Living on a Few Acres: Engaging small farmers in northeast Florida
Extension Education
Cassidy Dossin
Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent
UF/IFAS Extension
Green Cove Springs
Abstract
Northeast Florida agriculture is facing drastic changes as continued urbanization and population growth alter the landscape and structure of communities. Local agriculture plays a fundamental role in sustaining economies, ensuring food security, and regulating environmental health; therefore, major changes to local agriculture have extensive implications for society. Relevant programming for small farmers has the opportunity to provide sustainability and resiliency to the changing communities of Northeast Florida. Agents developed the Living on a Few Acres (LOFA) program to drive regional impact in St Johns, Clay, and Duval Counties through multi-county collaboration. The program aimed to educate participants in managing farming operations on small acreages and encourage the adoption of recommended management practices to improve the longevity and profitability of these operations. In turn, the program intended to contribute to the growth and sustainability of local agriculture. The LOFA program was designed as a monthly workshop series and ran from April through October of 2024 in three Florida counties. Class topics included farm basics, pasture management, pond management, cool season forages, small ruminant management, and backyard poultry. Scheduling was staggered across the three hosting counties to give participants flexibility in choosing topics relevant to them and locations that were convenient to them. There were 69 total attendees, many of whom were repeated participants. 95% of respondents indicated knowledge gain as a result of the workshops, and 93% indicated their intention to implement a new farm management practice. The Living on a Few Acres workshops series has been successful in drawing a new small farmer audience to Extension programming and has offered new opportunities for small farm production education in northeast Florida.
Poster has NOT been presented at any previous NACAA AM/PIC
This poster is being submitted for judging. It will be displayed at the AM/PIC if not selected as a State winner. The abstract will be published in the proceedings.
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Authors: Cassidy Dossin, Stephen Jennewein, Tim Wilson
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Dossin, C. Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent, University of Florida, Florida, 32043
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Jennewein, S. Small Farms & Alternative Enterprises Agent, University of Florida, Florida, 32254
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Wilson, T. County Extension Director and Agriculture Production Agent, University of Florida, Florida, 32092