Source: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to
HEALTHY FOOD, HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO PRODUCER EDUCATION ON NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATIONS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1005387
Grant No.
2015-70017-22866
Project No.
SD00G531-14
Proposal No.
2014-07319
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
BFRDA
Project Start Date
Dec 15, 2014
Project End Date
Dec 14, 2017
Grant Year
2015
Project Director
Schoch, J.
Recipient Organization
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
PO BOX 2275A
BROOKINGS,SD 57007
Performing Department
College of Ag/Bio
Non Technical Summary
The goal of this grant is to address food sovereignty (and security) for three South Dakota Reservations, through increased producer capacity in production and marketing, enhanced access to and utilization of local produced foods by individuals and organizations on the target reservations, and increased community engagement through integrated projects and organizational strengthening.The target audience consists of beginning Native American farmers and ranchers on the Cheyenne River, Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. Additionally, we will seek veterans within this target audience. Each reservation is classified as a food desert, Pine Ridge, Rosebud by USDA Office of Economic Research. There are limited numbers of Native producers in each area, and these are primarily those engaged in large-scale livestock production. This project concentrates on production plans on smaller acreages; primarily vegetable and small livestock systems, for limited resource producers.Training in beginning commercial horticulture training and beginner rancher training will be offered to Native American community members who can demonstrate experience in horticulture or livestock production and who demonstrate intent to implement a commercially viable production system. These will receive classroom and field instruction, mentoring and enterprise planning support. The project will also train a glass of new Beginning Growers each year, with the intent that they enroll as commercial students in subsequent years. Extension and partners will promote the utilization of produce through local institutions, and Extension will work to develop the local foods coalition on each reservation, as the means of planning and implementing future trainings and driving the local foods utilization process.
Animal Health Component
60%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1210120107015%
1020110107015%
6040199310010%
2056030302060%
Goals / Objectives
Goal One: An increased capacity among Native American producers in agricultural production on Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Reservations:· 60 individuals (with demonstrated experience) trained in consumer horticulture, with the option of training in small acreage livestock systems, 20 trained on each reservation over the three years.· 30 individuals trained across all three reservations in ranch management/livestock systems, with mentoring components.· 180 Individuals (across all three reservations) trained in as 'new' beginners, in a starter program in horticulture/food crops, with the intent that some of them join Class 2 or 3, after their initial production year. (20 per reservation per year)Goal Two: Improved market availability for local produce and improved local foods utilization.· At least one sustained partnership with an institution using the local produce· The use of local produce and meat in community events, promoting the opportunity· Food safety, handling and preservation training for producers each year, including policy training agency/commercial partners who would use the food.· Leverage partnerships on each reservation with existing or new farmers markets, farmers market training opportunities as needed on each reservationGoal Three: Increased community coalition capacity· Facilitate agricultural training for collaborative groups on each reservation· Assist organizations with planning (including future producer training, local utilization, integrated community efforts towards food use, nutrition, entrepreneurship,
Project Methods
3. Approach/MethodologyThe approach for this project is to provide in-person producer training and mentoring, to facilitate enhanced market access for the new producers, and to improve access to support infrastructure. Participants engage directly with USDA support programs and tribal agencies governing land-use and access. We'll provide training with local institutions in how to utilize local foods. We'll facilitate the development of a coalition of those interested in working on future education and food access, towards long-term sustainability of food and agricultural programs. .The tribal Extension offices are the hub of information sharing and networking of resources and opportunities. The community development associates in each office will work with our partner organizations on each reservation in program design and implementation. Each reservation will have two demonstration sites as experiential classrooms, with crops and techniques as chosen by the participants. Trainees will receive mentorship from established producers and rancher partners. Technical horticulture training will be provided by SDSU staff and partners, and a local gardener training consultant on each reservation will provide the Beginning Grower training, and on-going support for the Beginning Commercial grower track as well. Rancher training is coordinated by each office, with program support from from Intertribal Agriculture Council.The extension associates and partners have established trust and credibility with the communities on their respective reservations. Participants will learn from experience; through practice at the demonstration sites. Recruitment is constant, word of mouth and demonstrated success is the most common and effective means of engagement with new clientele and partners on the reservations. Each potential trainee will complete a self-assessment on their capacity and enterprise goals, and will be interviewed by program partners prior to starting the program. Trainees will demonstrate commitment to the program by signing an agreement that they intend to complete the program and work with mentors, Extension and partners to implement a commercial production plan. This process was previously used successfully in the last BFRDP grant. Mentorship will help maintain enthusiasm; as will integrated efforts at community knowledge and utilization of locally-produced food.Additional training resources are made available via the extension offices. Additional content is provided on-line, as most will have access to computers through tribal college centers and other businesses and/or smart phones. For supplemental content, periodic webinars will be offered as needed, and video conferencing may be used, through partner DDN sites, with for specific content to be delivered to the full group. (Farmers Market basics, organic production, etc.) Social Media (Facebook and Listservs) are very effective delivery means, of information on programs and links. Reservation radio stations are a highly effective information sharing and delivery mechanism for community education.

Progress 12/15/14 to 12/14/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience consists of limited resource, socially-economically disadvantaged, beginning Native American farmers, ranchers and veterans on the Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Reservations in South Dakota.In particular in the last year (2017) of the project, those interested in becoming small farms and specialty crop producers. Each of these reservations is classified as a food desert; Pine Ridge and Rosebud by the USDA Office of Economic Research. Each reservation has a limited number of existing Native American producers in their area and these are primarily engaged in large-scale, beef cattle livestock production, although there are some who also produce hay, corn and sunflowers. Due to the fractionated nature of the vast majority of tribal land ownership and the difficulties that most tribal members face when trying to acruire land, most of the land is tied up in large BIA range units. So this project switched gears in 2016 and 2017 and concentrated on production plans for smaller acreages; primarily vegetable, fruit tree/shrub and berry and small acreage livestock systems. Most of our target audience have been involved in agriculture for less than three years, with the majority only just beginning or just considering becoming involved in some form of small-scalefood production. Most have only gardened before or raised a few chickens. So within the refocused concentration of the targeted audience, the program focused on teaching participants the skills they'll need to gradually scale up their operations as their production or business plans allow. Changes/Problems:This project started out with a lot of hurdles and mismanagement by the original Project Director/PI and his original Program Manager. Mr. Burke and Mr. Neumiller spent just over $12,000 on the programming aspects of the project in year one. I came on board Dec. 22nd and by Jan. 1 of 2016, was busy developing the horticultural side of the program. In2015 I was mostly focused onbeef cattle focused program. To meet the goals of the grant, we needed to make 2016 a transitioning year where we got both the livestock and the horticultural parts of the program back on track to meet our goals and line up 2017 for us to exceed our goals and create a program worthy of receiving some hard funding from the university to make it sustainable beyond just grant funding. Then Director Burke was still on staff until June 22nd of 2016, so I wasn't able to make all the needed changes in 2016 that I wanted to, due to his insistence on keeping Beef Cattle classes off reservation. However, I was able to succeed in convincing him to hire a part time horticulture assistant to help me. Later after he was terminatedand SDSU made me the Project Director/PI and the Program Manager, I was finally given access to the budget and was able to request the badly needed changes and get them approved. This allowed me to transition Patricia Hammond from our Pine Ridge Nutrition Assistant and Garden Educator to the Native American Beginning Farmer Rancher Program Assistant. Together with Patricia and Lynn Renee, the part time Horticulture Assistant and Dr. Rhoda Burrows, Horticulture Specialist, we were able to get the horticulture programs offered on each of the three reservations and started to build out a full program. We focused on setting up the teaching gardens to be designed so that we could teach the large number of home and community gardeners from previous years, how to scale up home gardens into market gardens and small acreage operations. We even introduced some aspects of small acreage livestock systems such as meat and dairy goats and chickens. In 2016 we interviewed participants and conducted a dot survey to ascertain what they knew and didn't know about agriculture, what their perceptions were of agriculture and what possible smaller acreage systems they'd be interested in learning about. This feedback from tribal peoples is what shaped our 2017 program. One of the things we did in 2016 was shift our "basic home gardening" program away from just basic home gardening to community gardening. This addition allowed us to attract more participants in 2016 because for many tribal peoples they don't own land, don't have easy access to land and often they don't feel comfortable trying to grow in their backyards which aren't fenced. So the community garden model was added to our BFR demo site teaching garden on Pine Ridge, which in 2016 we moved and expanded into a 1/3 acre lot. Here more people could come and get out in the field, into a garden and learn the scalable skills they'd need to know if they ever wanted to become a market gardener or small producer. Due to a loss of staffing on our Cheyenne River Reservation we had to make the hard choice to drop most of our programming on Cheyenne River to focus on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations where our participation numbers had been consistently higher. Another hard choice we made in 2017 (due to struggles with the off reservation location making tribal participants unhappy with the distance to travel to classes which led to declining participation) wasto drop the Beef Cattle part of our program. To replace it, welistened towhat tribal people were telling us and partnered with the National Bison Association to offer on Pine Ridge and Rosebudtheir Bison Advantage Workshop, an introduction to Bison Ranching 101. It was very well received. The third big change we made in 2017 was to shift most of our focus to meet what these beginning tribal producers were wanting most, a Small Acreage Agriculture Systems program that included not just horticulture, but small acreage animal systems. We also decided to recruit most heavily from year one and two's basic home gardening participants those who were most dedicated and showed the most interest in possibly transitioning from just home gardening to getting involved in agriculture as a small producer. We shifted the classes from basic gardening to more advanced and scalable garden training that would allow these participants the chance to participant in our more intensive small acreage system programas well should they choose to do so. To make this work, we increased the number of tribal members we employed as Demo-Site Managers from 2 in 2016 to 4 in 2017. We also encouraged these folks to attend every single small acreage system training to further their growth and professional development in agriculture. In agriculture, neighbors help neighbors, so we worked to helpthese fledglingcooperative groups start to talk about working together towards big picture goalssuch asfarm to school, developing a food hub aggregator and incubatorsystem and developing a meat and/or dairy goat cooperative.This need for several teaching incubator sites that would also become a food aggregating hub has been identified as a major goal for any future BFR type programming on these reservations. Simply put, the decentralized nature of the communities on these reservation and the lack of infrastructure and access to land means that a large percentage of our participants are essentially landless. To acquire land from the Tribes can take years. So providing them with access through an incubator is important moving forward. Also, when we went away from year one and two's "enrolled" program to offering an open to the public, menu of workshops (based off of their feedback) that they could choose to participate in, we made it easier for people to participate while also allowing us to garner valuable feedback from participants via one on one interviews and surveys. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Annual BFRDP Project Director's Meeting in St. Paul, MN Annual BFRDP Project Director's Meeting in Nashville, TN Annual FRTEP Professional Development Conference in Flagstaff, AZ 2017 Wyoming Bee College in Laramie, WY National Bison Association Training in Jamestown, ND Small Farms Conference in Virginia Beach, VA Community Food System's Confernce in Boston, MA Inter-Tribal Ag Council Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV 2016 South Dakota Local Foods Conference in Mitchell, SD 2017 South Dakota Local Foods Conference in Spearfish, SD 2016 Great Plains Growers Conference in NE How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of the program are gathered: through pre and post surveys dot surveys one on one interviews summative evaluation surveys Results of the program are disseminated to the communities on the reservation through: Shared with the communities at public events on the reservations. We also share these efforts as well with the local tribal radio stations and tribal newspapers Among Extension partners through news publications Through social media (primarily Facebook) SDSU's i-Grow web platform. We've also shared information about the program and results at conference presentations and in newspaper columns. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal One: An increased capacity among Native American producers in agricultural production on Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Reservations: (100% accomplished) Our actual end of project numbers over the three years achieved 346, exceeding our goal by 286. 2015: 7 in commercial horticulture. 2016:32 of which were"market gardening" horticulture. 2017: 307individual Tribal members participated in our advanced gardening and small acreage horticultural systems trainings: 236 in our small acreages horticulture program; 24 non-native beginning producers participated in the program, auditing the classes. Again, they weren't part of the original target audience, but as they are neighbors and in Ag, neighbors help neighbors, we wanted to allow them access to the training. 47 youth directly became involved in the program. Agriculture is a family business and culturally youth are included in most community activities. Another 63 tribal adults (stakeholder partners, community members, tribal officials, tribal college staff, federal agency staff) attended BFR and community events to learn more about what we were doing, on the ground, on the reservations. Goal 1b) 30 individuals trained across all three reservations in ranch management/livestock systems, with mentoring components. At Project's end,73 tribal members participated in our livestock systems trainings, exceeding our goal by43 individuals. 2015: 11 participants in our Beef Cattle/Livestock/Ranch Management trainings offered off reservation at SDSU"s Cottonwood Field Station. 2016: 17 participants in our Beef Cattle/Livestock/Ranch Management trainings offered off reservation at SDSU"s Cottonwood Field Station 2017:45 participants: 2 Bison Advantage: Introduction to Bison Ranching 101 workshops taught by the National Bison Association on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations. They were attended by 26 individual tribal members. Also in 2017, two meat goat workshops were taught on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations: They were attended by19 individual tribal members.We also held a meat goat vaccination, health check and weighing field day on the site of a meat goat operation in the Black Hills. Goal 1c) 180 Individuals (across all three reservations) trained in as 'new' beginners in a state program in horticultural food coops(20 per reservation per year). Actual totals for the project were 863 participants, exceeding our goal 683. 2015: 150 tribal members participated in our basic home gardening classes on all three reservations. 2016: 562 tribal members participated in our basic home gardening classes on all three reservations. 2017: 151 tribal members participated in the basic home gardening program. This year however we offered more advanced programs and focused a bit more on growing surplus in home gardens to sell at local farmers markets. Goal Two: Improved market availability for local produce and improved local foods utilization: (100% accomplished) Goal 2a): At least one sustained partnership with an institution using the local produce. In 2016/2017: Partnered with the Local Food Sovereignty Coalition on Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations 3 local Wellness Coalitions on each reservation Pine Ridge Veteran's Center Kyle Elderly Center Goal 2b) The use of local produce and meat in community events, promoting the opportunity. In 2017 we utilized not just local produce as specified in Goal 2a, but also local goat meat, Oglala Sioux Tribal Bison, as well as local beef in all of our events and encouraged local restaurants and food entrepreneurs to utilize local meat and produce. One example of this is a local restaurant in Kyle on the Pine Ridge reservation is now buying produce from local growers and is looking to purchase meat from the local butcher shop in Martin, SD that was raised by local ranchers and farmers. Goal 2c) Food safety, handling and preservation training for producers each year, including policy training agency/commercial partners who would use the food. Food safety/handling and preservation: In 2016/2017 two food preservation training sessions were offered each year (one on Pine Ridge and one on Rosebud). In 2017, we partnered with the FSMA Tribal Center and NCR-FSMA South Dakota State Lead, Dr. Rhoda Burrows to promote awareness of the regulations and exemptions under the new FSMA produce safety rule. Four of our participants participated in the Produce Safety Alliance's PSA Grower Training Course in Rapid City, SD. Dr. Burrows also offered a Food Safety overview covering GAP/GHP/FSMA at two different times: The 2017 South Dakota Local Foods Conference in Spearfish, SD Rapid City at the West River Ag Center. On Pine Ridge and Rosebud, we covered food safety issues within the context of each class. For instance, the importance of testing your water source. Goal 2d) Leverage partnerships on each reservation with existing or new farmers markets, farmers market training opportunities as needed on each reservation. Each reservation involved with the program has at least one fledgling farmers market on their reservation due to the decentralized nature of the tribal communities across the reservations.In addition, in 2017, we partnered with the South Dakota Specialty Producer's Association to make their summer tours of small acreage producers, all of whom sell at farmers markets, CSAs, Pick-Your-Own as well as wholesale to restaurants. These field tours offered participants the chance to interact directly with mentor producers who are actually selling. Goal Three: Increased community coalition capacity: (100% accomplished) Goal 3a) Facilitate agricultural training for collaborative groups on each reservation. Meat Goat Cooperative High-Tunnel Organic Producer's Cooperative Pine Ridge Agriculture Economy Cooperative Goal 3b) Assist organizations with planning (including future producer training, local utilization, integrated community efforts towards food use, nutrition, entrepreneurship.(see above)

Publications


    Progress 12/15/15 to 12/14/16

    Outputs
    Target Audience:The target audience consists of socially and economically disadvantaged, beginning Native American farmers and ranchers on the Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Reservations in South Dakota. Additionally we have started to work with Lakota veterans spefically on the Pine Ridge in 2016 and will seek veterans on the other two reservations in 2017 within this targeted audience. Each of these reservations is classified as a food desert; Pine Ridge and Rosebud by the USDA Office of Economic Research. Each reservation has a limited number of Native American producers in their area andare primarily engaged in large-scale livestock production. This project concentrates on production plans for smaller acreages; primarily vegetable, fruit/berry and small livestock systems, especially with an eye to limited resource producers. Most of our target audience have been involved in agriculture for less than three years and many have only gardened before or raised a few chickens. So within the concentration of the targeted audience, the program is focusing on teaching participants the skills they'll need to gradually scale up their operations as their production or business plans allow. Changes/Problems:When the 2015 program manager, Merlin Neumiller left the program in Aug. of 2015,I learned that there was hardly anything done on thehorticultural side of the program. We had no real curricula in place,little or no plan. So I hired a horicultural associate and we worked with SDSU Extension's Faculty HorticultureSpecialist to develop an entire year's worth of programming. We assessedwhat didn't work (and why) and made the big change of offering programming directly on the reservation, instead of as one cohort group where they had to travel to Rapid City from the reservation. This increased participation and awareness of the program dramatically.We kept the Livestock program at the Cottonwood Field Station because they have the infrastructure to handlelive animals.In 2017 we will offersome cattle ranching programming along the lines of beginning "Introduction to" topics on each respective reservation and keep just the hands-on trainingat Cottonwood. We'll also be offering experienced students the opportunity to participate in SDSU' A-I (Artificial Insemination) School and Grazing School. When the Project Director, Shawn Burke left in July of 2016, welearned thathe was behind onreporting so I've workedhard to get that updated and we adjusted the program to focusnotonly ontribal members with multiple years of experience (but less than ten), but to anyone that showedan interest in the programs. We also changed the program from retaining individuals to commit to "enrolling" in theentire program, to one where we provide a menu of workshop trainingthat they select from. Thismenu was developedafter meetings with staff and the publicon the reservations that used one on one interviews and dot surveys to compile a list of whattribal people wanted to learn about regarding production agriculture,local food production, andfood systems. In this manner we've increasednot just the numbers, but thequality of the programming offered anddeepened the impact within theseNative communities. If we wanted to have real impact, we couldn't just focus on thebig land owners and their families;we had to focus on the majority of the tribal populations andacknowledge the reailities that thefractionated nature of tribal lands, the lack ofaccess to capital or to collateral to get capital, logistical challenges and lack of infrastructure meant. We had to develop and implement our programwith an eye towards being more culturally sensitive and aware, being more focused on small acreages, and incorporating traditional foods andcultural ways of thinking about commerce (trading versus selling and always giving away a portion of theirharvest to the needy). In doing so, we're making the program more about food production than commercial production, but always done in a way that teaches them the skill sets and how to scale up, so that they can eventually stepup into commercial production in a way that they are comfortable with. Students who are more experienced and comfortable being or becoming a commercial producer, we're tailoring this outreach intomore of a one-on-one, mentoring independent outreach. For example a student who wants to work with an intensive grazing rancher to learn how to set up a system for beef production onlands and preserve the native grass prairie. We also needed to hire, even seasonally, more local tribal members to help the program on the ground on the reservations. So we've been focusing on recruiting, training and hiring seasonal workers for our demonstration gardens and the larger demonstration site in Pine Ridge, for our local home gardening educators and in our local FRTEP (Federally Recongnized Tribal Extension) offices. These FRTEP staff have been vital in helping our program get the word out about BFRDP and what we're doing and in facilitating community events and meetings. These FRTEP staff are not funded through BFR, but we're partnering with them to get the job done. Having Tribal members as a part of our team provides inroads and access on the reservations that was sorely lacking in 2015. We plan to continue this approach in 2016. In 2015, they made no where near enough effort to work with local partners, we've doubled ,maybe even tripled that effort and will continue to do so in 2017. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The entire project is a training program in capacity building for local producers and tribal members. During this reporting period, the project provided the opportunity for program staff and participants to attend professional development workshops and conferences including: the Fall 2016 Great Lakes InterTribalFood Summit the 2016 South Dakota Local Foods Conference in Mitchell, South Dakota Specialty Producer's Association's Producer Tours across the state, a Sub-Surface Irrigation Field Day in Pierre, SD. the 7th Annual National Small Farms Conference the Annual Beginning Farmerand Rancher Development Project Directors meeting in St. Paul, MN the Annual FRTEP Conference in Flagstaff, AZ. South Dakota Pollinators Workshop Small Fruits Field Day (with NDSU in Carrington, ND) We also made available numerous online webinars to those that were interested. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of the program are gathered through pre and post surveys, dot surveys, one on one interviews and are shared with the communities at public events on the reservations. We also share these efforts as well with the local tribal radio stations, among Extension partners through news publications, social media and on or iGrow web platform. We've also shared information about the program and results at conference presentations and in newspaper columns. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1: Increased Capacity: Objective 1A/B/C: We've had requests from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman for BFR type programing for his tribe so we'll be opening up the program on Cheyenne River Reservation to Standing Rock. We've also received equests from tribal members living in the Rapid City Metro area who want to participate in the program and learn about Urban Ag opportunities and so we're opening up the program to these tribal members including the entire Pine Ridge program. Objective 1A: We plan to bring in a speaker to work with our students on the following topics: Bees (for honey and wax and pollination) High-tunnel production Cultivating Traditional Lakota plant foods and teas (for production and sale locally) Crop Rotation, Cover-Cropping and No-Till strategies, equipment and planning Objective 1B: We're working with the National Bison Association, Oglala Sioux Parks and Rec, Sinte Gleska University's Buffalo Ranch Management program and Intertribal Bison Association on developing a beginning Bison Rancher development program. TheNational Bison program has an existing online producer curricula, a beginning bison producers' handbook and offers onsite bison advantage workshops and bison ranch tours. Objective 1A/B: We plan to expand our 1/3 acre teaching demonstration site on the Pine Ridge reservation to include high-tunnel and low-tunnel production, composting system and chicken production (for both meat and eggs). Objective 1A:/B: We're adding both a meat and dairy goat training components to the program Goal 2: Improved Market Availability: Objective 2A: We'll continue to work with Oglala Lakota College's Head Start program's director andfood buyerand Rapid City Regional Hospital's chef/food buyer to develop these markets for our participants and to train our participants to plan and produce to meet these needs. Objective 2C: Work with the Produce Safety Alliance and NCR FSMA Center to provide GAP/Group Gap and GHP trainings and Group Gap Internal Auditor trainings to tribal members and producers on all three reservations Objective 2C: Increase the number of food preservation trainings (and cover water bath canning, pressure canning, freezing and dehydrating. Objective 2D: We're working with the SD School of Mines and Technology's EPICS engineering program to develop cost effective, locally sourced PVC pipe designs of hoop houses, (indoor) growign stations and irrigation systems that an average tribal member can put together and afford and something that can be replaced locally. Goal 3: Increased Community Coalition Capacity: Objective 3 A: We'll continue to work with the fledgling beginning farmers cooperative on the Pine Ridge Reservation towards helping them achieve their goal of becoming organic producers utilizing high-tunnel production.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? There are limited numbers of Native producers.These are primarily engaged in large-scale livestock production. This project concentrates on increasing the knowledge, awareness and skills of tribal members;increased food production; developingproduction/business plans; and transforming land-use on smaller acreages for primarily vegetable, fruit/berryand small livestock systems.Our targetaudience isNative American tribal members who aresocially/economically disadvantaged, limited resource individuals who are or want to become beginning producers.We are addressing individual, family and tribal food sovereignty (and security) issues. We estimate that upwards of 90% of enrolled tribal members on these reservations have little or no access to large acreages. We're targeting these individuals because we want to have the greatest impact onincreasing agricultural incomes, access to local foods, and developing stronger communities. The fractionated nature of most land ownership on reservations means that the majority of tribal members have access to less than sixty acres, many to less than 2 acres. Therefore our program worksto help them develop small acreage land use plans that focus on small acreage livestock, horticulture or both. With unemployment so high, and with limited access to capital andland, we need to work within the context of the conditions under which the majority of people live. The average tribal membersare those who most immediately will be helped by our program. We're working withpeople who are often "just trying to get by" and we're training them to move fromsurvival towards self-sufficiency. From there,help themscale up both their operation and land-use towards an abundance of harvest (where from a cultural approach they can give some of their food away to needy community members or trade it amongst themsevles) and lastly towards a small-scale commercial production. Goal One: Increased Capacity: Objective1A: 60 individuals trained in comsumer horticulture: In 2015 just7 individuals participated in3 training sessionswith the commercial aspects of the program across all three reservations. Classes were only held in Rapid City, SD. In 2016 we increased the number/and diversity of topics offered to31, moved most of those trainings onto the respective reservationsand participation (from thoseintending to become commercial producers) climbed to 32. The totalnumber of participants in our programis 39.Of this year's participants, all 32are working tobecomehorticulture and/or smallacreage producers. Objective 1B: 30 individuals trained in ranch management: In 2015, 9 participated in trainings held at SDSU's Cottonwood Field Station. In 2016participation increased from 9 to 17. Of those, one student is working with a mentor student tostartan intensive grazing operation on her land on the Rosebud Reservation and is working with FSA on a loan. One from 2015 participated again in 2016 and is also working to incorporate intensive grazing into his operation and received an FSA loan in 2016. The others range from just consideringranching to obtaining work as a ranch hand; to one who realized his landcapacity couldn't support a cattle operation. Heisnow working todevelopan intensive grazing meat goat operation. Objective 1C: 180 inviduals trained as new beginners (growers): In the first two years of the program, across all three reservations, we've had 637 tribal members attend at least one home gardening class, with57 attendingalmost every class. Another 75 have attended the home gardening classes and at least one of the commercial production trainings. We encourage all of these participants to also work with the local tribal CDFI's on personal finances and business planning. In October, 2016, we hosted an "open to the public event" in Kyle, SD at our 1/3 acre demonstration site.Attended by 44 people (not involved with the program)the communityreceived a tour of the site, learned more about the program, and had a chance to visit with program paricipants/partners and hear from a local meat goat producer and SDSU's Dairy Science Dairy Dept. about dairygoat operations. Goal Two: Improved Market Availability: Objective 2A: One sustained partnership with an institution using local produce: In 2016 wepartnered with the Local Food Sovereignty Coalition and the local Wellness Coaltion on Pine Ridge Reservation, Oglala Lakota College's Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Our goal is to indentify the food buying needs of Head Start to meet that demand;locally through our students and other programs working on the reservation. We have two students in our program who are directly working to develop and implement a plan to sell directly toHead Start. We've also started working withthe chef and food buyer for the Rapid City Regional Hospital to develop producers to meet hisneeds/desire for more local produce. The hospital is working with the Black Hills Farmers Market and the brand newBlack HillsFood Hub to recruit more producers. Objective 2B: Use of local produce and meat in community events/promoting the opportunity: Local produce was used in the Pine Ridge Wellness Coaltion meetings,duringBFR trainings andevents. Produce raised by the participantsat thedemo site wasdonated to families forwakes.Theprogramworked to promote local beef/bison through the promotion of localbutcher shops.We helped students and community members realize that therearelocal markets. Objective 2C: Food safety/handling and preservation: In 2016 two food preservation training sessionswere offered (one on Pine Ridge and one on Rosebud). These mostly focused on water bath canning, but also on freezing. In addition we worked with our commercially-minded students on their food safety plans, developing GAP/GHP practices, food storage and transportation issues and are helping them understand FSMA and whether or not it applies to them, etc. Objective 2D: Leverage Partnerships on farmers markets: Each reservation involved with the program has at least one fledgling farmers market on their reservation. We're working with local partners to add more producers,to navigate the process of being able to accept SNAP-EBTand to adopt the new smart phone technologies to accept debit/credit card/EBT payments. We're training participants on how to set up an effective roadside stall/farmers market stall. Participants were able to visit the Black Hills Farmers Market in Rapid City, visit with the vendors and market manager and also toured a nearby market garden producer who also operates a CSA. This was a valuable experience for our trainees to learn all that goes into getting ready for market day, and how they grow to meet their market and how a CSA operates. Goal Three: Increased Community Coalition Capacity: Objective 3A: Facilitate agricultural Training for collaborative groups on each reservation. We're working with Wellness Coalitions on all three reservations. In Pine Ridge, we're also working with a Food Sovereignty Coalition and an new fledgling group working to developa beginning farmers cooperative. The last group consists of tribal veterans and BFR students primarily. Objective 3B: Assist organizations with planning:Thewellness coalition is working to create a community gathering spot for events. The Food Sovereignty Coalition is working to create an effective coalition to support local growers, gatherers, and ranchers.The Pine Ridge Ag Economy (PRAE) Initiative (creation of a local, organically certified, growers cooperative of high-tunnel producers) has asked our program to provide technical assistance and training.

    Publications


      Progress 12/15/14 to 12/14/15

      Outputs
      Target Audience:The target audience consists of beginning Native American farmers and ranchers on the Cheyenne River, Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. Additionally, we will seek veterans within this target audience. Each reservation is classified as a food desert, Pine Ridge, Rosebud by USDA Office of Economic Research. There are limited numbers of Native producers in each area, and these are primarily those engaged in large-scale livestock production. This project concentrates on production plans on smaller acreages; primarily vegetable and small livestock systems, for limited resource producers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The entire project isa training program in capacity building for local producers; commercial horticulture and livestock operation skills per the assigned cohort. Additionally, during this reporting period,the project provided the opportunity for program staff and participants to attend professional development workshops including the Food Sovereignty Conference, the Indigenous Foods Conference, the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development program conference, the South Dakota Local Foods conference, and a number of on-line trainings as well. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of educational programs are gathered through pre and post surveys, and shared among participants and partners. Additionally, these efforts have been shared among Extension partners through news publications, social media and on our iGrow web platform. Individual programs and discussion are provided through newsletter and newspaper columns as well as local radio and social media. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? BFRDP: Hire a new Beginning Farmer and Rancher Program Manager Commercial Horticulture: Hire a Horticulture Associate to take the lead on the commercial horticulture education Develop a commercial scale growers' curriculum that covers not just the horticultural fundamentals of growing at a commercial scale, but also covers the operational side of growing. (This curriculum will then be modified down to fit the beginning growers/home gardeners' level to help them prepare to start farming, which will once again be taught by each reservation's hired garden educator). Horticulture Topics will include: Growing at a Commercial Scale Soil and Soil Health Site Plan Crop Options (cool and warm) Transplants 1(seed starting) Transplants 2 (buying from a nursery) Cultivation Techniques and strategies Planting Pest Management Weed Management Disease Management Water Management: drip irrigation and mulching Harvesting Post-Harvest Season Extension techniques, tools, and strategies Crop Rotation Cover Crops Students will work with the local CDFIs, their local Ag Lending Banks, and their local Small Business Development Center as well as SDSU Extension staff, on the development of their start-up budgets, their business plan. Each student will have a personal coach from one or more of these partners. Students will work with SDSU Extension and contracted commercial growers (as presenters) on their commercial scale growing operational plan, the development of their site, and their crop plan through a series of three (seasonal one day intensive)commercial scale operational workshops taught on each reservation or at an actual commercial grower's site. Students will work with the hired horticulture associate and other SDSU Extension specialists on deepening their commercial scale horticulture fundamentals through three intensive, seasonal (early spring, early summer, early fall) one day workshops this time taught on each reservation instead of as one cohort in Rapid City. Extension associates and specialists and contracted consultants will spend more time working with students one on one at their site and on their operational plan. In addition to the nine above workshops, another food safety and handling workshop will be presented by SDSU Extension staff and additional optional workshops will be offered to the students and community members if there's interest on the following topics: Bees Chickens High-Tunnels Traditional Foods Livestock: Add additional sessions and field trips, perhaps including: A-I (artificial insemination) Feed Lots Etc.

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? Training in beginning commercial horticulture training and rancher training has been offered to community members who can demonstrate experience in horticulture or livestock production and who demonstrate intent to implement a commercially viable production system. These receive classroom and field instruction, mentoring and enterprise planning support. The project also trains beginning home growers each year, with the intent that some enroll as commercial students in subsequent years. Extension and partners promote the utilization of produce through local institutions, and Extension works with local foods coalitions on each reservation, on planning future trainings and driving the local foods process. Extension worked with the following partners to help reach out to prospective students and mentors and to provide them with technical assistance and awareness of local, state, and federal assistance programs USDA: NRCS, AMS, FSA, RD Oglala Lakota College, Sinte Gleska University The Lakota Funds CDFI, Four Bands CDFI Rosebud Economic Development, Oglala Sioux Tribe Land office, Intertribal Ag Council Youth Orgs/Other: Oyate Teca Youth Project, Cheyenne River YMCA, the Redstone Education Group, Partnership with Native Americans (formerly National Relief Charities), and Re-Member Thirty one applications were received for the Commercial Horticulture program and 26 applications for the Livestock Production program; 12 and 14 were enrolled in each track, respectively. Those who did not immediately qualify for either track were enrolled in the Beginning Grower program or towards other educational opportunities to develop their capacity to qualify in later years. For land access issues, candidates were connected to their local land office, NRCS or partners to help them apply for leases or other programs. Extension staff established demonstration gardens for eventual use by participants in the Commercial Horticulture Program and for use in the Beginning Gardening programs. Pine Ridge had the Lakota Prairie Ranch Resort and Oyate Teca Youth Project Gardens. Rosebud Extension cooperates with SGU with their demonstration garden. Cheyenne River worked the Sioux YMCA. The program continues to help individuals and organizations in establishing local farmer's markets, CSA's and other local market opportunities. Six participants of the Commercial Horticulture track attended the 2015 SD Local Foods Conference. Home Growers/Garden Education: On the Rosebud Reservation, staff held ten classes for beginners and home gardeners in Rosebud, Mission and White River, average attendance 25/class. On the Pine Ridge, staff worked with the Little Wound School F.A.C.E. (Family and Child Education) program to provide five classes, incorporating lessons on nutrition and healthy food choices along with gardening instruction, 12/class. Staff held weekly classes for beginning gardeners at the IHS Clinic in Kyle as well as workshops on raised bed gardening, terrace gardening, and drip irrigation gardening at the Crazy Horse School. Staff provided garden education classes to the Badlands Headstart families, as well as the Black Hills Foster Grandparent Program. A total of 242 participants attended the beginning grower classes on Pine Ridge. School/Community Garden Education: On Rosebud, staff cooperated with eleven school and community gardens of various sizes, some of which are in planning stages. A small garden is in place with REDCO and a "lasagna garden" at a Rosebud daycare center. On the Pine Ridge Reservation, Extension staff worked with an increasing number of schools and community organizations to develop and expand community gardens. Currently, staff work with six productive gardens, including a new workplace wellness/community garden at the Indian Health Services in Kyle, Oyate Teca Youth Project garden, Crazy Horse School garden, Little Wound School and community garden. Staff continue to develop demonstration gardens, including high-tunnels and raised beds, at various sites on the reservation, in cooperation with partner organizations. On the Cheyenne River Reservation, Extension staff focused on developing a demonstration garden in cooperation with the Sioux YMCA in Dupree. At a special "Appreciation Day" in August, 57 youth enjoyed a fruit and veggie feed, and received Certificates of Participation. Staff also promoted Extension programs and support local food production efforts by distributing hundreds of vegetable & herb seeds and edj. materials to home gardeners, schools and community groups and at local fairs, festivals and powwows. Nutrition Education: In partnership with SGU Rosebud staff offered eight food preservation and utilization classes to 30 participants. Participants explored safe food handling techniques including drying, freezing, and pressure canning of fruits, vegetables, and meats. They cooked squash and made pickles, salsas, jams and jellies, and traditional Wasna. They also learned about drying buffalo and other game, gathering and preparing wild fruits, and drying herbs. Cheyenne River Extension prepared five "Pick It, Try It, Like It" cards focusing on chokecherry and prairie turnip recipes for potential distribution throughout the country. Classes on traditional foods and nutrition were presented to over 31 adults and 17 youth. In collaboration with the tribal Wisdom Keepers elderly program, staff also provided a presentation on traditional foods to 63 tribal elderly. Staff provided other food and nutrition education to 38 students at Takini School and to 70 adults over the course of the year. Cheyenne River Extension staff, along with several partner organizations, coordinated an Indigenous Foods and Skills Festival in Eagle Butte with 119 participants over four days in September. Activities included cultural competitions such as a tipi raising challenge and dance-off, as well as workshops on wild/native foods and herbs. On Pine Ridge, two commercial horticulture students and a group of 26 traditional gatherers learned about high-tunnels for extending the growing season, and how this system could be used to grow traditional horticultural foods such as wild raspberry, strawberry and herbal teas and how to transplant these plants to and from a high-tunnel environment. 2. Revitalized (rural) reservation communities Each of the commercial track participant developed a budget and operational plan. Hort. students choose plot sites and had soil tested before classes began. Each plan was tailored to their soil, local markets and crops they chose. Many students altered plans based on classes or visits to existing market operations. In preparation for next year, each student from year one will bring in an updated version of their business plan and revise with program staff per updated goals. Ranch students followed a similar course and site visits. Each reservation cohort looked at cooperative development for the local market. Students also learned of CDFI lending institutions as well to their local USDA Service Centers for FSA loans, NRCS programs and other federal programs. On Pine Ridge the commercial horticulture group is working to provide vegetables to the Head Start programs as part of a larger farm-to -school effort. Participants who attended the home garden/beginning grower classes and trainings on Pine Ridge were encouraged to grow additional plants of each crop to sell at local events or to set up a roadside farmers market stall. At least one livestock producer was approved for a major loan by FSA as a direct consequence of his participation in the class, in particular the guidance he received in developing a formal business plan. The Livestock students in SDSU's BFR 2015 were exposed to opportunities in range management, government assistance, livestock management, business management, and relationship building.

      Publications