* Origin: [via Psychotronic BBS = Durham, NC = 919-286-4542]sustag- (1:3641/1) @PATH: 3641/1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (72) Fri 2 Dec 94 3:04 By: Rick Exner To: All Re: 03:Practical Farmers of Iowa newsletter, fall 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @MSGID: 1:3641/223 0006aada @PID GIGO+ sn 175 at psybbs vsn 0.99 pl1 @SPLIT: 04 Dec 94 14:31:40 @3641/223 6952 03/11 ++++++++++ From: dnexner@iastate.edu (Rick Exner) @Subject: Practical Farmers of Iowa newsletter, fall 1994 Date: 2 Dec 1994 03:04:21 -0000 @Sender: daemon@bigblue.oit.unc.edu @Message-Id: <9412011822.AA03635@iastate.edu> committee of the Davis County Development Corporation, submitted a project application to the PFI board at the end of July. The application described educational initiatives to be conducted throughout the year: 1) sponsoring speakers on livestock production at the second annual Fall Classic Round-Up at the Davis County Fairgrounds in Bloomfield; 2) coordinating speakers and farm tours with the local high school vocational agriculture program; and 3) conducting a farmer mentoring program. The board reviewed the application at their September meeting and decided not to fund the project as submitted. The board recommended that the project be more focused and that the application specify the kinds of farming systems and practices to be encouraged. The group plans to meet with Shared Visions staff after harvest to consider the board s recommendations and determine next steps. Grundy-Hardin County Group The PFI board approved the Grundy-Hardin County group's project application for a community-based beginning farmer initiative in July. The group has begun developing the operational details of their initiative. The group has shifted its focus from finding owners of land who are interested in making their land available to a beginner to developing a process that will help insure the success of the beginners, thus increasing the comfort level of owners of land so that it is easier for them to become involved. Insuring the success of beginners requires careful selection and screening of candidates. Development plans for beginners will identify needed skills and outline steps to acquire these skills. Part of the process will involve documentating beginners resources and experiences for use during the matching process. Where a beginner is in terms of resources and experiences will affect the possible arrangements, ranging from working as hired help to entering into some kind of agreement to buy land. A multi-step matching process will involve identifying the goals of both parties, assessing compatibility on a personal level, and developing an agreeable business plan. Farming practices that will generate adequate income while keeping input costs under control will be detailed. Another component of the matching process may involve a mechanism to insure on-going communication between participants occurs so that matches proceed smoothly. Once these processs have been outlined, the group will approach others in the community for input in order to: 1) further refine the process; 2) get others in the community involved; and, 3) identify resources in the community that can be mobilized for the initiative. This step will be part of a Community Awareness Campaign. The group will next put their work into action through a Pilot Operation to prove the initiative in a real-life situation. Documenting the experience will allow for necessary adjustments in the initiative. These adjustments will help insure the achievement of the ultimate goal of the group the establishment of a system of opportunities and supports for beginning farmers that will become a normal part of the area s economic and social vitality. Neely-Kinyon Farm Project Committee (Adair County) The Neely-Kinyon Farm Project Committee was accepted into Shared Visions at the April 9 PFI board meeting. The group has initially been involved as a cooperator in the on-farm research network. The group will move from the Shared Visions on-farm research network into the community groups network at the end of this year s growing season. | SHARED VISIONS MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT Tamara Pfantz is currently assisting Shared Visions while a search is being conducted for a Community Groups Coordinator. Tamara has been developing three sets of materials a Program Manual, a Facilitator s Guide to Group and Project Development, and a Project Planning Workbook to further the implementation of Shared Visions. The Program Manual is a compendium of information about Shared Visions. Tamara has also developed flow charts for the Program Manual to clarify the processes involved, including the one on the top of the next page (Internet readers: graphics file proglink.pcx) titled, Shared Visions Program Linkages. Note that the lines connecting various groups and individuals in this chart are not lines of authority, as is typically the case with organizational charts, but represent linkages. At the top are the three collaborating organizations. Connected to PFI is the Shared Visions Advisory Council, which provides input on program operations and makes recommendations to the PFI Board on selecting groups and group projects. Arrows from each collaborating organization point to the Implementation Team, which is where the main work of the collaboration takes place. Immediately below the three collaborators and the Implementation Team are program staff. Gary Huber works half-time for PFI as the Program Director. Rick Exner works full-time for ISU Extension as the Farming Systems Coordinator. The Community Group Coordinator is a full-time position with ISU Extension for which a search is being conducted. Tamara Pfantz will begin work as the Program Evaluator when the Community Groups Coordinator position is filled, with this being a quarter-time position. Immediately below program staff are two large boxes representing the two networks being supported through Shared Visions. One represents the On-Farm Research Network, which has been the foundation of PFI almost since its inception. The fifteen boxes here represent the fifteen cooperators being supported through Shared Visions. The other large box represents the Community Groups Network, which is new. The four boxes at the top represent the groups now involved in Shared Visions, and the two sets of six boxes represent the sets of groups that are planned for 1995 and 1996. Finally, the boxes at the bottom left of the chart represent ISU Extension Field Specialists and County Extension Education Directors. ISU Extension is contributing important support to Shared Visions, both with leadershipat the state level and with the staff time of Extension Field Staff. This support, as well as that being given by the Leopold Center, demonstrate the commitment these collaborators have made to Shared Visions. | SHARED VISIONS HOSTS NETWORKING CONFERENCE Earlier this year the W.K. Kellogg Foundation added nine projects to those that were funded through the Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) Initiative last year (Internet readers: see graphic file svnation.wmf). Three to four representatives from each of these 18 projects participated in a networking conference held in Ames during the first week of August. Networking conferences occur twice a year to encourage mutual learning and the development of strategies and skills for use in each of our projects. The conference last summer in Montana focused on developing leadership skills. The conference in Washington, D.C., last February focused on policy issues. This summer s conference focused on community building. Participants used a variety of techniques to explore community. Michael Cotter, a story teller and farmer from Austin, Minnesota, helped the group understand the importance of telling stories in exploring community. His input led into an exercise where participants told stories of their experiences with community. Another powerful exercise involved letting people of different voices talk among themselves about what it was like to be a part of that voice while the rest of the participants listened. Learning about what people faced by virtue of who they were helped understanding the importance of diversity for healthy community. Participants also visited the Dick and Sharon Thompson farm to learn about doing on-farm research and about developing relationships between non-profit groups and land-grant universities. They next divided into three separate groups to visit Shared Visions communities Greenfield, the Eldora area, and Poweshiek County to learn more about the efforts of these groups at community building. The Greenfield visit began with a breakfast and a discussion among local leaders about farming and rural communities. The group also visited the Greenfield square and the Neely-Kinyon Research Farm. The Eldora area visit involved a stop at the Hardin County courthouse, a breakfast and discussion at a rural church in the area, and a visit to the Glen Draper farm. (See the following article for a description of this visit.) The Poweshiek County visit included a stop at a local CRP demonstration site, a breakfast at a local Bed & Breakfast business, and a visit to the Russ Hughes farm. | FARMERS MEET, SHARE CONCERNS by Rebecca Peterson (Editors note: The following article is reprinted with permission from the Saturday, August 6, 1994 edition of the Iowa Falls Times-Citizen.) Farmers from the southeast to the northwest, and everywhere in between, have just one concern in mind: to be good stewards of the land, feed the nation and earn a decent living. Thursday, three dozen of them ate breakfast at the Ivestor Church in rural Eldora, findin out just how alike farmers are no matter what they produce. Afterwards, they drew their chairs in a circle and discussed shared concerns about trends in agriculture. It seems the Arkansas rice growers are just as worried as Iowans about the increasing age of the average farmer (over 50 in both states). The sweet corn and green bean farmers in Oregon are afraid corporate farming will lay waste to small towns. The Kentucky dairy and tobacco farmers aren t sure they can earn a decent living any more producing traditional --- * Origin: [via Psychotronic BBS = Durham, NC = 919-286-4542]sustag- (1:3641/1) @PATH: 3641/1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (73) Fri 2 Dec 94 3:04 By: Rick Exner To: All Re: 04:Practical Farmers of Iowa newsletter, fall 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @MSGID: 1:3641/223 0006aadb