Kynda Curtis, Utah State University
Staci Emm, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension



Economic environment
Creating collaborations & programmatic
teams
Identified program needs
◦ Native Americans
◦ Women
◦ Beginning Farmers & Ranchers

Amplifying impact

University of Nevada, Reno
◦ Budget cuts at 20.7% in 2009, 6.9% in 2010
 Loss of ag econ & animal science depts (& associated
specialists)
◦ Nevada Cooperative Extension proposed cut of 72%,
2011-2012

Utah State University
◦ Budget cuts at 17% for 2009-2010, 2% for 2011

Combining resources to better serve farmers
& ranchers in Nevada & Utah

Identify people that like working together &
share similar goals
◦ Identify geographic location to be served
◦ Identify strengths/weaknesses in team expertise
◦ Supplement team through hires if needed

Identify target audience
◦ Target Native American, women, & beginning
farmers/ranchers

Kynda Curtis, Niche marketing/business planning & program

Staci Emm, Beef production/marketing, business entrepreneurship







evaluation
& youth programs
Ruby Ward, Taxes & financial management
Loretta Singletary, Conflict resolution and program evaluation
Dillon Feuz, Livestock marketing
Randy Emm, Indian programs & crop/livestock insurance
Kathy Frasier, Indian programs & record-keeping/Quickbooks
Carol Bishop, Enterprise budgets & feasibility analysis
Additional expertise in livestock production, vegetable/fruit
production, & food safety/labeling
◦ Ron Torell, Dan Drost, Steve Foster, Jay Davison, Karin Allen, & Brent Black

Business planning
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

Entrepreneurship
Business/marketing plans
Niche/direct marketing
Crop/livestock insurance
Record-keeping/budgeting
Tax structure/preparing for taxes
Profitability/feasibility assessment
Production
◦ Niche beef production
◦ Small-scale fruit/vegetable production
◦ Food safety

Funding sources
◦ Utah State University & University of Nevada
Cooperative Extension
◦ USDA-Risk Management Agency
 Targeted states program
 Outreach program
◦ NIFA-BFRDP
 Beginning farmer/rancher program
◦ NIFA-FRTEP
 Federal recognized tribes extension program
◦ Western SARE

Funding applied for & managed by team PIs
Agricultural Product Receipts and Farm Demographics
Idaho
Nevada
Utah
Total
Average
Number of Farms
25,700
3,100
16,600
45,400
15,133
Average Farm Size (acres)
NA
1,902
669
1,286
Total Value of Ag Products $ 5,688,765,000 $ 513,269,000 $ 1,415,678,000 $ 7,617,712,000 $ 2,539,237,333
Value of Crops
$ 2,324,789,000 $ 219,341,000 $ 372,396,000 $ 2,916,526,000 $ 972,175,333
Value of Livestock
$ 3,363,976,000 $ 293,928,000 $ 1,043,281,000 $ 4,701,185,000 $ 1,567,061,667
Dairy, cattle,
vegie/melon/pot Cattle, hay,
Cattle, dairy, hay,
Primary Products
ato, hay
dairy
fruits/berries
Source: USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service, 2007
Number of Socially Disadvantaged/Limited Resource Farm Operators
Operator
Women
Hispanic
American Indian
Black
Native Hawaiian
Asian
More than one race
Total
Idaho
Nevada
12,649
1,747
929
260
351
488
12
4
26
5
137
14
200
38
14,304
2,556
Utah
6,860
473
1,166
4
24
84
79
8,690
Source: USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service, 2007
Total
21,256
1,422
2,005
20
55
235
317
25,310

Provide on-reservation training in Nevada
◦
◦
◦
◦



Record-keeping
Crop/livestock Insurance
Agricultural taxes
Small-scale vegetable production
Hold the only statewide American Indian
Summit for tribal producers, Nevada
Plan to expand programming to Utah Fall
2011
Conduct regional tribal programming needs
assessment summer 2011





Fastest growing producer population
Small-scale fruit/vegetable production on the
rise
Demand for local foods/direct markets
increasing
Require knowledge to increase their profits &
meet their family needs
Require skills to reduce family stress &
conflict, including time management and
dispute resolution

Nevada Small Farms Conference
◦ March Fallon, NV

Great Basin Women & Youth in Ag Conference
◦ June Las Vegas, NV – For Utah, Nevada, & Idaho

General Topics
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Record-keeping/business planning/taxes
Crop/livestock insurance
Vegetable/fruit production/marketing
Food safety in value-added production
Niche livestock production/marketing
Family business management/conflict resolution
Direct marketing-farmers markets, farm-to-school

FFA program – MARSS (managing agriculture risk
seminar series), Nevada
◦ 30 classes held in pilot 2009
◦ 12 classes with new curriculum 2011

Utah Building Farmers Program

Diversified Agriculture Conference

Nevada Small Farms Conference

Economic Assessment of Low Water-Use Crops
◦ Fall 8 week session, Utah
◦ Fall 3 day conference, tribal members in Nevada
◦ February, Utah
◦ March, Fallon, NV
◦ One-day course held year-round in Utah, Idaho, &
Nevada




Pre/post-testing
Post-workshop evaluation
6 month and/or 1 year follow-up evaluation
Standard KASA, practices, SEEC model
◦ Change in knowledge/attitude
◦ Use of new knowledge/change in practice
◦ Economic/social impacts
Indian
Indian
Small Farms
Ag/Rural
Small Farms
Ag/Rural
2010
Summit 2010
2011
Summit 2011
I will be reevaluating aspects of my operation as a result of what I learned.
I am better prepared to evaluate new ideas to see if they are right for my
operation.
I now know of more places that I can go for help or information (i.e.
speakers, websites, etc.)
I plan to use the knowledge/skills I learned.
I will be sharing ideas earned at this conference with others.
I am better prepared to deal with changes in the economy as a result of
attending this conference.
4.43
3.94
4.54
4.48
4.17
4.36
4.60
NA
4.57
4.50
4.42
4.44
4.53
4.78
4.64
4.20
4.00
4.28
How far are you willing to travel to attend the conference?
Less than 20 miles
21-50 miles
51-100 miles
101-200 miles
more than 200 miles
6%
10%
42%
16%
27%
11%
36%
32%
4%
18%
12%
13%
44%
15%
13%
What is the value to you of attending this conference or the benefits you
estimate you will receive from changes you will make as a result of
attending this conference?
less than $100
$101-$500
$501-$900
More than $900
32%
31%
10%
27%
29%
57%
5%
10%
13%
15%
23%
45%
2009
2010
Table . Tribal Record Keeping & Tax Management: Pre and Post-Test Scores PART A
Location
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Difference Improvement
Min
Max
Average
Min
Max Average
(%)
Duckwater
0
5
2.43
0
7
4.71
2.29
94.12%
Pyramid Tribe
2
5
3.75
2
7
5.00
1.25
33.33%
Duck Valley
0
6
3.78
0
7
5.00
1.22
32.35%
Walker River
3
6
4.71
4
5
4.43
-0.29
-6.06%
South Fork
3
6
4.50
3
7
5.63
1.13
25.00%
All
0.00
6.00
3.97
0.00
7.00
4.91
0.94
23.70%
Table . Tribal Record Keeping & Tax Management: Pre and Post-Test Scores PART B
Location
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Difference Improvement
Min
Max
Average
Min
Max Average
(%)
Duckwater
0
16
7.83
0
16
5.17
-2.67
-34.04%
Pyramid Tribe
6
17
11.00
0
18
10.50
-0.50
-4.55%
Duck Valley
0
18
6.89
0
20
10.67
3.78
54.84%
Walker River
0
15
9.57
0
17
12.29
2.71
28.36%
South Fork
0
9
4.38
0
16
9.50
5.13
117.14%
All
0.00
18.00
7.29
0.00
20.00
9.74
2.46
33.73%

Results of Nevada Crop/Livestock Insurance
Handbook Evaluations and Programming Participant
Survey Regarding Crop/Livestock Insurance
Understanding and Use
◦ Understanding of crop insurance features, tools, use in risk
management and awareness of agents increased by 6-15%
from 2009-2010
◦ Use of crop insurance increased by 6% from 2009-2010
◦ Results from the 2010 handbook evaluations and 2010
survey are similar
◦ The cost of crop insurance and inappropriate for
farm/ranch were the primary reasons respondents didn’t
purchase crop insurance in both the 2010 handbook
evaluations and 2010 survey
◦ Crop insurance policies earning premium increased by
32.22% from 2008-2009, and by 5.88% from 2009-2010
In the following table check yes if you "agree" with the statement, no if you "disagree", or not applicable if the item doesn't apply to
your situation
% Yes
% No
% N/A
I understand the features and types of risk addressed by existing crop/livestock/whole farm
insurance products
56.5
19.6
23.9
I understand how crop/livestock/whole farm insurance is used in risk management
58.7
19.6
21.7
I understand the record keeping requirements of federal whole farm insurance policies (AGR-Lite)
I am aware of the federal crop/livestock insurance closing dates
I am aware of the crop/livestock/whole farm insurance agents in Nevada
I use or will use federal and or private crop/livestock/whole farm insurance products
37
41.3
37.8
34.8
41.3
41.3
48.9
45.7
If you do not use federal crop/livestock/whole farm insurance products please choose the appropriate reason
below
%
20
0
0
26.7
40
13.3
Insurance cost too high
Not able to contact agent or agent did not respond
Agent was not informed about insurance products
Insurance products not appropriate for my farm/ranch
Not applicable
Other- Please specify
Year
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Policies
Percentage
Percentage
Earning
Change from Net Acres Change from
Premium Previous Year Insured Previous Year
17
--8,792
--52
205.88%
30,831
250.67%
58
11.54%
34,686
12.50%
88
51.72%
38,289
10.39%
115
30.68%
37,982
-0.80%
103
-10.43%
38,928
2.49%
91
-11.65%
41,197
5.83%
90
-1.10%
40,851
-0.84%
119
32.22%
48,784
19.42%
126
5.88%
51,700
5.98%
21.7
17.4
13.3
19.6
Thank you!