Farming
2018-21 Annual Report
Our goal with the Beginning Farmer program is to help new producers develop knowledge and critical skills so they can sustain and grow their farms using technical information, learning networks, and other resources.
Audience Diversity
- 52% female
- 48% male
- 88% white
- 10% black
- 2% other
Beginning Farmer Success Rate
- 70% with 70+ business/marketing/food safety plans developed
Value of Business Consultancy
- 319 producers assisted
- $144 k savings for farmers
Crop Improved/Saved
- $2.1 mil
Total Impact
- $2.9 mil
Farming Barriers Reduced
- 18% reduction in access to information
- 30% reduction in need for marketing training
- 55% crop losses prevented
Return on Investment 10:1
“Farming Basics [online course] is filled with good information. We recommend it as a resource not only for beginning farmers but seasoned producers as well.”
—Russell Bean, S & B FARM
Free Resources
Farming Basics Online Course
- Provides five chapters featuring video presentations
- Offers a certificate of completion with CEU points credited
- Is a teaching tool for on-farm workers, school classes, and farmers
Farming Basics Mobile App
- Includes horticultural crop descriptions and basic information on getting started
- Provides information about major insect pests and diseases
- Includes a fertilizer and irrigation calculator
- Connects you to an Extension agent near you
On-farm Assistance
The Beginning Farmer program by the Commercial Horticulture Extension team provides free intensive on-farm guidance to beginning farmers, including military veterans, women, retired workers, and low-income individuals.
*Communication award winners from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents, American Horticulture Society, and Southern Region IPM Center
Farming Basics Online Course
- 1,412 Students
- 21% Completion Rate
- 97% Satisfaction Rating with Immediate Use of Information
- 4 CEUs from the American Agronomy Society and the American Horticulture Society
Southeast Vegetable Crop Handbook
2,000* per year
High Tunnel Crop Production Handbook
5,000* total circulation
Organic Vegetable IPM Slide Chart
18,250* total circulation
Urban Farm/ Market Garden IPM Toolkit
7,000* total circulation
Citrus IPM Field Guide
500
Alabama IPM Communicator E-newsletter
3,343* subscribers
IPM Communicator E-newsletter
13,200* email clicks
Social Media Subscribers
4,772
Farming Basics Mobile App
1,000+ installations
*Communication award winners from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents, American Horticulture Society, and Southern Region IPM Center.
COVID-19 Special Program’s Evaluation System (Piloted 2020)
Online Event Surveys
Zoom meetings (immediate quantitative)
- Pre-registration poll
- Post-event poll
Qualtrics survey (retrospective, quality)
- Social media posts
- E-newsletter
- App based
- Online Course
Social Media Networks
Quantitative information
- Facebook Insights
- Likes: number of followers
- Reach: number of people watching
- Views: number of video views
- Engagement: combined total of likes, comments, shares, etc. Demographic information: M/F/O, age, groups, online behavior
- Twitter Analytics
- Following: people you follow
- Followers: number of followers
- Tweet: limited-character messages
- Impressions: number of times a tweet circulates
- Mailchimp Campaign Reports
- Recipients: total subscribers
- Trend: new subscribers
- Opens: emails read
- Youtube Channel
- Channel views
- Views
- Likes & shares
Qualitative information
- Testimonials from post reactions
COVID-19 Progress Report (March–December 2020)
Alabama Virtual Farm Tour
- 18 Events completed
- 255 Live participants
- 4,611 People reached
- 12,382 Recording views
- 480 Likes & shares
- 492 Engagements
Commercial Horticulture Webinar Series
- 21 Events completed
- 694 Live participants
- 12,159 People reached
- 5,047 Recording views
- 244 Likes & shares
- 1,417 Engagements
Q&A Friday
- 29 Events completed
- 170+ Queries answered
- 386 Live participants
- 18,617 People reached
- 9,158 Recording views
- 464 Likes & shares
- 3,680 Engagements
Testimonials
“I want you to know how much I enjoy and appreciate all the webinars that ACES puts on. Last summer my wife and I bought a 131-acre farm near Walnut Grove in Etowah County and have been working with Chip East (REA). Thanks again!”
Vernon Lee Sanders II, via Facebook Messenger, March 19, 2021
“I don’t really know how to express my appreciation for the work that you and your colleagues are doing. Thanks again!”
Roger Westover, GA, via email, May 28, 2020
“Info shared by Extension personnel is vital to our farming community. It helps our learning curve so we can be profitable quicker when branching out into other ventures.”
Anonymous, via the IPM newsletter survey, 2020
Evaluation Data Overall
- 1,335 Direct participants, 68 Online events
- 35,387 People reached
- 5,589 Engagements (170 Questions answered)
- 4,071 Followers (77% Increase)
- 47% Male 50% Female 3% Other
- 84% White 7% Black 7% Asian 2% Others
- 94% Usefulness of info 25% New audience
- 22% Beginning 10% Experienced farmers
- 40+ Farm magazine articles by team members
- 60+ On-demand mailing of publications
- $50,000+ Gain from 125 Client reports
Program Coordinator
Ayanava Majumdar, (251) 331-8416
Commercial Horticulture Regional Extension Agents, Extension Coordinators, and Specialists
www.aces.edu/go/927
Technical Assistance Providers
- Jayme Oates, (334) 740-8515
- Karen Wynne, (256) 520-2400
- Andrew Williams, (334) 216-1344
- Darrell McGuire, (334) 349-9115
Funding Agencies
USDA-NIFA, BFRD (2015-04598, 2018-02936), Southern SARE, CPPM, OREI and the ADAI Specialty Crop Block Program
Check out more project reports & impact videos on alabamabeginningfarmer.com
Past Annual Reports
Beginning Farmer Annual Report 2015-2018
2016 Progress of the Alabama Beginning Farmer Project poster
For questions about accessibility or to request accommodations, contact Extension Communications and Marketing at 334-844-5696 or extcomm@aces.edu.
New August 2021, Beginning Farmer Program Annual Report, ANR-2604