Conferences
AN ELECTRONIC AND TEAM APPROACH TO FARM MANAGEMENT EDUCATION
Chris Bruynis
Summary
This presentation will share how Extension Educators are meeting the farm management needs of Ohio farms and agribusinesses through team work and electronic education. Budget cutbacks reduced Extension Farm Management Specialist faculty in Ohio to one FTE in 2004. Recognizing the critical need to help maintain farm management programming, the Ohio Ag Manager (OAM) Team was established by County and State Extension Educators. The team developed the OAM website (http://ohioagmanager.osu.edu/) and began publishing the monthly electronic newsletter in July 2004. Each e-newsletter contains seven to ten abstracts addressing issues and trends impacting agriculture. Abstracts are linked to complete articles located on the website, allowing readers to quickly scan the e-newsletter and retrieve details on topics and issues important to the management of their own operation.
The Ohio Ag Manager Team has published 30 editions containing 261 management articles since 2004. There are currently 504 self-subscribers receiving the e-newsletter directly each month. Web traffic to the OAM web site has increased significantly with 34,236 individuals accessing the site in 2006. A survey of the newsletter subscribers indicated they like the newsletter format. Readers stated that the newsletter helps their business to save money; make better informed decisions; improve their marketing and employee management skills; and save tax dollars. Results also indicated that subscribers forwarded the newsletter to 3,352 other people each year. The Ohio Ag Manager Team’s future goals include continuing the OAM newsletter and exploring other ways to provide management education to Ohio’s farmers and agribusinesses.
Presentation Materials
Details
| Conference | 2007 National Farm Management Conference |
| Presentation Type | Concurrent |