An Electronic and Team Approach to Farm Management Education

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH EDUCATION

Chris Bruynis, Extension Educator, Wyandot County David Marrison, Extension Educator, Ashtabula CountyDonald J. Breece, Farm Management SpecialistBarry Ward, Leader, Production Business Management

Ohio Situation

• During the past several years the number of faculty working in Farm Management has steadily declined.

• Specialists’ roles changed, moving away from an Educator support role to working more directly with clientele.

• Farm managers were adopting technology, including email and Internet usage.

Recognized Need

• Growing diversity in the farm population– Average age increased to 53.1 years old,– Increasing dichotomy in farm size,– Ohio is losing an average of 250 farms

annually (currently gaining small farmers),– Increasing encroachment from urban centers

putting pressure on land prices, and– Increasing number of hired employees on

the farm (verses family members).

Electronic Newsletter

• Impetus came from County Educators.• Partnership between state, regional, and county

faculty was developed.• A successful Electronic Newsletter model

already existed in Ohio for agronomic information (CORN).

• Idea was to send short “sound bytes” of information to subscribers with links to detailed articles.

• Also wanted to create a way for subscribers to communicate with the team.

Email Lists

• Three electronic email lists have been developed– OAM list serve

• For team member’s internal communication

– Ohio Ag Manager list serve • For subscribers to receive newsletter

– Ohio Ag Manager Info• For folks to ask management questions• Is distributed to three members who direct the

questions to the right Educator/Specialist

Newsletter Creation

• 1st issue published July 2004.• 1 ½ hour conference call monthly.

– Topics, authors, deadlines, editor and other relevant information decided.

• Typically 8 – 10 articles per issue.• Issue released on the 1st Friday of each

month.– Posted to website and then emailed to

subscriber list.

Emailed Newsletter

Website Front Page

Newsletter View

Resources Page

Web Management With Contribute

Usage of Ohio Ag Manager

• The Ohio Ag Manager Team has published 35 editions containing 301 management articles since July 2004.

• Currently 504 self-subscribers receive the e-newsletter directly each month compared to 217 in December of 2004.

Ohio Ag Manager Web Traffic

• Website is located at http://ohioagmanager.osu.edu/

• Web traffic to the OAM web site has increased significantly during the past few years.– 2005 – 17,868 individuals accessing the site – 2006 – 34,236 individuals accessing the site– 2007 – 42,840 if current trend holds

Impacts of Ohio Ag Manager

• A survey of subscribers indicated as a result of the newsletter’s content they– Saved money,– Made better informed decisions,– Improved marketing and employee

management skills, and– Saved tax dollars.

• Results also indicated that subscribers forwarded the newsletter to 3,352 other people each year.

Other Benefits of OAM Team

• Improved relationships and dialogue between state specialists, regional specialists, and county educators.

• Received grants that have increased research and programming in farm management in Ohio.

• Educators with limited Farm Management knowledge now have network of Educators that can provide expertise in the discipline.

Questions????Ask the Ohio Ag Manager Team