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Collaborating for Success

Crystal Smithmyer

Summary

For the past three years, AgrAbility for Pennsylvanians has conducted risk management education through an on-going RME grant. At the project’s core is a history of successful collaboration with a variety of agricultural organizations and Cooperative Extension agents.

At the project’s inception, the primary partner was to be the PA Farm Bureau and the outreach activities were to take place at a series of PFB region meetings. However, from the first year the number of meetings held was less than anticipated and not all regions that did hold meetings chose to partner with us. So we went outside the box and looked for partners who were in the planning stages of first-class events on producer education, but were in need of financial and planning support.

The result has been collaboration with no less than 6 diverse organizations. Literally hundreds of producers have been reached on subjects ranging from crop insurance and farm financial planning to direct marketing liabilities and alternative energy sources for the farm.

By partnering with a variety of organizations in this way, and at established events; grant funds are maximized. The funding has not been pigeon-holed to support only one type of organizational member, or one type of commodity grower. Moreover, event costs are dispersed through a number of supporters, so that all of AgrAbility’s RME funds are not going to just one conference or event, but rather several throughout the year.

Details

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