The project aimed to provide education and technical assistance for small, diversified vegetable (specialty crop) and small-scale livestock/dairy farmers in Vermont and New Hampshire. The focus was on improving enrollment in Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP), Micro Farm, and Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage (PRF) programs. Delivery strategies included:
-Hosting 5 educational workshops.
-Forming 25 Farm Management Teams to coordinate advisors for farmers.
-Developing educational resources and emphasizing conservation practices to mitigate production risk due to climate change.
The proposed audience focus included:
-Beginning producers
-Small-scale farmers
-Specialty crop producers, particularly underserved farmers in Vermont.
Achievement: The project successfully reached and engaged its intended audience:
250 farms were made aware of WFRP, Micro Farm, and PRF programs (exceeding the original target of 200). Outreach included small, diversified farms, many of whom participated in educational workshops and webinars. Challenges remain in converting awareness into insurance applications. We do not have access to RMA records to be able to track how many farms have successfully applied for programming.
Workshops and Webinars:
- 3 Winter workshops and 10 educational events were completed.
- 90 participants attended the winter workshops.
- A PRF webinar and WFMF webinarwith Crop Growers LLC was conducted to explain insurance programs.
Farm Management Teams:
27 teams (target: 25) were set up.
17 individual Farm Management Team meetings were held, where farmers coordinated with advisors.
Outreach:
Educational materials, fact sheets, and webinar content were developed and disseminated through events and websites. The project engaged at least 150 participants through partner workshops.
The project achieved strong engagement with its target audience through workshops, webinars, and Farm Management Teams. While awareness of risk management programs exceeded expectations, converting this awareness into tangible outcomes (e.g., insurance enrollments or subsidy applications) remains a challenge. Future focus could include enhanced follow-up support and tracking systems to measure application outcomes.