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3. 2020 Extension Risk Management Education National Conference

Building Educator Capacity through the State Farm Management & Ag-Law In-service

Ben Brown, Peggy Hall, Dianne Shoemaker, Barry Ward, David Marrison, Chris Bruynis, and Julie Strawser

Summary

The Ohio State Farm Management & Ag Law In-service has been building professional capacity of Ohio State University Extension Educators since 2013. Two major cultural shifts happened creating the need for a state-wide farm management in-service. First, the number of state and regional farm management Extension specialists in Ohio declined drastically between 2008-2013. This left a large farm management education void, mitigated in part by county-based Extension Educators. The second shift was the hiring of a large number of Extension Educators over the past six years due to retirements. Over fifty-seven percent of the attendees this past year had less than 5 years of Extension experience. With so many new faces, a need also emerged for orientation and introductory training covering Educator responsibilities. In 2019, greater attention was placed on this form of professional development with great success. One of the new Educators commented “This has been one of the best events I have attended as an OSU Extension Professional.” On average, 50 educators received training on topics such as grain marketing, tax management, farm succession, Farm Bill training, financial statements, recordkeeping, farmland leases, managing in times of financial stress, and farm legal issues. In addition, panel discussions from rural appraisers, producers and retired Educators provided broader application tips and depth to content understanding. This presentation will share the topics and formats covered, how funding has been secured to provide this in-service free to Educators, and how Educators use the material from the in-service to serve Ohio producers.

Details

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