Progress 03/01/15 to 02/29/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Food Systems and Food Safety: Farmers, brokers, distributors, aggregators, processors, buyers, consumers, policy makers, creditors, farmers market managers, county and city officials, state agencies responsible for food trade, processing and service activities. When schools are involved as buyers, there is an emphasis on those schools with 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program Organic/Sustainable Horticulture: Farmers, consumers, buyers, technical service providers and NRCS staff in particular, community and school gardens leads and practitioners Changes/Problems:Over the life of the project, the greatest challenge was making progress with market channel development for local food systems. Objective 1 aimed to increase the access and affordability of food in low-income areas, including schools with a 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program. When this project was approved in 2014, I had formal responsibility and funding support for Farm to School network development andprocurement. Objective 1 goals were explicitly written to mirror plans of work from these two projects. In 2016, due to administrative changes, my funding for the program ended. I continued to work towards Objective one goals, but my scope of work has declined over the years as projects came to completion to the advisory role I have now. As such, accomplishments for that objective are primarily during 2015-2017. In 2018 and 2019, I mentored students, served as a guest speaker in extension education programs, and provided guidance to the team. Farm to school local procurement has increased every year, according to our state department of agriculture, and I'd like to think I had some small role in that. However, I do not anticipate formally renewing these objectives in future HATCH proposals. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two statewide presentations were given: Organic Vegetable Gardening was a one-hour video conference to home gardeners as part of the Victory Garden 2020 series, and a presentation to faculty, agents, and service providers on cover crops and BMPs as part of the statewide BMP educational series to 35 and 73 attendees, respectively.One in-service training to 39 participants. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated face to face grower meetings at the county and multi-county level, small group work with agents and faculty, direct one on one contact with clients, farm visits, and through trained agents. Fact sheets, Facebook posts, and program websites were also used. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Food Systems. One of the ways Florida farmers can increase market penetration of their products is to ensure they have sufficient volume to meet the demands of processors and buyers. Carrots are an emerging industry in Florida, and Florida producers are poised to supply a portion of the eastern US market if demand remains strong. Several other emerging enterprises such as hops, industrial hemp, specialty pumpkin, and artichoke are efforts led by other faculty. To bring the researchers and agents together to evaluate these opportunities and design programming needed for farmers' success, the university led a 1.5-day In-Service Training - Emerging Enterprises. I co-lead the design and implementation of an educational track, Organic Enterprises, and Transition. Thirty-nine participants were present in this session. I provided two presentations in collaboration with agents, including Organic Carrot Production in Florida and Organic Transitions. I led a 12-member team on an internal grant proposal submission to continue research and extension efforts on organic carrot production and organic transition. The decision will be announced in spring. I participated in the FFAR's Smart Urban Food Systems Summit in New York City in October and led an article to describe my experience with two other UF participants. In late 2019, I led a proposal team (for January 2020 submission to the Florida Specialty Crop Block grant program) to address barriers to accessible processing for North Central Florida farmers by connecting them with existing farm-to-institution networks. This project aims to increase sales of value-added specialty crops from local farms and accelerate food system innovation. Pilot participants include food buyers from one state institution and two county school districts, two processors, a non-profit and six specialty crop farmers. This team has extensive experience in farm to institution food service, specialty crop production and processing, farm food safety, and program evaluation, and will provide strategic and tactical support for participants. Research, extension, and education activities will be employed to describe institutional local food purchasing habits, design and assess new processing strategies, document storage and distribution requirements of institutional food buyers, processors, and small-scale distributors, and establish a group GAP framework for project participants. Cover Crop Best Practices. I contributed to the design and implementation of The Cover Crops and Soil Health Field Day, conducted in February in north Florida. The program included formal presentations, discussion, farmer keynote, sponsored lunch, and a field tour highlighting innovative cover crop practices. I gave a presentation on cover crop mixtures and designed the program evaluation. There were 53 responses out of 65 attendees. Twenty eight percent of farmers reported they had grown cover crops for ten or more years, 21% had grown them for 3-4 years, while three groups of 17% each had either grown them for 5-9 years, 1-2 years or had never grown a cover crop. Among all respondents, the top problems identified as a "Very Serious Problem" were lack of knowledge (21%) and timing of planting (18%). The top problems identified as a "Moderate Problem" were annual cost (48%), equipment (44%), lack of knowledge (37%), labor (34%), and interference with cash crop (32%). Most farmers found all presentations helpful, as a range of 65 to 92% indicated so. Ninety-five percent (95%, N 44) stated that they were planning to make a management change because of the information shared that day. Of the twelve respondents who indicated that they had attended the cover crop workshop in in March 2018 (I presented at that program as well), three indicated that changes were made based on that workshop, including the types of cover crops used, the use of soil health sampling and adoption of cover crops. Cover Crop Risks and Benefits. In the 2017 National Cover Crop Survey, US farmers reported 15.5 million planted cover crop acres predominantly in Midwestern row crop systems, including corn and soy. However, this study captured very little information from farmers located in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. To better understand the educational needs of farmers located in these areas, semi-structured interviews were conducted to document farmers' perceived barriers to cover crop adoption. Study methods were approved and granted Exempt status by the University of Florida's Institutional Review Board (IRB 201802091). Twenty-five farmers (Florida: n=14, Puerto Rico plus the US Virgin Islands: n=11) voluntarily participated in a one-hour face to face interview conducted at their farms. Farm size ranged from 1.5 to 5,000 acres, with the predominant systems being diversified vegetables (n=10) fruit and nut tree crops (n=6), peanuts, and cotton (n=5) and pastures (n=4). All the farmers interviewed had either used cover crops in the past or were currently using cover crops. The years of experience managing cover crops ranged from two to twenty-seven years. Farmers cited a variety of objectives for using cover crops, including preventing soil erosion (n=9), weed suppression (n=9), increasing soil health (n=7), and improving water conservation (n=5). Data from these in-depth farmer interviews are critical to understanding cover crop use and adoption dynamics among farmers historically underrepresented in national and regional cover crop surveys. Cover Crop Decision Tool. While we have made progress on the cover crop decision tool, it remains a work in progress. At this time, cover crop information sheets are in draft form, with input from farmers and agents, with information about planting methods, species selection, crop rotation, and other essential management recommendations. In addition, five fact sheets are in draft form and will be published to the university fact sheet library and linked to the Southern Cover Crop Council's website upon completion. Reduce Off-farm Inputs. A graduate student has completed two previously described studies on cultural pest management of organic peach, on the effect of bagging young peaches with an opaque white bag, and a second study evaluating the effect of colored films on anthocyanin expression in peach. Findings from the first study are as follows. Protective bags appeared to delay maturity, as flesh resistance and chlorophyll concentration increased more than 127% compared to unbagged fruit. Bags reduced mechanical injury by almost 4%, reduced fruit fly injury by a factor of five, and reduced scab-like lesions by a factor of nine. Scab-like injury severity was similar at lower injury levels, but bags reduced the incidence of severe injury by 6.5% (greater than 20 lesions per fruit). Bagging reduced fruit brown rot (Monilinia fructicola) at harvest and seven days after harvest; unbagged fruit were 2 and 3.5 times more likely to have rot at harvest and seven days after harvest, respectively. Fruit bags did not affect yield, size, total soluble solids, pH, skin lightness, skin hue angle, and all color measurements of flesh color. Overall, the canopy cardinal quadrant location had minimal effect on fruit quality. These results demonstrate that bagging fruit had minimal effects on fruit quality and protects fruit against various pests and diseases. Broad adoption of this technology is highly dependent on available labor, market demands, and profitability, but may be suitable for producers utilizing direct-to-consumer market channels.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Oral: J. Perez g, D. Campbell, D. Treadwell, and S. Weiss. Farmers Opinions of Cover Crop Integration in Specialty Crop, Row Crop, and Forage Systems in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. American Society for Horticultural Sciences Annual Meeting. Orlando, FL. Aug.9-13, 2020.HortScience 55(9) Sxxx-Sxxx
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Oral: Campbell, D.g, J. Gillett-Kaufman, A. Sarkhosh, J. Brecht, and D. Treadwell. 2020. Efficacy of Bagging as an Alternative Insect and Disease Management Tool for Peach (Prunus persica L.) in Florida. HortScience. 55(9) Sxxx-Sxxx
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Watson, J.Ag., D Treadwell, R. Bucklin, C. Campbell, and P. Jones. 2019. The feasibility of local food cooperatives to support farm to school procurement in southwest Florida. Submitted to Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. Sept 2019 manuscript ID: RAFS-D-19-00134
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Food Systems and Food Safety: Farmers, brokers, distributors, aggregators, processors, buyers, consumers, policy makers, creditors, farmers market managers, county and city officials, state agencies responsible for food trade, processing and service activities. When schools are involved as buyers, there is an emphasis on those schools with 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program Organic/Sustainable Horticulture: Farmers, consumers, buyers, technical service providers and NRCS staff in particular, community and school gardens leads and practitioners Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Food Systems. In support of farmers selling direct to consumers in urban and rural areas throughout Florida, the Florida Direct Marketing Handbook, first released in 2018, continues to be very popular among our Extension agents. Agents purchase in bulk from the Extension Bookstore to distribute during programs and refer to as a handbook in one-on-one counseling. In 2019, we printed an additional 1,000 books. The team was recognized for the guide this year with the following (additional from 2018) awards: American Society of Horticultural Sciences National Blue Ribbon Extension Materials Award and Southern Region winner, and National Association of County Agricultural Agents Extension Award Finalist. Agents have asked for slide presentations to complement the text, and that has been slated for 2020's plan of work. Food Safety. Invited speaker to the Florida SNAP-Ed Annual Meeting. Provided one hour of instruction to 24 nutrition educators on Food Labelling and Product Claims. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture. In 2019 I was a mentor for an undergraduate honors student. The program at UF requires students to conduct a research project and write a final paper. I met with the student monthly, and sometimes more frequently to provide instruction and guidance. The student identified and defined her project area did the research, and successfully submitted her final project in December 2019. She presented her work on a poster at the Southern Region ASHS, was awarded the best poster overall, and received $300. This student is now in law school. I provided face to face instruction to approximately 100 undergraduate students on Organic Fruit Production for a general education class (1CR). This is a class I am invited to teach every year. In addition, I recorded an online version for distance education under the direction of the course instructor. I used this opportunity to give my doctoral student some teaching experience, and he presented part of the lesson. Hosted one high school student in my laboratory who assisted with organic carrot research, specifically, taking qualitative data (weight, length, USDA market grade) and analyzing for carotenoid concentration. The student learned how to set up spreadsheets, collect data accurately and ethically, and interpret statistical figures to draw conclusions in his own words. The student was directly mentored by my doctoral student to provide him with a mentoring experience. One hourly undergraduate student from Agricultural Education supported my program overall by contributing to written and visual (graphic arts) educational material. I mentored her through the style and design of the Direct Marketing Guide; she completed layouts, helped edit, contributed style and design ideas, and is included on all awards received for this guide. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? A major revision was completed on the most popular extension fact sheet at UF: Organic Vegetable Gardening and the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide (85,000 downloads in 2019), minor revisions and updates were completed on the fact sheets Organic Vegetable Gardening (lead), Economics of the Organic Industry in Florida, Growing Bell Peppers Under Open Shade Structures, and Transitioning to Organic using Conservation Tillage. A graduate student presented his organic peach research to 75 producers at the Stone Fruit Field Day. I presented a summary of organic carrot nitrogen management to 45 producers and state agency representatives at the Twilight Field Day. Presented an update on the work of the Southern Cover Crop Council to 40 row crop producers at the Soil Health and Cover Crop Field Day. Created approximately 200 posts to the Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Facebook page, for a total organic reach of 65,561 (2,200 followers). The sum of field consultations, office consultations, group learning participants, telephone and email consultations was 458 contacts. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This project ends February, 2020. In the final six months, we aim to finalize research manuscripts from projects that have been ongoing, seek additional funding to continue the work, and begin a new HATCH project.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Florida SNAP-Ed Farm to School. During 2019, I phased out of my role as a faculty advisor toten Regional Farm to School Coordinators (now referred to as Food Systems Specialists) due to time constraints and the need to prioritize publications. One letter of recommendation was written for a full-time staff member that resulted in her successful hire to a full-time SNAP-Ed coordinator for the state of Ohio. I continued to provide food safety educational training, provided crop production recommendations, and helped troubleshoot production issues for SNAP-Ed staff and UF/IFAS Extension agents working in the farm so school programming as needed. Florida school districts purchased $7.6 million worth of Florida specialty crops during the 2018-2019 school year through competitive contracts (6.7 million pounds) (FDACS, 2019). An additional 544,000 pounds of produce worth $826,000 were purchased from Florida farmers though the USDA's Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (DoD Fresh). Purchases of Florida specialty crops through the DoD Fresh program increased 21% in the 2017-2018 school year, and 25% in the 2018-2019 school year (FDACS, 2019). Food Safety. A summary of our work was presented by the project's PI at the International Assoc. of Food Protection's annual meeting. Orchard Floor Management with Cover Crops. This new project is intended to improve the management and adoption of cover crops in Florida's tree fruit, including citrus. The citrus industry has been declining since the introduction of the disease citrus greening (Huanglongbing or HLB) in 2005. In Florida, 595 farms (64,000 acres) abandoned citrus from 2012 to 2017, leaving 474,540 acres currently in production (USDA NASS, 2019). Most citrus is produced on sandy soil (Entisols) characterized by rapid water infiltration and low nutrient retention. Trees require ample fertilizer and irrigation for a profitable crop. Huanglongbing infected trees also require 57%, 15%, 22%, 11%, 190%, and 90% more K, Mg, Mn, Zn, Cu, and B, respectively, to remain above previously established critical threshold concentrations (Schumann et al., 2019). HLB trees also have a small root system (Morgan et al. 2007; Johnson et al., 2014) that prevents efficient nutrient and water uptake. Applying additional soil-applied nutrients will leach under current management plans (Morgan et al. 2007), but improving the soil chemical, biological, and physical properties may increase plant-available nutrients. Cover crops have the potential to increase soil health and nutrients by increasing the soil water residence time (reduced leaching) and nutrients (Granatstein and Sanchez, 2009). Cover crops grown with citrus have increased soil nitrogen availability and reduced weed density and diversity (Linares et al., 2010), but research has not kept pace with grower practices, including new species and cultivation techniques used by innovative farmers. Improving citrus production in central Florida counties that collectively contain over 26% of the state acreage will benefit Florida's citrus industry and economy. We planned a small study at a research station in conventional citrus (0.3 acres) to quantify the effect of cover crops on nutrient cycling, water use efficiency, and weed management. Treatments include full tillage, strip tillage with direct-seeded cover crops compared to a control of native vegetation, and treatments are arranged in an RCBD. Cover crops were planted in November, and three soil moisture probes are installed in representative plots to collect soil moisture data every six inches to 42 inches deep. Cover crops will be terminated in spring, and summer cover crops will be planted immediately after, followed by winter cover crops at the end of 2020. The trial will end in the spring of 2021. Preliminary data will be used to secure a multi-year grant to continue the work. Cover Crop Educational Materials. 2019 activities for our Southern SARE project included an approved and Exempt IRB #201802091, completed 29 interviews of farmers in Puerto Rico, St. Croix USVI and Florida, presented preliminary data at the Southern Region ASHS and have an abstract accepted at the National ASHS meeting in August. Cover Crop Information Networks. In 2019, our team composed of faculty representing the US regional cover crop councils and others (100 scientists from 35 institutions) was awarded an AFRI-SAS CAP grant to enhance the effectiveness of cover crop conservation tillage systems in corn, soybeans, and cotton. We will investigate the impacts of cover crops on chemical and biological cycles and their influence on crop performance, water, and nitrogen availability and use efficiencies, and pests, diseases, and weeds. My role as a co-PI on that project will be to conduct research on three north Florida farms using real-time data flow, edge and cloud-based platforms, decision support tools, and on-farm monitoring systems. Data will be used to improve cover crop recommendations. Nitrogen Management in Organic Carrot. Co-PI FDACS Office of Ag and Water Policy grant Organic and Conventional BMPs for Carrot in Northeast Florida. No formal recommendations for organic carrot nitrogen fertilization have been published for Florida producers. Organic nitrogen inputs require biological nitrogen fixation and mineralization prior to plant uptake and are therefore inherently different conventional fertilizers (salts). Completed research to develop nitrogen fertilization recommendations for organic carrot and this paper is now in an advanced draft form, formatted for the journal HortScience. This work was presented at the Southern Region ASHS meeting in August.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
D.D. Treadwell, J. Perez, J. Love, S. Weiss, and D. Col�n-Carri�n. 2019. Regional, state and community-level networks advance cover crop interest and action. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA International Annual Meeting. Nov. 8-11 San Antonio, TX. Abstract #118852 https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2019am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/118852
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Campbell, D.g, A. Sarkhosh, J. Brecht, J. Gillett-Kaufman and D. Treadwell. 2019. Effects of Altered Light Transmission Environments on Quality and Anthocyanin Content of Bagged Peaches. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA International Annual Meeting. Nov. 8-11. San Antonio TX. Poster #1311
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Chapin, T., R. Hochmuth, D. Treadwell, S. Galindo-Gonzales, J. Perez, M. Krug, M.B. Henry, and M. D. Danyluk. 2019. Development of a hands-on and demonstration-based produce food safety training curriculum. The International Association of Food Protection Annual Meeting. Louisville, Kentucky. July 22, 2019 Abstract P1-89 https://iafp.confex.com/iafp/2019/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/21640
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Crowell, E.K. && and D. Treadwell. 2019. Policy and information Networks Influence Organic Farmers Behavior in Italy and the United States. HortScience. 54(9) S387-S387.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
D. Treadwell, J. Perez, B. Hochmuth, B. Broughton, and M. Boyette. 2019. Nitrogen Rate Influences Organic Carrot Characteristics but Not Yield in North Central Florida. HortScience. 54(9) S386-S386.
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Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Food Systems and Food Safety: Farmers, brokers, distributors, aggregators, processors, buyers, consumers, policy makers, creditors, farmers market managers, county and city officials, state agencies responsible for food trade, processing and service activities. When schools are involved as buyers, there is an emphasis on those schools with 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program Organic/Sustainable Horticulture: Farmers, consumers, buyers, technical service providers and NRCS staff in particular, community and school gardens leads and practitioners Changes/Problems:Objective 1 aimed to increase the access and affordability of food in low-income areas including schools with a 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program. When this HATCH proposal was approved in 2014, I had formal responsibility and funding support for Farm to School network development including procurement and was funded as PI under contract from FDACS as well as a co-PI for the Family Nutrition Program, Florida SNAP-Ed. Objective 1 goals were written specifically to mirror plans of work from these two projects. In 2016, the agency that serves as the fiscal agent for implementing SNAP-Ed funds initiated administrative changes and consequentially my funding for that program ended. I continued to work towards Objective 1 goals but my scope of work has declined over the years as projects came to completion to the advisory role I have now. As such, institution workload reporting was submitted for 2013-2017 only, and I do not anticipate formally renewing these objectives in future HATCH proposals. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Food Systems 1. The PSEChange.org website was completed and published. 2. The UF/IFAS Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises website was completely overhauled with new content (38 pages) and built upon a T4 platform. The website had its soft launch in November 2018. Last year, the site received 998,000 visits. Food Safety 3. Produce Safety Alliance Training to 75 participants in 4 training events. Each training was a full day (7 hours). Sustainable/Organic Horticulture 4. Stone Fruit Field Day, Citra, FL May 29, 2018. A farmer field day was held at the UF/OFAS Plant Science Research and Education Unit near Citra, FL on May 29, 2018. PI was invited to give an oral presentation titled Cover Crop Options for Fruit Orchards. UF's Stone Fruit Extension Specialist and Lake County's Extension Director organized the field day. Among the 128 or so attendees were current and some prospective farmers, industry representatives, technical service providers, researchers and agency staff. A post-program evaluation was administered and while response was quite low (n=19), 42% of respondents cited Treadwell's Cover Crop talk as "Most Useful" on a 5-pt scale from Least to Most Useful. Peach Rootstock Issues and Progress was favored by 63% of respondents, and the field plot tour was favored by 53% of respondents. 5. Carrot Twilight Field Day, Live Oak, FL. March. Presented preliminary findings from organic nitrogen management carrot study to more than 50 producers, agency staff and industry representatives. 6. Soil Health for Organic Farmers Session. Organic Food and Farming Summit Gainesville, FL. Led a 90-minute session for 35 organic farmers to increase their knowledge of soil characteristics and best practices for managing soil optimally. Hands-on, demonstration, and formal instruction. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Popular press, face-to-face training, video, slide presentations, social media, Extension fact sheets, peer-reviewed journal article. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This project ends February 2019. A new HATCH proposal is underway.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System- Florida SNAP-Ed Farm to School. Served as a faculty advisor toten Regional Farm to School Coordinators (now referred to as Food Systems Specialists) including program planning, development, and mentoring through email and phone correspondence and face-to-face meetings. Letters of recommendation were written for 3 full time staff members resulting in the following: acceptance into graduate school at University of Vermont's Food Systems program (staffer will conduct this online while continuing her position), successful hire to a full time tenure-accruing UF/IFAS 4H Extension position in the staffer's home county, and a UF/IFAS Superior Accomplishment Award for the team's state coordinator. This year, I provided food safety educational training and financial support of food safety educational training to staff, provided crop production recommendations, and helped trouble shoot administrative, human resource, and production issues as needed. In 2018, Alachua County School District's Farm to School Coordinator led a program that resulted in approximately 24% of produce consumed in Alachua County's school cafeterias sourced from Florida farmers. Florida SNAP-Ed staff (2 FTE) provided support for these achievements with additional support provided by other members of the F2SC team (State Coordinator for SNAP-Ed Farm to School and Community team and Northeast Regional Food Systems Coordinator) with support from this faculty member as described above. Regional Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Centers of Excellence. Co-PI ona multi-state project funded by the USDA-FNS sought to enhance the capacity of SNAP-Ed and EFNEP networks to implement and evaluation policy, systems and environmental (PSE) approaches and to strengthen the effectiveness of PSE approaches. A website and online training resource was developed to provide a consistent web training and resource site for SNAP-Ed and EFNEP PSE implementation. My work includes three videos on best practices for school and community gardens. The project was completed in 2018. Florida Direct Marketing Handbook. Approximately 150 farmer's markets are registered in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services community farmers markets listing, and 32 of these markets in 15 counties work in partnership with SNAP and WIC recipients. A statewide effort to create a reference handbook for these farmers selling direct to consumers was led by myself and a co-leader of the UF/IFAS Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises program. Content was written by state and county Extension faculty, and reviewed by editors and staff from state agencies. The 88-page full color guide was published this year with an initial printing of 500 copies and distributed to agents throughout the state. It was awarded a Blue Ribbon Extension Communication Award by Southern Region American Society for Horticultural Sciences. SCRI Proposal. This past year I served as a co-PI on a multi-state SCRI submission titled Enhancing the Productivity, Equity, and Sustainability of Specialty Crop Food Systems (led by UF/IFAS). My proposed role was to work with farmers and food system intermediaries to identify needs and implement solutions to local food infrastructure limitations that hinder development of farm to consumer market channels, particularly for food insecure residents in two Florida counties. This proposal is under consideration. Sarasota County School District Farm to School Procurement. A doctoral student (under my direction as co-Chair and financial sponsor) conducted an extensive analysis of county school food purchasing history to determine the feasibility and economic assessment of a farm to school procurement system. Investigations included farmer interviews to assess barriers and opportunities of participating in farm to school procurement (funded by a graduate student Southern Region SARE award), completion of an economic impact assessment of local food procurement (published in 2018 in JAFSCD, see publications). A second paper reporting the outcomes of a feasibility analysis of farmer cooperatives to support farm to school procurement is in preparation. 2. Food Safety Produce Food Safety Training. Provided instruction at two Produce Safety Alliance Trainings. In addition, I am a co-PI on a USDA grant to develop and deliver educational materials for specialty crop producers. Our team has focused on delivering the programs in production and processing areas using a hands-on format where participants learn how to apply the Produce Safety Rule in their operation. An evaluation instrument was designed and utilized. All the Responses (n=15) were entered into Qualtrics, tabulated and then analyzed through a Paired Sample T-test using IBM ISPSS Version 25. Mean pre-test scores in percentage were 35.94, while mean post-test scores were 81.5. All 15 participants increased their knowledge with an average gain of 8.2 points. The T-test result indicated that this difference was statistically significant. Two additional trainings are scheduled for 2019. Online School Garden Food Safety Training. Revisions were made to seven modules of an on-line training for school garden food safety. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will host this training. It is expected that all school gardens receiving financial support from FDACS have a garden lead onsite that has successfully completed the training and will serve as the food safety point person for the school. Three extension fact sheets are in preparation by project co-PIs and are designed to complement the online training. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture Organic Peach Production. Co-PI (Florida lead) for the four-year USDA OREI grant "Evaluating Paper Bags for Pest Management in Organic Peaches". I recruited a graduate student (PhD) and farmer cooperator for the research. The first year of research completed on certified organic peach orchard in Lake County, Florida. Yield, fruit quality, postharvest quality, disease identification and severity, and insect density identification to family (via traps) comprise the dataset. The student presented preliminary findings at the American Society for Horticultural Sciences in August 2018, and an Extension fact sheet was published on eXtension in the Organic Agriculture Resource Area. Cover Crop Educational Materials. This year a new project was initiated, funded by Southern SARE to evaluate farmer opinions of risks and benefits of cover crops in Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and to develop educational materials to support the adoption of cover crops in food and fiber production systems. An IRB for farmer evaluation was submitted and approved. Cover Crop Decision Tool. The Southern Cover Crop Council was formed in December 2017, and I currently serve as the Council's Co-Chair of the Education and Communication Committee. In this capacity, I have assisted with the development of the decision support tool by reviewing materials and assisting with the design and development of the council website. I also lead the social media effort. The decision support tool is published on www.southerncovercrops.org. Nitrogen Management in Organic Carrot. Co-PI FDACS Office of Ag and Water Policy grant Organic and Conventional BMPs for Carrot in Northeast Florida to developnitrogen recommendations for organic carro tin Florida. Completed second year of research to develop nitrogen fertilization recommendations for organic carrot. The experimental design is a randomized complete block with five nitrogen rates ranging from 168 kg ha-1 to 393 kg ha-1; treatments are replicated four times. Data include yield, root quality, nitrogen-partitioning (root/shoot) at harvest, and soil nitrogen. Preliminary finds were presented at the Crop Science Society's Annual International Meeting in November.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Watson, J. Ag., Treadwell, D., & Bucklin, R. 2018. Economic analysis of local food procurement in southwest Florida⿿s farm to school programs. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 8(3), 61-84. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2018.083.011
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Treadwell, D., J. Perez, M.B. Henry, K. Athearn, and T. Mitchell. (Eds.). 2018. Florida Direct Marketing Handbook. 86 pp. Full color. Hardcopy only at this time. First Edition print 500 Aug 2018; Second Edition print planned for October 2018 (500).
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Campbell, D.N.*, D. Treadwell, J.C. Melgar, and D. Chavez. 2018. How to Use Paper Bags to Protect Organic Peaches from Insects and Diseases in the Southeastern United States. eXtension Organic Agriculture Resource Area. https://articles.extension.org/pages/74721/how-to-use-paper-bags-to-protect-organic-peaches-from-insects-and-diseases-in-the-southeastern-unite
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Perez, J., D. Treadwell, R. Hochmuth, B. Broughton, M. Boyette, and D. N. Campbell
Nitrogen Management in Organic Carrot Production in North Florida. Poster Abstracts for 2018 SE Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference. January 2018. Savannah, GA
- Type:
Other
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Conn, M.B. and D. Treadwell. 2018. Weeds as reservoirs of plant pathogens of economically important crops. Submitted to UF/IFAS EDIS, the University of Florida⿿s online Extension library. Peer reviewed Extension publication. Sept. 2018.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Treadwell, D. 2017. Carrot Industry Emerging in Florida. Vegetable and Specialty Crop News. July 6, 2017. http://vscnews.com/carrot-industry-emerging-florida/
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
A. Sarkhosh and D. Treadwell. 2018. Improving Orchard Soil with Cover Crops. Vegetable and Specialty Crop News. Sept.3, 2018. http://vscnews.com/improving-orchard-soil-with-cover-crops/
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Campbell, D.N.*, D. Treadwell, J.C. Melgar, and D. Chavez. 2018. How to Use Paper Bags to Protect Organic Peaches from Insects and Diseases in the Southeastern United States. American Society for Horticultural Sciences Annual Meeting. Washington DC July 30- August 3, 2018 HortScience In press (Supplement)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Treadwell, D., Hochmuth, R. and J. Perez. Nitrogen Management in Organic Carrot Production. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA International Annual Meeting. November 3-7, 2018. Washington, DC. Abstract #113878
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Treadwell, D., Hochmuth, R., Zampieri, L. and Perez, J. 2018. Developing Nitrogen Best Management Practices to Reduce Risk to Water Quality in Organic Carrot in Florida. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA International Annual Meeting. Oct. 21-26, Tampa, FL. (Oral Presentation) Electronic Abstract: https://scisoc.confex.com/crops/2017am/webprogram/Paper107430.html
|
Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Food Systems and Food Safety: Farmers, brokers, distributors, aggregators, processors, buyers, consumers, policy makers, creditors, farmers market managers, county and city officials, state agencies responsible for food trade, processing and service activities. When schools are involved as buyers, there is an emphasis on those schools with 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program Organic/Sustainable Horticulture: Farmers, consumers, buyers, technical service providers and NRCS staff in particular, community and school gardens leads and practitioners Changes/Problems:No major changes or problems to report. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System Provided leadership for the Farm to School team as their faculty advisor. I receive no funding in this role, yet I remain very active in program planning, development, and mentoring the staff of ten who serve as Regional Farm to School Coordinators (now referred to as Food Systems Specialists). Nominated Farm to School Statewide Coordinator (under my supervision) for Superior Accomplishment Award. He won. Interviewed for his replacement (he is now my PhD student) and helped to hire/train new State Coordinator. Wrote letters of recommendation for F2S staff seeking other employment (moving on) or graduate school. (One staffer received dream job offer at CCOF, one other began graduate school). Member of Central District Food Systems Advisory Board. Co-led Central District training. Assisted in the design of educational programming including a food systems wheel and learning objectives needed for desired outcomes. Food Systems In-Service Training for Service Providers, including Extension. (Lead organizer and recipient of internal competitive award ($6,000, Extension Administration) to fund Food Systems Think Tank March 20-22, 2017 in Apopka. Trained 25 participants over 1.5 days; the format included presentations, group exercises, farm tours. Developed extensive food systems resource notebook for each participant. In addition, I served as co-organizer for: Using the USDA Impact Toolkit, a training that immediately preceded mine to 35 attendees. March, 2017 2. Food Safety A new project was awared. Co-PI on USDA NIFA award Build Your Own Farm Food Safety Manual, the award will fund staff supervised by me to create colorful, professional educational content on farm food safety and will be specifically targeted to small farm operators. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture Provided undergraduate instruction on sustainable and organic farming to approximately 350 students (total) in the following courses: FRC 1010 Fruit for Fun and Profit, and HOS 3420/6932 Nutrition of Horticultural Crops. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System Invited panelist to the UF/IFAS Extension Symposium's Food System Plenary. One of 5 to answer food systems questions from Florida Extension. 350 attendees. Invited keynote speaker to the Florida EFNEP Annual Meeting. Presentation titled Myth-Busting Your Food. June 2017. 75 attendees. 2. Food Safety FInvited to give the presentation Food Safety at Farmers Markets Sin Sarasota County at the Farmers Market Manager Training. September (30 attednees) 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture Twilight Carrot Field Day, Live Oak, March 2017. Presented carrot findings from 2016 to 50+ producers, agency staff and industry representatives. Invited speaker SE Fruit and Vegetable Conference Organic Carrot Production to be presented in January 2018 in Savannah, GA. National Cover Crop Conference - Invited Speaker: Reduced Tillage in Organic Vegetable Systems Invited to give the following educaitonal sessions (n=attendee number) Organic Farming - Certified Crop Advisor Training, Oct 2017. (75) Resources for Organic Farmers - FOG Food and Farming Summit Sept 2017 (30) Vegetable Production for Small Farms - Marion County Beginning Farmers March 2017 (10) Cover crops for Florida Gardens - Master Gardener State Conference October 2017 (30) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?2018 begins the final year of this HATCH project. A few grant projects will be finalized this coming year, and I will be reflecting upon accomplishments, emerging research needs and Extension education needs as I begin writing a new 5-year HATCH proposal. There are sufficient funds and personnel resources to meet current commitments.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System This project has supported an increase in market opportunities this year by finalizing an advanced draft of the Florida DIrect Marketing Handbook. This 88pp color handbook is designed for specialty crop producers seeking information on best practices, polies and procedures of selling direct to consumer. Print copies are planned for spring 2018. 2. Food Safety The School Garden Food Safety online training was completed with the support of staff and colleagues. The Florida Dept of Agric. Division of Food Nutrition and Wellness will oversee the administration of the training and it will be required of every school that desires to have their garden certified (verification of the pledge of adoption of best practices, including record keeping and maintaining current on new food safety information). 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture 3.1 Co-PI (Florida lead) for the four-year USDA OREI grant "Evaluating Paper Bags for Pest Management in Organic Peaches". I recruited a graduate student (PhD) and farmer cooperator for the research. Student was invited to Alpha Epsilon Lambda Nov 2017. Research plan for Spring 2018 was completed for work to be held on a USDA certified organic family farm located in central Florida. The student's committee is complete. This is a new project and there is not data to report yet. 3.2 Co-PI FDACS Office of Ag and Water Policy grant Organic and Conventional BMPs for Carrot in Northeast Florida. Completed second year of research. . 3.3 Small Farms BMP Manual (@ request of FDACS) team member to write and review manual prior to final adoption and publication. This is a new manual and will be added to the FDACS BMP Series specifically designed to protect water quality and reduce water use in agriculture. Manual is in final draft form.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Treadwell, D. 2017. Carrot Industry Emerging in Florida. Vegetable and Specialty Crop News. July 6, 2017. http://vscnews.com/carrot-industry-emerging-florida/
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Perez, J., Treadwell, D., Hochmuth, R., Broughton, B., Boyette, M. and D. Campbell. Nitrogen Management in Organic Carrot Production in North Florida. Southeastern Fruit and Vegetable Association Annual Meeting. Poster (Abstract) January 2018.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Treadwell, D., Hochmuth, R., Zampieri, L. and Perez, J. 2018. Developing Nitrogen Best Management Practices to Reduce Risk to Water Quality in Organic Carrot in Florida. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA International Annual Meeting. Oct. 21-26, Tampa, FL. (Oral Presentation) Electronic Abstract: https://scisoc.confex.com/crops/2017am/webprogram/Paper107430.html
|
Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Food Systems: Farmers, brokers, distributors, aggregators, processors, buyers, consumers, policy makers, creditors, farmers market managers, county and city officials, state agencies responsible for food trade, processing and service activities. When schools are involved as buyers, there is an emphasis on those schools with 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program Organic/Sustainable Horticulture: Farmers, consumers, buyers, technical service providers and NRCS staff in particular, community and school gardeners Changes/Problems:Convincing growers to attend and follow food safety trainings and best practices continues to be a vexing challenge. We have been successful in recruiting our highly visible farmers to participate and adopt food safety practices, but there are many more in the state that still need training. Disappointingly, attempts to engage farmers to attend farm food safety training through farmers' market networks has been met with a degree of contempt. Farmers and market managers do not agree with our team's encouragement and concern for possible libel should something happen down the road. We were successful at meeting our goals in our FDACS Specialty Crop Block grant, but recognize that training these farmers is still our responsibility at the moment, in the absence of other venues or partners. We will continue our efforts to strategize about effective communication strategies and will try new approaches to reach the segments of our clientele that for now seem unwilling to participate in farm food safety training. No other problems or challenges to report in terms of fulfilling objectives in competitive awards. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System Two invited presentations were delivered to the beneficiaries listed for the production and distribution objectives. Developed specifically for an audience of farmers and chefs in Florida's panhandle, the 30 minute presentation titled "Hot Topics in Food and Farming" reviewed green labels including the National Organic Program, discussed genetically modified crops and their perceptions (and misperceptions) by the buying public, and proposed a framework for discussing emotionally charged topics in our food system. Slide presentation followed by discussion. May 20, 2016. Participants = 19. UF/IFAS Extension Escambia County, Cantonment, FL. A 15 minute presentation to farmers and local decision makers interested in expanding local food economies titled "Fruit and Vegetable Marketing" was one of eleven presentations at the day long program UF/IFAS Tampa Bay Cottage Industry Expo. Participants = 45. Wesley Chapel, FL. July 30, 2016. 2. Food Safety A 30 minute presentation titled "Overview of Farmers' Markets: Current Status and Future Opportunities" was presented to an audience primarily of farmers' market managers and vendors at the program Best Practices at Farmers' Markets - Improving Food Safety and Market Growth, led by collaborator S. Ahn. Participants = 38. August 16, 2016. Orlando, FL. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture Six invited presentations were delivered to the beneficiaries listed for the organic and sustainable horticulture objectives. A three hour program titled "All about Soil" was developed to teach advanced gardeners the underlying mechanisms important for a healthy soil and the best practices necessary to optimize plant health and crop yield. Participants were adults active in the Grow Gainesville community organization. A slide presentation, demonstrations, and visual aids including microscopes, plants, roots, soil, and soil organisms were included in the program. Participants = 29. June 16, 2016. Gainesville, FL. With collaborator S. Weiss, an in-field demonstration on termination of tropical cover crops was given to farmers, academics, students and technical service providers at the SARE-sponsored Southeast Cover Crops Conference. The demonstrations were planned and planted three months in advance, and special equipment was provided. The work reflected our research findings from our SR SARE grant. Participants who came to our demonstration = 125. July 18-19, 2016. Goldsboro, NC. This demonstration was recorded and published. https://www.southernsare.org/News-and-Media/Regional-Resources/Regional-Videos/Southern-Cover-Crop-Conference-Videos A 30 minute presentation was given with J. Love titled "at the Southeast Cover Crops Conference, July 18-19, 2016. Goldsboro, NC. Participants = 20 A 30 minute presentation titled "Overview of Soil Health" was shared with farmers and technical service providers at Florida A&M University's Soil Health and Quality Workshop. August 31, 2016. Participants = 11. Keynote speaker for the Northeast Florida Master Gardener Association titled "Vegetable and Cover Crop Varieties for Northeast Florida Gardens. The presentation was 45 minutes and included a question and answer session. September 8, 2016. Participants = 280. Jacksonville, FL A 15 minute presentation was delivered to water quality stakeholders including land owners, farmers, agency personnel, members of the High Springs Water Alliance and technical service providers titled "UF/IFAS Programs for Resource Conservation on Small Farms". A short discussion followed. October 27, 2016. Participants = 55. High Springs, FL. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System Face to face conversations, informally as well as in a formal program, oral presentations, visual aids, handouts, newsletter articles, blogs, web-based training. 2. Food Safety Face to face conversations, informally as well as in a formal program, oral presentations, visual aids, handouts, newsletter articles, blogs. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture In addition to the methods previously described, program results have been disseminated in the classroom to graduate and undergraduate students during invited guest lectures including FRC 1010 ("Organic Fruit Production" Growing Fruit for Fun and Profit, 1 CR elective, enrollment = 275), as well as student groups ("The Science of Sustainable Agriculture" Sigma Alpha n=50). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System A full proposal was submitted to FDACS' Specialty Crop Block Grant Program to request funding to develop educational content based on research for small farm operators, including revisions to the specialty crop portion of the website. Assist my recent PhD graduate in publishing his papers from his dissertation. Continue to develop relationships and look for funding opportunities to address objectives. Complete the competency based PSE web-based training for SNAP-Ed and EFNEP networks. 2. Food Safety I will participate in the Train the Trainer course: Produce Safety Alliance's Produce Food Safety Training scheduled for early 2017. Four grower PSA trainings are planned thus far for 2017. Continue to mentor agents and as co-PI of the Southern Center grant facilitate opportunities for agent food safety training. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture To advance the nitrogen use efficiency in organic vegetable production systems and reduce risk to groundwater quality, a proposal was submitted to FDACS Office of Agriculture and Water Policy to update best nitrogen management practices for organic carrot and conventional carrot from previous recommendations written 30+ years prior. The Southern Cover Crop Council board has prioritized the development of a cover crop decision tool, and we will begin working on that in 2017. I will seek external funding to assist with this development. Continue to mentor PhD student and refine his course of study in organic specialty crop systems.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Improving Production, Distribution and Diversification in Florida's Food System 1.1 Provided leadership for the Florida Farm to School (F2S) team (FTE 10.0). The team trained 103 farmers, established or enhanced 64 school and 10 community gardens, provided opportunities for 287 students who tried a new healthy produce item, and received and/or processed 60,746 lb of produce from local farms for school consumption. 1.2 The F2S Team published two Newsletter Issues, one for spring and one for late summer. Each issue (6-8 pp) contained several short articles, photographs, tips and additional resources, and a calendar. Recipients (n=250) include program partners and beneficiaries. http://uffnp.org/farm-to-school-and-community/ 1.3 Co-authored a food systems poster: Torres, T., Korman, D. Treadwell & D. Campbell. 2016. Training the Trainer: Sustainable Professional Development Opportunities for School Garden Coordinators. National Farm to Cafeteria Conference. June 2-4, 2016. Madison, WI. 1.4 The Small Farms Program hosted 2 regional conferences to strengthen local food networks (N= 310). Participants (66%) self-identified as farmers or prospective farmers. 90% of respondents would attend the conferences again, and 95% planned to share new information with another farmer. 79% of respondents acquired the skills to diversify their operation with a new crop or service. 49% were completely confident they would apply new knowledge gained from the event. 1.5 I led the design, funding effort, and implementation of a two-day food systems retreat for faculty.The 34 attendees included State Specialists, RSAs, and county agents from 23 academic departments or UF/IFAS Extension county offices who developed short and long-term programming plans, new content and T4 platform for our website and an executive summary for UF/IFAS administrators and attendees. 1.6 Participated in 2 day PI meeting in Atlanta, GA January 2016 for project managers for the National Center for Obesity Prevention. We planned a DACCUM process to evaluate stakeholder's opinions on policy systems and environmental (PSE) changes most likely to impart change, and an interactive website to train SNAP-Ed staff responsible for PSE programming on PSEs. 1.7 Co-Chair of a PhD student who completed his dissertation "Creating Successful Farm to School Programs in Florida: A County-Wide Feasibility Study of Direct Procurement". The project documented needs of farmers and school food buyers and proposed solutions. The student graduated with a degree in Agricultural and Biological Engineering with a minor in Horticultural Sciences. I supported this student's stipend and tuition for 4 years. 1.8 Co-PI of USDA award SNAP and EFNEP Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Center of Excellence. I provided expertise about developing relationships with community partners and establishing program infrastructure necessary to include food systems work as a PSE approach for SNAP-Ed. I was also involved in the development and dissemination of competency based PSE web-based training for SNAP-Ed and EFNEP networks. The web-based training is on target for completion early in 2017. 2. Food Safety 2.1 Presented poster (competitive, selected) in the Farm to Cafeteria Conference titled "Food Safety Partnerships Benefit Florida's Farms and Schools". Approximately 2,800 participants at the event. Treadwell, D. D. Campbell, J. Perez, B. Owens, K. Korman, N. Parkell, L. Davis, and R. Hochmuth. 2016. UF/IFAS's Food Safety Partnerships Benefit Florida's Farms and Schools. National Farm to Cafeteria Conference. June 2-4, 2016. Madison, WI. 2.2 Served as co-PI for the NIFA-funded project Southern Center for Food Safety Education, Training, Extension, Outreach and Technical Assistance (M. Danyluk, PI, UF/IFAS). I will serve as a liason to Extension agents serving small farm operators and engage them in food safety training. Funds will support agent travel to the train the trainer of the Produce Safety Alliance's (PSA) Produce Food Safety Training for Growers. 2.3 Served as PI for the FL Specialty Crop Block Grant titled "Educational Teams, Training, and Technical Assistance on Food Safety and Farm Establishment for Small, Specialty Crop Producers" that supported regional conferences, food safety training, and development of educational materials for small farm operators. Co-PIs include S. Ahn (food safety in farmers' markets) and S. Galindo (project evaluator). Co-authored the poster: Food Safety Response Team: Extension Agents Helping Small Farms with FSMA Compliance. 2016 Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference. N. Parkell, R. Hochmuth, D. Toro, and D. Treadwell. Extensional Prof. Assoc. FL Annual Meeting. 2.4 Led a contract funded by FDACS Division of Food Nutrition and Wellness titled "Healthy School Environments" to develop a curriculum for teachers and other school garden champions to teach them food safety best practices for the garden. Outputs included an hour-long interactive e-training, garden checklists, and fact sheets for garden users. 3. Sustainable/Organic Horticulture 3.1 At the Southern Cover Crop Conference, I will serve as a Florida representative and Board Member for the Southern Cover Crop Council. Treadwell and Weiss collaborated on 2 in-field demonstrations that replicated their SARE-funded research on conservation tillage of vegetables. A video of our presentation has been viewed 225 times since September 2016. Treadwell, D, S. Weiss, and R. Archuleta. 2016. Mechanical termination of threephysiologically distinct cover crop species, and Weiss, S, D. Treadwell, and R. Archuleta. 2016. Cover crop surface mulch for conservation-tillage vegetable cropping systems. Southern Cover Crop Conference, July 18-19, 2016. Goldsboro, North Carolina:https://www.southernsare.org/News-and-Media/Regional-Resources/Regional-Videos/Southern-Cover-Crop-Conference-Videos One poster academic annual meeting: Weiss, S.A., D.D. Treadwell, R.S. Ferrarezi, K.P. Beamer, and T. Geiger. 2016. Primary Macronutrient Dynamics of Sunn Hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) Residue in Different Mulching Strategies for Organic Tropical Cropping Systems. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI. 3.2 Treadwell helped a Northwestern SARE film crew to film 6 farmers using cover crops in Florida; 5/6 have worked directly with Treadwell: https://www.sare.org/Events/Cover-Crop-Conferences/National-Conference-on-Cover-Crops-and-Soil-Health/Cover-Crop-Innovators-Video-Series 3.3 I was awarded (competitive) a summer Extension intern (400+ hours total). The stipend was paid by the Dean's office. ($12/h = $4,800+). The student helped to develop the framework for a Beginning Farmer and Rancher statewide Extension program by interviewing beginning farmers in Florida and program leads from ten of the strongest beginning farmer programs in the country to determine best practices & local needs. 3.4 I served as the state leader, with my co-leader MB Henry (Polk County Extension) of the Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises program. I support staff and project development through grants. I lead internal communications including annual meetings, project updates, and social media (Facebook, Blog, and Newsletter The Cultivator). Presented a poster: Treadwell, D., M. Henry, J. Perez, and S. Galindo. 2016. Farmers Value Networking Opportunities at Florida Regional Small Farms Conferences. American Society for Horticultural Sciences Annual Meeting. Atlanta, GA 8/15-18, 2016. HortScience 51(9): 346 (Supplement) 3.5 Small farms Facebook page covering research reports, event announcements, and important news relevant to small farm operators. 222 posts with an average reach of 320 viewers per post. In 2016, the site had 90,637 engaged users, a metric used by Facebook to describe visitors that read, liked, or shared a post. The site has 1,660 unique followers: www.facebook.com/FL.SFAEC
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Cho, A*. H., Chase, C. A., Koenig, R. L., Treadwell, D. D., Gaskins, J., Morris, J. B., & Morales-Payan, J. P. (2016). Phenotypic Characterization of 16 Accessions of Sunn Hemp in Florida. Agronomy Journal, 108(6), 2417-2424. doi:10.2134/agronj2015.0531
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Treadwell, D., D. Campbell, and K. Shelnutt. 2016. SNAP-Ed Food Systems District Coordinators Focus on Policy, System, and Environmental Changes to Support SNAP-Eligible Residents in Florida. American Society for Horticultural Sciences Annual Meeting. Atlanta, GA 8/15-18, 2016 HortScience 51(9): 346 (Supplement)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Treadwell, D., M. Henry, J. Perez, and S. Galindo. 2016. Farmers Value Networking Opportunities at Florida Regional Small Farms Conferences. American Society for Horticultural Sciences Annual Meeting. Atlanta, GA 8/15-18, 2016. HortScience 51(9): 346 (Supplement)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Weiss, S.A., D.D. Treadwell, R.S. Ferrarezi, and K.P. Beamer. 2016. Mulching Strategies using Conservation Tillage for Weed Management in Tropical Organic Hot Pepper Cropping Systems. HortScience 51(9):243 (Supplement).
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Simonne, A., Ozores-Hampton, M., Treadwell, D. and L. House. 2016 (published). Organic and conventional produce in the US: Examining safety and quality, economic values, and consumer attitudes. Horticulturae. Proc. First Int. Symp. Qual. Mngmt. Organci Hortic. Prod. ISSN 2311 7524.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
J.A. Watson. Creating Successful Farm to School Programs in Florida: A County-Wide Feasibility Study of Direct
Procurement. Doctoral Dissertaion. Dept. Agricultural and Biological Engineering. University of Florida.
|
Progress 03/01/15 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:Food Systems: Farmers, brokers, distributors, aggregators, processors, buyers, consumers, policy makers, creditors, farmers market managers, county and city officials, state agencies responsible for food trade, processing and service activities. When schools are involved as buyers, there is an emphasis on those schools with 51% or greater participation in the National School Lunch program Organic/Sustainable Horticulture: Farmers, consumers, buyers, technical service providers and NRCS staff in particular, community and school gardeners Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Production and Distribution.The F2SC team supported local food procurement at all levels, from small-scale gardens to large-scale school food purchasing.Over 100 gardens were installed and maintained with 4,209 beneficiaries enjoying 80,811 active hours in the gardens.School gardens were designed with 85% having 4 of the 5 vegetable sub groups from the new meal pattern and produce was enjoyed as taste tests, in cafeteria lunches, and taken home to be eating with the family.Community gardens around the state covered around ½ acre and had the potential to produce enough food for 65 adults estimated to have a $33,106 retail value during the growing season. 881 or 21.0% of the schools in Florida purchased food from Florida farmers (a total of 409,744 pounds) as a result of direct actions made by the F2SC team.As a testament to the impact F2SC is creating in farm to school procurement, Beverly L. Girard Ph.D., M.B.A., R.D., Director of Sarasota Food Nutrition Services, said "We would not have been successful without Zach Glorioso (F2SC South Central DC)." Food Safety. In addition to the Build your own Farm Food Safety Manual classes, The Florida Small Farms Food Safety Implementation Team taught at several other meeting in July- December, 2015. These included: Local Foods Summit, September 20 in Gainesville, FL with 8 attendees for this session on training programs offered by this UF/IFAS team Florida Farmers Market Managers Food Safety Training, November 9 in Gainesville, Fl with 48 attendees for the session on Farm Food Safety GAPs and how UF/IFAs can help train farmers Watermelon Farmers Food Safety Update including HACCP and FSMA, December 1 in Gainesville, FL with 28 attendees. This session was organized by this team. Organic and Sustainable Horticulture. UF hosted a field day for farmers that attracted over 40 participants. The program included classroom style presentations, a farm tour, and activities in teh field designed to help farmers identify benefits of cover crops. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Production and Distribution.The team used a variety of media outlets and face to face educational programs to communicate findings to stakeholders and the general public. Members of the F2SC team were honored with the 2015 Southern Region as well as National American Society for Horticultural Sciences-Outstanding Educational Materials Award during annual meetings in February and August. In addition, the F2SC team was also honored with a University of Florida Champions for Change Award for their contributions to improving the school and community food environments. Team members were interviewed, photographed, and/or mentioned in the media ten times for a variety of additional accomplishments. Each District Coordinator was awarded a competitive scholarships to attend farmer conferences and food safety and smarter lunchroom trainings valued at an estimated $2,474. Food Safety. Results are disseminated to farmers typically in face to face settings, although we do use social media and our team's webiste (Small Farms and ALternative Enterprises). Organic and Sustainable Horticulture. Results are shared during edcuational programs, our peer-reviewed electronic fact sheets, and on our Facebook page. I work with NRCS to communicate findings. i support NRCS nationally by idenitifying expert farmers to serve as mentors for others. I give guest lectures to undergraduate and graduate students. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Production and Distribution.The team used a variety of media outlets and face to face educational programs to communicate findings to stakeholders and the general public. Members of the F2SC team were honored with the 2015 Southern Region as well as National American Society for Horticultural Sciences-Outstanding Educational Materials Award during annual meetings in February and August. In addition, the F2SC team was also honored with a University of Florida Champions for Change Award for their contributions to improving the school and community food environments. Team members were interviewed, photographed, and/or mentioned in the media ten times for a variety of additional accomplishments. Each District Coordinator was awarded a competitive scholarships to attend farmer conferences and food safety and smarter lunchroom trainings valued at an estimated $2,474. Food Safety. In the coming year we will work with the Southern Region Center for Food Safety Education, Outreach, Training and Technical Assistance Team to remain current on FSMA updates, to participate in the train the trainer program directed by the Produce Safety Alliance, and train our Exempt farmers to design farm food safety manuals. Our goal is 100% FSMA compliance. Organic and Sustainable Horticulture. Publish findings from the SARE study, present findings at ASHS and ASA, and apply for additional grant funds.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Production and Distribution. Since 2012, I have provided leadership for the Farm to School team. Beginning in 2015, the Farm to School team transitioned from funding provided by the Florida Department of Agriculture to Florida SNAP-Ed. The University of Florida is the authorized entity of Florida SNAP-Ed, termed the Family Nutrition Program (FNP). The accomplishments of the farm to school, farm to community team (F2SC) were made possible by nurturing strategic collaborations with a great diversity of community partners, including farmers, state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations and private enterprises using a variety of communication methods including: face-to-face, telephone, email, formal training programs, field days, and tours. The F2SC had direct contact with 858 stakeholders, of which 6% were farmers, and provided service and capacity building to the community. Team members were invited or volunteered to serve on 12 standing food policy, wellness, and food systems committees and worked with 102 individual collaborators. The F2SC team supported local food procurement at all levels, from small-scale gardens to large-scale school food purchasing.Over 100 gardens were installed and maintained with 4,209 beneficiaries enjoying 80,811 active hours in the gardens.School gardens were designed with 85% having 4 of the 5 vegetable sub groups from the new meal pattern and produce was enjoyed as taste tests, in cafeteria lunches, and taken home to be eating with the family.Community gardens around the state covered around ½ acre and had the potential to produce enough food for 65 adults estimated to have a $33,106 retail value during the growing season. 881 or 21.0% of the schools in Florida purchased food from Florida farmers (a total of 409,744 pounds) as a result of direct actions made by the F2SC team.As a testament to the impact F2SC is creating in farm to school procurement the Director of Sarasota Food Nutrition Services said "We would not have been successful without Zach (F2SC South Central Region program coordinator)." Food Safety. Eight Food Safety "Build your own Farm Food Safety Manual" workshops were conducted in 2015 to 133 attendees. A summary of the on-line post workshop questionnaire designed by Dr. Galindo, administered through Qualitrics, and analyzed statistically with ANOVA at alpha = 0.05 relative to the pretest, found the following results: Knowledge gain was 88%, averaged over all participants 72% were very likely to implement a plan, 25% indicated they were likely to implement 100% indicated the workshops met their expectations, 100% would recommend the workshop to others 61% of attendees rated the workshop in the top 20% of all workshops they have attended 93% indicated they were very satisfied and 7% indicated they were satisfied with the overall quality of the workshop 82% were very satisfied with the expertise of the instructors, 17% were satisfied Fifty percent (50%) of attendees indicated they were very likely to have some type of third party audit There was a wide range of types of customers listed, top three were selling directly to consumers (48%), restaurants (24%) and to retailers or wholesale markets (18%). Most attendees had less than 10 years of farming experience and most were farming less than 10 acres. In addition, I will be a co-PI on a USDA-NIFA/FDA grant: Southern Region Center for Food Safety Education, Outreach, Training and Technical Assistance. Primarily, the grant provides for curriculum enhancement to the national food safety curriculum managed by Cornell's Produce Safety Alliance, and supports food safety training for trainers. Organic and Sustainable Horticulture.This year we completed the second year of a two year field trial funded by SR-SARE to examine the influence of plant-based mulches on pepper.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Treadwell, D., Weiss, S. and E. Valencia. A comparison of tillage and mulching strategies for weed management in organic pepper (Capsicum annum L. Tormenta) CSSA-ASSA-SSSA (Tri-Societies) Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. Nov. 15-18, 2015. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2015am/webprogram/Paper94073.html
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Treadwell, D., K. Shelnutt, S. Galindo, G. Israel, D. Campbell, D. Diehl, L. Headrick, and D. Bearl. Approach and Accomplishments of Farm to Plate Programming in Floridas SNAP-Ed Program. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Aug 3-7, 2015 HortScience 50(9):S96. (Abstr.)
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Treadwell, D., M.B. Henry, R. Hochmuth, S. Galindo and J. Perez. Specialty Crop Programming for Floridas Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Aug 3-7, 2015. HortScience 50(9):S97-98. (Abstr.)
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Weiss, S., D. Treadwell, K. Beamer, R. Ferraezi. 2015 Tropical Cover Crop mulch systems for low-external-input reduced-tillage vegetable production. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Aug 3-7, 2015. HortScience 50(9): S169-170.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Glorioso, Z., Owens, E., Walmer, C., and Treadwell, D. Farmers Building Community: Activities to Enhance Farm to School Programs in Florida. Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference. January, 2015. Chattanooga, Kentucky. Poster Presentation.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Glorioso, Z., Korman, K., Campbell, D., Walmer, C., Owens, B., Glatting, C., and Treadwell, D. Expanding Floridas SNAP-Ed Programs from Farm to Plate. The 128th Florida State Horticultural Society Annual Meeting. June 2015. St. Augustine, FL. Poster Presentation.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Treadwell, D., T. Meisenbach and S. Baughman. An Overview of the NEW eXtension, and how to evaluate your online extension program. ). Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Aug 3-7. 2015. HortScience 50(9):S86. (Abstr.)
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Treadwell, D. Weiss, S. J. Perez and E. Valencia. Cover crops and conservation tillage in organic jalapeno pepper (Capsicum annum L. Tormenta). Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Aug 3-7, 2015. HortScience 50(9):S222. (Abstr.)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Simonne, A., Ozores-Hampton, M., Treadwell, D. and L. House. 2015. Organic and conventional produce in the US: Examining safety and quality, economic values, and consumer attitudes. Acta Horticulturae.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Morris, B. C.A. Chase, D. Treadwell, A. Cho, T. Murphy, R. Koenig, J. Pablos-Moran, and G. Antonious. 2015. Effect of sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L. cutting date and planting density on weed suppression in Georgia USA. J. Environ. Sci. Health, Part B: Pesticides, Food Contaminants, and Agricultural Waste. 50:8, 614-621.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Cho, A.*, C. Chase, D. Treadwell, R. Koenig, B. Morris, and J. Morales-Payan. 2015. Apical Dominance and Planting Density Effects on Weed Suppression by Sunn Hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.). HortScience 50(2):263-267
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