas, and labor needs. They will “crunch the numbers” as to size and profit. Blue Ledge Farm was established in 2000 and now produces 40,000 pounds of artisanal cheese annually from the milk of their own 80 goats as well as two other area farms. Participants may purchase cheese after the workshop. 6Tuesday, August 17 • 9am - 1pm Processing Chickens on the Farm All Together Farm • Xxxxxxxx $20 members, $25 non-members • Preregistration required (limit 12) Farmers Xxxx and Xxxxx Xxxxxxx will go over the set-up, procedure, and safety of processing your own birds on the farm or at home. They will then lead the group step-by-step through the whole process. Participants can gain more experience by participating in the processing of a batch of their summer broilers. All Together Farm is a small-scale, diversified family farm raising animals on pasture. 71 Wednesday, August 25 • 5 - 7pm Farm Equipment Primer: Safety and Types of Equipment for Small Farms with NOFAvore social and New Farmer Mixer! Xxxxxx Farm • Xxxxx Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Xxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx as we go over basic safety rules for tractors and other typical small farm equipment. We will talk about tractors, PTOs, tillage equipment, and bucket loaders. We will also talk about small equip- ment and, for livestock farmers, safety tips when work- ing with animals. Time permitting, we can talk about preventative maintenance. Xxxxxx Farm is a former commodity dairy farm, now milking 20 Jerseys for raw milk and supplying a local artisan cheese maker, as well as raising grass-fed beef. Plus! Join us for XXXXX’s New Farmer Mixer and NOFAvore Celebration with the mobile pizza oven at 7pm! All new and aspiring farmers are invited to come mix, mingle, and meet new farming friends. A sample of the survey distributed to participants in the courses is as follows: I am a: Beginning Farmer (less than 10 years)compiling.

Lessons learned. CRAFT programs were originally created by There is an ongoing need to educate the public about the many benefits of consuming locally grown fruits and vegetables. Even with ongoing education efforts, the PublicMind polling results showed a community decrease in the number of growers with like minded commitments people whose families have purchased any Jersey Fresh or locally grown fruits or vegetables at a farm stand or farmers market in the preceding three months. In 2010 and 2011 the response rate was 83% and 87% yes, respectively, but that number dropped to 77% yes in 2013. Unfortunately, our online feedback survey did not receive any responses. Perhaps this isn’t the education best avenue to gain consumer input. This area will need exploration if we ever do a similar project in the future. Distributing large quantities of new farmers; experienced farmers both educated and mentored new farmersmaterials so that a diverse group of people will have access to them is challenging. The modified CRAFT model we developed nutrition brochures and used produce price cards needed to be distributed in large quantities to farmers, community farmers’ market managers, and others so that they could be available for customers at the point of purchase. We found the best way to do this program supports was to make them available at the education of new local Rutgers Cooperative Extension offices for pick up. The RCE offices report that the produce price cards were quickly picked up by farmers by providing who direct market but that the organizational structure brochures were not as popular. Providing the ability to allow expert download the produce price cards electronically via the website has allowed farmers to be teachers. It was successful in part because of our regional collaborative partner whose farmer board provided print them as-needed and when a direct connection to the community of farmers in that region. These farmers were willing to commit to the project, lend their expertise to educate specialty crop producers, and promote the seriesis in-season. We recommend and plan to continue the approach of working with saw a regional partner spike in other areas downloads of the state. Evaluations were lower in quantity than desired. We developed both paper and electronic evaluation formats. Paper evaluations could be either written ‘apple’ price card in the field or taken home month of September, as apple season in New Jersey was gearing up. Hosting the educational conferences for the farmers taught us that what one person finds to be completed an attribute, another person will complain about. Educational seminars cannot be all things to all people and later mailed to the NOFA-VT officehaving a focused agenda was a benefit. Electronic evaluations were available in Survey Monkey. The paper evaluations handed out in the workshop contained Through conference survey feedback we learned that there is a link to the electronic evaluation. We received 12 paper evaluations need for further education and 12 electronic evaluations from participants. However, our collaborative partner conducted their own evaluation which had 16 responses, so we gleaned additional information from their survey. Next year we will use a simpler evaluation format to increase participation with check box options. We also plan to ask on insurance and regulations that impact farmers how many new practices they learned so we can start to quantify the learning experiencewho are direct marketing. CONTACT INFORMATION PERSON Xxxxxx Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx, Ph.D., Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance Advisor for NOFA-VT Phone: 000-000Xxxxxxxxx New Jersey Farm Bureau staff (000)000-0000 x00 NJ Seasonality Chart (2pgs) Brochure: Local Farms Local Food for Better Nutrition and email: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The beginner farmer workshops were marketed through a catalogue of Health (2pgs) Summer squash produce price card Sweet corn produce price card Sweet potato produce price card Tomato produce price card Apple produce price card Bell pepper produce price card Peach produce price card Broccoli produce price card Blueberry produce price card Generic produce price card Advertisement developed for high-summer workshop offerings; the whole catalogue can be viewed at xxxx://xxxxxx.xxx/sites/default/files/SWS2010.pdf. Below is one section describing the beginner farmer workshops. Note that only some of the workshops issue - Edible NJ magazine Advertisement as it appeared in high-summer issue - Edible NJ magazine Advertisement developed for fall issue - Edible NJ magazine Advertisement developed for fall issue - Edible NJ magazine Advertisement developed for XX.xxx leaderboard Advertisement developed for XX.xxx mobile app Advertisement developed for XX.xxx half-page ad Advertisement as it appeared on XX.xxx Program/flyer for Agritourism conferences (those targeted to specialty crop farmers2pgs) were part of this project. Beginning Farmers & Apprentices Workshops 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 & 9 are produced in partnership with the Rutland Food and Farm Link (RAFFL) and funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant; they are offered at no charge. 1Wednesday, July 14 • 6:30 - 8:30pm Marketing Strategies Survey compilation data for North Jersey Agritourism conference Survey compilation data for Central Jersey Agritourism conference Survey compilation data for South Jersey Agritourism conference Survey comments compilation for the Small Farm Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm • Granville, NY Learn the basics of marketing - as they relate to your farm! We will give an overview of different marketing tools, emphasizing those which are a good fit for small farms. We’ll cover our own marketing strategies, focusing on our extensive use of relationship marketing. Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm grows a wide variety of Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, marketing them year 'round through farmers' markets and a CSA. 2Wednesday, July 28 • 5 - 7pm Building Soils: Soil Testing, Composting, Amendments Dutchess Farm • Poultney Farmer Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx, NRCS Soil Conservationist Xxxxx Xxxxxx, and NOFA- VT Vegetable and Fruit Advisor Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx will discuss the need to test soils annually, and how to use soil tests to determine your need for organic fertilizers. We will demonstrate how a cover crop and vegetable rotation system can control weeds and increase organic matter without added manure or compost. We will discuss how to choose a site for vegetable production. Dutchess Farm grows 4 acres of produce using organic practices, selling to a 100-member CSA, the Rutland Xxxxxx'x Market, and the Rutland Co-op. 3Saturday, July 31 • 1 - 4pm Introduction to Pasture Management: Using Ruminants to Improve Pasture Bread and Butter Farm • Shelburne/S. Burlington $10 for NOFA-VT and VGFA members, $15 non- members Livestock expert Xxxxx Xxxxx will cover the fundamentals of setting up a new grazing system for ruminants - or improving an existing one. Using practical examples of grazing systems, we’ll discuss pasture plant species and how to manage them for desirable plants, as well as how to do so with livestock and fence rather than expensive plowing and planting. Topics include plant species, grazing methods, fence, water systems, pasture design and layout, paddock size, and acreage. Cosponsored by the VT Grass Farmers Association. 4 Sunday, August 8 • 2 - 5pm Beginning Farmers and Apprentices Producing Eggs Year ‘Round On Compost Without Purchased Grain & NOFAvore Social Vermont Compost • Montpelier $10 for NOFA-VT members, $15 non-members • Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Vermont Compost Company was founded and sup- ported by organic crop-growing professionals to meet the need for high quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production. Integrated into this production is an innovative system that provides chickens with foraging opportunities to produce eggs along with compost. Come join us for an afternoon with Xxxx Xxxxxx, founder of Vermont Compost, as he gives a tour of the farm and discusses the different enterprises that are intertwined. Following the workshop, there will be a community dinner with the NOFA pizza oven. 5Wednesday, August 11 • 5 - 7pm Business Strategies and Cheese Blue Ledge Farm, Leicester Pre-registration required (limit 20) Get a behind-the-scenes tour of Blue Ledge Farm as Xxxx Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxx- sions extrapolate on what it takes to start and maintain a farmstead cheese operation. We will discuss equipment needs and costs for both the dairy and cheese produc- tion areas, value added ideas, and labor needs. They will “crunch the numbers” as to size and profit. Blue Ledge Farm was established in 2000 and now produces 40,000 pounds of artisanal cheese annually from the milk of their own 80 goats as well as two other area farms. Participants may purchase cheese after the workshop. 6Tuesday, August 17 • 9am - 1pm Processing Chickens on the Farm All Together Farm • Xxxxxxxx $20 members, $25 non-members • Preregistration required (limit 12) Farmers Xxxx and Xxxxx Xxxxxxx will go over the set-up, procedure, and safety of processing your own birds on the farm or at home. They will then lead the group step-by-step through the whole process. Participants can gain more experience by participating in the processing of a batch of their summer broilers. All Together Farm is a small-scale, diversified family farm raising animals on pasture. 71 Wednesday, August 25 • 5 - 7pm Farm Equipment Primer: Safety and Types of Equipment for Small Farms with NOFAvore social and New Farmer Mixer! Xxxxxx Farm • Xxxxx Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Xxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx as we go over basic safety rules for tractors and other typical small farm equipment. We will talk about tractors, PTOs, tillage equipment, and bucket loaders. We will also talk about small equip- ment and, for livestock farmers, safety tips when work- ing with animals. Time permitting, we can talk about preventative maintenance. Xxxxxx Farm is a former commodity dairy farm, now milking 20 Jerseys for raw milk and supplying a local artisan cheese maker, as well as raising grass-fed beef. Plus! Join us for XXXXX’s New Farmer Mixer and NOFAvore Celebration with the mobile pizza oven at 7pm! All new and aspiring farmers are invited to come mix, mingle, and meet new farming friends. A sample of the survey distributed to participants in the courses is as follows: I am a: Beginning Farmer (less than 10 years)three Agritourism conferences Final Performance Report

Lessons learned. CRAFT programs were originally created by The project, in and of itself, was indeed a community of growers with like minded commitments to the education of new farmers; experienced farmers both educated and mentored new farmerssuccess. The modified CRAFT model we developed and used for this program supports the education of new farmers by providing the organizational structure to allow expert farmers to be teachers. It was successful UVM made a great partner in part because of our regional collaborative partner whose farmer board provided a direct connection to the community of farmers in that region. These farmers were willing to commit to the project, lend their expertise and this resource for future viticulturists is invaluable. The remaining challenge is recruiting new growers (who will be able to educate specialty crop producersuse the map) to the industry. Towards that end, the VGWC is now working with another UVM researcher to build financial and practical models for vineyards in Vermont. We will use the map in developing the models for farm viability, and promote will include it in the seriestoolbox presented to interested growers. CONTACT INFORMATION Xxxx Xxxxxxxxx, President, Vermont Grape & Wine Council, xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Treasurer, Vermont Grape & Wine Council, xxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx ADDITIONAL INFORMATION * Webmap deliverable - xxxx://xxx.xxx.xxx/~ebuford/VGWC/ PROJECT SUMMARY As a relatively new wine producing region, Vermont vintners and fruit producers have quickly developed their marketing skills to attract new customers. The Council supports the marketing of Vermont made wines through its website, festival participation and other programs that benefit the industry as a whole. This grant follows earlier funding from Specialty Crop Block Grants, most recently 02200-SCBGP23. For this grant, we are focusing resources on the continued activities that Council members believe were most valuable among those supported by previous grants. This three pronged focus includes continuing the annual educational conference, enhancing our website functionality and key direct- marketing campaigns. PROJECT APPROACH The following activities were performed in 2011-2012 with support of grant funds: • The Council put on an Annual Conference in both June of 2011 and 2012 with educational seminars for grape growers and winemakers. We recommend saw an attendance increase of 43% in 2012. • In the spring of 2012, a vineyard pruning and plan training workshop was held in a local VT vineyard. Of the 12 attendees, 60% were members, and 40% were new/potential growers. • An inaugural wine faults workshop was held in June of 2012. The workshop quickly sold out. Final attendance exceeded the workshop maximum of 25 due to continue the approach of working with a regional partner in other areas demand. 100% of the statesurveys were returned with outstanding feedback and the request to hold the workshop as an annual event. Evaluations • Experts in vineyard techniques and winemaking practices were lower engaged to for both the conferences and the workshops. All were overwhelming well received. • The VGWC Passport program continued its early success requiring a second printing of 5,000 more passports in quantity than desiredthe late summer of 2012. The Passport provides a map and listing of all the participating wineries in Vermont. The program requires consumers to visit at least 10 wineries and present their Passports to be ‘stamped’ during the visit. Consumers who collected 10 or more ‘stamps’ could then submit it at the end of 2012 to be part of a drawing for prizes provided by participating Council members. Again, the program was highly regarded by all that participated in 2012 and consumers were consistently surprised at the number of wineries that were in Vermont. The greatest impact of the program was increased foot traffic into the wineries. The overall value is that the program has adjusted every year based on participant feedback, making it more of a useable marketing tool industry wide. A redesign to allow for more wineries and information is planned for 2013. • The final products developed by Xxxxx Xxxxxx of Xxxxxx and Day Communications (PR strategy, press kit) garnered continued contact with the local and regional media. Her targeted promotion of Council events (annual Open House Weekends, Council sponsored Festivals) as well as overall promotion of Vermont Wines through member events (Wine & Chocolates Weekend) via press releases and crafting of both TV/radio advertising allowed vineyards and wineries greater exposure thus increased traffic and sales. • Minor enhancements were made to the Council website. We developed both paper and electronic evaluation formats. Paper evaluations could be either written in the field or taken home continue to be completed and later mailed see increased traffic to the NOFAwebsite; specifically, there are increased, year over year, measurable hits during promoted events. GOALS AND OUTCOMES ACHIEVED • Increased year over year annual conference attendance – 46 attendees in 2012 and 32 in 2011 • Broadening of the annual conference to a two-VT officeday event • Completion of statewide GIS mapping to assist new and current producers • Local onsite training for growers – 12 participants • Wineries continue to see an uptick of consumers arriving with Passport in hand – approximately 10% of customers in 2012. Electronic evaluations 128 Passports were available collected in Survey Monkey. The paper evaluations 2011 and 129 in 2012 • Over 5000 Passports were handed out in 2012 • Collectively, the workshop contained participating members attend close to 40 local/statewide festivals, fairs, xxxxxx’x markets and private events. • The annual website hits at the start of the grant in 2009 were 4,206 vs. the considerable increase of 9,954 in 2012. While the website hits had a link negligible decrease from 2011 to 2012, the electronic evaluation. We received 12 paper evaluations and 12 electronic evaluations from participants. However, our collaborative partner conducted their own evaluation which had 16 responses, so we gleaned additional information from their survey. Next year we will use a simpler evaluation format to increase participation with check box options. We also plan to ask farmers how many new practices they learned so we can start to quantify the learning experience. CONTACT INFORMATION Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx, Ph.D., Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance Advisor for NOFA-VT Phone: 000-000-0000 x00 and email: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The beginner farmer workshops over year event hits were marketed through a catalogue of summer workshop offerings; the whole catalogue can be viewed at xxxx://xxxxxx.xxx/sites/default/files/SWS2010.pdfoverall increased. Below is one section describing some information from Google Analytics: • The Council continues to sponsor and participate in high profile festival events that celebrate Vermont foods and wines. o These included the beginner farmer workshops. Note that only some of the workshops (those targeted to specialty crop farmers) were part of this project. Beginning Farmers & Apprentices Workshops 12011 and 2012 Vermont Cheesemakers Festival in July, 2, 5, 7, 8 & 9 are produced in partnership with the Rutland Food and Farm Link (RAFFL) and funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant; they are offered at no charge. 1Wednesday, July 14 • 6:30 - 8:30pm Marketing Strategies for the Small Farm Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm • Granville, NY Learn the basics of marketing - as they relate to your farm! We will give an overview of different marketing tools, emphasizing those which are a good fit for small farms. We’ll cover our own marketing strategies, focusing on our extensive use of relationship marketing. Xxxxxxxxxx Family Farm grows a wide variety of Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, marketing them year 'round through farmers' markets and a CSA. 2Wednesday, July 28 • 5 - 7pm Building Soils: Soil Testing, Composting, Amendments Dutchess Farm • Poultney Farmer Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx, NRCS Soil Conservationist Xxxxx Xxxxxx, and NOFA- VT Vegetable and Fruit Advisor Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx will discuss the need to test soils annually, and how to use soil tests to determine your need for organic fertilizers. We will demonstrate how a cover crop and vegetable rotation system can control weeds and increase organic matter without added manure or compost. We will discuss how to choose a site for vegetable production. Dutchess Farm grows 4 acres of produce using organic practices, selling to a 100-member CSA, the Rutland Xxxxxx'x Market, and the Rutland Co-op. 3Saturday, July 31 • 1 - 4pm Introduction to Pasture Management: Using Ruminants to Improve Pasture Bread and Butter Farm • Shelburne/S. Burlington $10 for NOFA-VT and VGFA members, $15 non- members Livestock expert Xxxxx Xxxxx will cover the fundamentals of setting up a new grazing system for ruminants - or improving an existing one. Using practical examples of grazing systems, we’ll discuss pasture plant species and how to manage them for desirable plants, as well as how to do so with livestock and fence rather than expensive plowing and planting. Topics include plant species, grazing methods, fence, water systems, pasture design and layout, paddock size, and acreage. Cosponsored by the VT Grass Farmers Association. 4 Sunday, August 8 • 2 - 5pm Beginning Farmers and Apprentices Producing Eggs Year ‘Round On Compost Without Purchased Grain & NOFAvore Social Vermont Compost • Montpelier $10 for NOFA-VT members, $15 non-members • Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Vermont Compost Company was founded and sup- ported by organic crop-growing professionals to meet the need for high quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production. Integrated into this production is an innovative system that provides chickens with foraging opportunities to produce eggs along with compost. Come join us for an afternoon with Xxxx Xxxxxx, founder of Vermont Compost, as he gives a tour of the farm and discusses the different enterprises that are intertwined. Following the workshop, there will be a community dinner with the NOFA pizza oven. 5Wednesday, August 11 • 5 - 7pm Business Strategies and Cheese Blue Ledge Farm, Leicester Pre-registration required (limit 20) Get a behind-the-scenes tour of Blue Ledge Farm as Xxxx Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxx Xxx- sions extrapolate on what it takes to start and maintain a farmstead cheese operation. We will discuss equipment needs and costs for both the dairy and cheese produc- tion areas, value added ideas, and labor needs. They will “crunch the numbers” as to size and profit. Blue Ledge Farm was established in 2000 and now produces 40,000 pounds of artisanal cheese annually from the milk sold out of their own 80 goats as well as two other area farms1750 tickets, 1318 of which included wine tasting. Participants may purchase cheese after There was also a 40 seat wine seminar at the workshop. 6Tuesday, August 17 • 9am - 1pm Processing Chickens on the Farm All Together Farm • Xxxxxxxx $20 members, $25 non-members • Preregistration required (limit 12) Farmers Xxxx and Xxxxx Xxxxxxx will go over the set-up, procedure, and safety of processing your own birds on the farm or at home. They will then lead the group step-by-step through the whole process. Participants can gain more experience by participating in the processing of a batch of their summer broilers. All Together Farm is a small-scale, diversified family farm raising animals on pasture. 71 Wednesday, August 25 • 5 - 7pm Farm Equipment Primer: Safety and Types of Equipment for Small Farms with NOFAvore social and New Farmer Mixer! Xxxxxx Farm • Xxxxx Pre-registration requested for NOFAvore social Xxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx as we go over basic safety rules for tractors and other typical small farm equipment. We will talk about tractors, PTOs, tillage equipment, and bucket loaders. We will also talk about small equip- ment and, for livestock farmers, safety tips when work- ing with animals. Time permitting, we can talk about preventative maintenance. Xxxxxx Farm is a former commodity dairy farm, now milking 20 Jerseys for raw milk and supplying a local artisan cheese maker, as well as raising grass-fed beef. Plus! Join us for XXXXX’s New Farmer Mixer and NOFAvore Celebration with the mobile pizza oven at 7pm! All new and aspiring farmers are invited to come mix, mingle, and meet new farming friends. A sample of the survey distributed to participants in the courses is as follows: I am a: Beginning Farmer (less than 10 years)festival again this year.