Completed Project Report


Minimizing Risks for Small Farms through Web-based Record Keeping

  • Award Amount: $48,201
  • Regional Center: Western Extension Risk Management Education Center
  • Grant Program: 2018 Education Projects

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Project Overview

This project aimed to improve financial and legal risks for beginning, specialty crop and organic farms through enhanced recordkeeping. It included the exploration of new mobile technology applications to determine if they could improve recordkeeping through more efficient and time-saving methods.

The project targeted beginning, organic and specialty crop farmers in Nevada and northern California. Training was provided through software trials by farmers, workshops and individual consultations. Software was provided free of cost to interested producers, and mentoring was offered.

At project beginning, 7 producers trialed mobile technology recordkeeping applications on their mobile devices with an additional 5 producers implementing use of this technology by the conclusion. 58 producers attended one-day workshops. 3 producers participated in business planning consultations after the workshops.

At the conclusion, 35 producers reported new or improved record keeping practices, either traditional or mobile applications. Farms that implemented use of mobile technology recordkeeping had mixed reviews. For those that didn’t continue mobile use, the main reasons were that the technology was no the right fit for farm’s recordkeeping needs or was too costly for its benefits. These farms did report they improved their recordkeeping overall by trialing the new technology.  

Number of Participants: 58

Outcomes

Project Steps

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

There are no promotional materials available for this project.

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

There are no educational materials available for this project.

REPORTS & EVALUATIONS

There are no reports or evaluations available for this project.

DELIVERY AREA

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INDIVIDUAL STORIES / EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS / QUOTES