Completed Project Report


Western Meat School: A hybrid in-person and online learning experience for farmers & ranchers to reduce marketing, financial, and legal risk and strengthen local meat supply chains.

  • Award Amount: $46,694
  • Regional Center: Western Extension Risk Management Education Center
  • Grant Program: 2020 Education Projects

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Project Overview

The Western Meat School short course is an innovative, adult-learner focused educational experience for farmers and ranchers who want to get into the business of selling meat. A multi-state project team designed and delivered the course as a six week long hybrid course (both in-person and online) delivered in fall of 2020 and has now turned it into an on-demand self-paced course available at any time. Classes took place both online and in several Western towns in five states (Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico); it is now 100% online for anyone to take. We exceeded our original expectations of 150-170 producers five-fold. We actually had 650 attendees in the Fall 2020 class and another 100 have signed up thus far for the self-paced version in 2021.

Some highlights include:

-offering 100 reduced tuition scholarships to low-income and BIPOC individuals

-allowing close to 100 Extension, 4H, and FFA staff and volunteers to take the course for free

-partnering with two tribal organizations to offer scholarships to tribal members

-creating a participant listserv that has close to 300 people in it and is still active

-turning the course into an OSU Professional & Continuing Education course (PACE)


Number of Participants: 750

Outcomes

Project Steps

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

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EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

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REPORTS & EVALUATIONS

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DELIVERY AREA

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