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INVESTIGATOR: PADGET, G.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
PRACTICAL FARMERS OF IOWA
PO BOX 349, 300 MAIN ST., SUITE #1
AMES, IOWA 50010

EXPLORING, ESTABLISHING AND ENHANCING FARM ENTREPRENEURS THROUGH DECISION-MAKING, FARMER-TO-FARMER TRAINING AND NETWORKING BUILDING

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Practical Farmers of Iowa is leading the Exploring, Establishing and Enhancing Farm Entrepreneurs through Decision-Making, Farmer-to-Farmer Training and Networking Building project to equip the next generation of Iowa beginning farmers to start and sustain successful farm businesses, to help preserve Iowa's farming legacy of food production, resource stewardship and rural community vitality. This project is designed realizing that beginning farmers need different support and resources as they move through three different stages within their first 10 years of farming. This project will create programming and curricula to train, educate and inform aspiring and beginning farmer in each stage of farming. Each series will provide business planning for decision-making, farmer-to-farmer training, and farmer-to-farmer peer support tailored each of the following stages.Explore Farming series is tailored to aspiring farmers (not yet farming).Establish Farming series is tailored to start-up farmers (0 to 5 years experience).Enhance Your Farm series is tailored to intermediate farmers (6 to 10 years experience).By the end of this project, 76 farmers will report they were able to start farming, and 263 will report they were able to strengthen their farm businesses as a result of project activities. In addition, 75 partner organizations will have accessed the Exploring, Establishing and Enhancing Farmer Training curriculum tool kit created during this project, and will have received coaching from PFI staff on how to use the curriculum tool kit to help beginning farmers start and improve farms in their regions.

OBJECTIVES: The long-term goal of this project is to equip the next generation of Iowa beginning farmers to start and sustain successful farm businesses, to help preserve Iowa's farming legacy of food production, resource stewardship and rural community vitality.ObjectivesTrain, educate and inform 1198 aspiring farmers through the Explore Farming series. This series will provide business planning for decision-making, farmer-to-farmer training, and farmer-to-farmer peer support tailored to aspiring farmers.Train, educate and inform 360 start-up farmers (0 to 5 years experience) through the Establish Farming series. This series will provide business planning for decision-making, farmer-to-farmer training, and farmer-to-farmer peer support tailored to start-up farmers.Train, educate and inform 720 intermediate farmers (5 to 10 years experience) through the Enhance Your Farm series. This series will provide business planning for decision-making, farmer-to-farmer training, and farmer-to-farmer peer support tailored to intermediate farmers.Create, revise and share a curriculum tool kit designed to help beginning farmer service providers nationwide support beginning farmers with education tailored to their beginning farmer stage: aspiring, start-up and intermediate.