Developing An Extension Program for Serving the Under-Served Farmers and Ranchers in Missouri: Overcoming the Many Challenges

Missouri had a very successful Small Farm Program that was started by University of Missouri Extension (UME) in 1971, and since 1976, it was run jointly by UME and the Lincoln University Cooperative Extension (LUCE), the state's 1890 Land-grant institution. Because of financial exigency, the Program was closed in 2005. It was a good Program for the state's small and limited-resource farmers and ranchers, the same audience that LUCE wanted to reach. LUCE therefore decided to launch an outreach program for the benefit of this segment of the population. We were aware of the many challenges associated with starting a new extension program. Thus, we consulted with many stakeholders around the state, the 2007 Agricultural census data, and discussed our proposed plan with the target population as well as our colleagues, in order to identify and avoid all possible pitfalls. Finally, in October 2008, we launched "Innovative Small Farmers' Outreach Program (ISFOP)" with the primary objective of assisting the undeserved citizens who are trying desperately to make a living from their small acreages. ISFOP currently operates in seven counties in the East Central region and another seven counties in the West Central region of Missouri. These areas were chosen for their proximity to the state's two largest cities that offer a substantial consumer base for the locally grown commodities, as well as have large minority and new immigrant populations. Many small farmers, both urban and rural, have begun to rely on ISFOP for receiving farm-related information, technical assistance and training. In addition to sharing some of our success stories, we will discuss how we were able to change many apprehensions out there during the planning stage to a lot of "goodwill" that has made our job so rewarding.