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Effectiveness of Dinner Meeting Format on Risk Management Educational Program Delivery

Jodi Richmond

Summary

During the past 14 years, the West Virginia University Extension Service (WVUES) has had a statewide effort to conduct educational meetings during January, February, and March.

These “Dinner Meetings” are designed for small farm families in WV that are primarily livestock producers operating on a slim margin. Education programs are needed to help local farmers currently in production and to educate those entering agriculture.

The WVUES Dinner Meetings are held annually throughout the state in over 50 locations with at least fifteen different speakers/topics. The evening meetings begin with dinner and are followed by an expert national or state presenter. The programs are interesting, informative, and have a social value. Preparations for the programs begin a year in advance and wrap up continues for months following the programs.
In any long-term Extension program, it is essential that producer needs are considered and the program is adjusted as needed. Each year dinner meeting organizers strive to select programs that meet the needs of their clientele. In an effort to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the dinner meetings the committee proposed a follow-up evaluation participants that attended a meeting within the last three years. Results of this evaluation documented that a large portion of the producers are gaining knowledge from the programs and implementing production techniques, improving their economic outlook and managing risk on their farms. Our poster will combine these results as well as participant demographics and program evaluations to provide an overview of the impact of our programming.

Details

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