A Township Supervisor, teacher, representative from House of Representative Kathy Rapp's office, farmer, and media person take a few minutes to chat during a break.		Two educators each received a basket of Warren County produce as a thank you from the task force.

Two years ago, the Warren County agricultural community found itself in need of help. Farming businesses as well as the county’s economic base was in a decline. The agricultural community and consumers were in need of a healing process regarding an issue with use of local farmland. Government officials, consumers, farmers, and agency personnel got together to address these problems through  the Future of Agriculture  program. The main goals of the effort were  to help small family farms remain while retaining their quality of life, county wide economic development, and consumer appreciation of local agriculture and their concerns.

Through a series of “Let’s Talk” sessions with 80 consumers and farmers, interviews with 73 farmers (conducted by 22 volunteers), program participants identified four main goals to sustain and improve agriculture in Warren County:

Volunteers have tackled these goals and the results are numerous.  One local woman volunteered to develop the www.WarrenAg.org website. Several informative displays and the “Warren County’s Producers” leaflet have been created. On March 4th, a Family Agriculture Awareness Day was held. Phyllis Wright, an extension educator in Warren County, said the best part of Family Ag Awareness Day is “people getting together, sharing ideas and talking about the future.”  This summer, there will be a four-day in-service to educate teachers on how to use agricultural concepts in science, math and social studies. The momentum is strong. There are plans for the task force to go out to seek other volunteers to continue the promotional work and web site. An example is a leaflet for farmers only on financial aid and farming information. Volunteers are also working to increase the number of farmers’ markets in the county and to provide teachers with more in-depth training; and finding new ways to deliver current research based information and financial resources for farmers.

For more information on Warren’s County’s success, contact Phyllis Wright. For information about how the Future of Agriculture program can help your own community, contact Kathy Brasier or go to http://www.cax.aers.psu.edu/futureofag/

February, 2007