Growing Missouri Commercial Horticulture with Online Courses
Horticulture & Turfgrass
Kate Kammler
Field Specialist in Horticulture
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI EXTENSION
SAINTE GENEVIEVE
Abstract
The singular goal for Agriculture and Environment Extension at the University of Missouri is to double the value of Missouri agriculture by 2030 while sustaining the state’s natural resources. To help meet this goal, horticulture specialists formed a self-directed work group in 2020 to provide a variety of educational webinar series for commercial specialty crop producers and beginning farmers. Completed series include commercial fruit production in 2020, commercial vegetable production in 2021, business planning for specialty crop production in 2022, and protected specialty crop production in 2023. Webinar series were live Zoom presentations with recordings and resources made available to class participants. Over the four series, we have offered 65 webinars that reached 247 participants. Sessions were taught by MU Extension specialists or experts on the class topic. Session evaluations helped us collect feedback from the participants, evaluate the quality of the classes, identify needs, and observe expectations and perceptions of the participants. Evaluation results showed the majority of participants are going apply the information learned to their current production practices or expand into commercial specialty crop production, helping us meet our goal of doubling the value of Missouri agriculture. Long term impact evaluations are planned. These commercial horticulture series can easily be replicated in other states. We are working on asynchronous training with the recordings from each series to provide another opportunity for clients to learn. The recordings are also available internally as professional development opportunities for extension specialists.
Authors: Kate Kammler, Juan Cabrera-Garcia, Justin Keay, Debi Kelly, Patrick Byers, Ramon Arancibia
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Kate Kammler Field Specialist in Horticulture, University of Missouri Extension, Missouri, 63670-9250
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Juan Cabrera-Garcia Horticulture State Specialist, University of Missouri Extension, Missouri, 65211
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Justin Keay Field Specialist in Horticulture, University of Missouri Extension, Missouri, 63334
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Debi Kelly Field Specialist in Horticulture, University of Missouri Extension, Missouri, 63050
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Patrick Byers Field Specialist in Horticulture, University of Missouri Extension, Missouri, 65706
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Ramon Arancibia Field Specialist in Horticulture, University of Missouri Extension, Missouri, 64730