First National Small Farm Outreach & Agriculture Development Conference a Huge Success
Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Bettina Ring with John Littles, president of Minority Outreach Network; Ronald Harris, director, Outreach and Advocacy Division, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS); William Crutchfield, director of the Small Farm Outreach Program at Virginia State University (VSU); Matthew Lohr, chief, USDA NRCS and M. Ray McKinnie, VSU dean of the College of Agriculture and 1890s Administrator.
When small farmers have questions about agricultural concerns or best practices, they go to Extension agents and specialists. When agriculture outreach professionals have questions, who do they go to?
One answer is the 2019 National Conference for Outreach & Agriculture Development.
The two-day conference, held Sept. 10-11 at the Richmond Convention Center, attracted more than 200 agriculture outreach professionals from across the country.
The Minority Outreach Network (MON), a Georgia-based advocacy group that provides outreach and technical assistance to minority and socially disadvantaged farmers, hosted the conference in partnership with Virginia State University’s Small Farm Outreach Program (SFOP) and with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
It was the first national conference of its kind, said SFOP director William Crutchfield. The idea for the conference grew out of a meeting in Fredericksburg of VSU SFOP members, small farm outreach professionals, advocacy groups, USDA officials and minority groups who realized this was an opportunity to work together to provide educational and networking opportunities to better position the agriculture community to assist underserved, minority and veteran farmers.
“Oftentimes the work of agriculture outreach professionals goes unnoticed,” Crutchfield said. “These are the folks who support small, socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers and land owners who are the backbone of the agriculture industry. This conference was a way to further enable outreach professionals to empower farmers.”
The conference not only highlighted the important work agriculture outreach professionals do, but also brought them together to network, learn about current and emerging issues in the agriculture industry and share information and resources to equip them to better serve small and disadvantaged farmers around the country, Crutchfield said.
John Littles, president of MON, could barely contain his excitement at how well the conference turned out. “I’m still smiling that this idea and concept came together with a lot of hard work and a lot of partnership between MON and the great work of Virginia State.”
Virginia Secretary of Agriculture & Forestry Bettina Ring welcomed attendees, who heard from dynamic keynote speakers like Eloris Speight, Director of the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Center at Alcorn State University, and Matthew Lohr, Chief of the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS).
More than 200 agriculture professionals attended the first national Outreach & Agriculture Development Conference sponsored by the Minority Outreach Network and the Small Farm Outreach Program at VSU.
The conference was packed full of helpful information. There were several panel discussions with key industry leaders from the USDA, as well as nearly 20 breakout sessions that covered the gamut of agriculture topics, such as the new Farm Bill, sustainable forestry and African-American land retention, engaging tribal and Native American communities, food hubs and the role of the church in the food system.
The timing of the conference couldn’t have been better, and the turnout was an indication that the information was needed, Littles said. “People were reaching out and needing those types of resources … The conference provided access for folks who may not get an appointment or can’t afford to travel to Washington, D.C. and meet with these various agencies, so we brought the agencies to the people.”
Cheryl Peterson, project manager at MacIntosh SEED, a community-based organization that provides outreach, helped plan the conference.
“We work on the ground. We work with farmers who have been denied access to Farm Service Agency (FSA) and USDA programs. We understand their challenges,” Peterson said. Because of those challenges, she said the planning committee was “intentional” about what sessions were needed to provide agriculture professionals with the latest information so they can better help farmers.
Attendees learned valuable information on identifying financial resources and strategies to help the farmers they serve keep their farm operations sustainable. There was also a panel discussion on farmer stress and suicide prevention, which is a continuing concern in the agriculture industry as farmers navigate their way through natural disasters, financial issues and other challenges.
Herbert Brown Jr., a county executive director with the USDA FSA who runs Browntown Farms in Warfield, Va. with his father, said the conference was one of the best he’s attended in his 10 years of working in agriculture. Willie Pittman, a retired USDA NRCS national outreach coordinator, said he’s been attending agriculture conferences a lot longer than Brown, and echoed Brown’s sentiment, calling this one memorable, and applauding Crutchfield, Littles and Peterson for their collaborative efforts in pulling the much-needed conference together. “This is one of the best conferences, I’ve ever attended,” Pittman said.
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