Reaching New Audiences with Oklahoma’s Master Cattleman Program

Damona Doye, Agricultural EconomicsDavid Lalman, Animal ScienceOklahoma State University

Motivation and Planning

Motivation Area and county educators requests Manual in need of update Risk Management Agency education funding possibility

Planning Multi-disciplinary: ag econ, animal science, plant and soil

sciences, biosystems and ag engineering, vet med, entomology and plant pathology

County, area, state staff, district director planning team

Program Components, Requirements 4 hours each from:

Business planning and management Marketing and risk management Nutrition and production management Animal health and quality assurance Managing natural resources Genetics and reproduction (cow-calf producers) plus Electives, 4 to 8 hrs and/or a special project 28 credit hours

Must pass quizzes on individual chapters to earn credit hours Must complete an initial assessment survey and final

assessment survey No more than ½ of credit hours in any segment by

correspondence

Resources ManualEducator GuidebookPPTsLesson plansQuizzesBrochuresPostersWebsite

www.agecon.okstate.edu/cattleman

Marketing and Promotion

The usualNews releasesBrochures

Oklahoma Cattleman’s Association district meetings, annual Cattleman’s college

Word of mouth

Participants receive

Information/educationOklahoma Beef Cattle ManualMC farm gate signMC certificateMC notebookLocal incentives

ParticipantsMany small, part-time producers new to

ExtensionSome large producersSome with no cows

Participation by year

14851502006

691572007 to

date

602

Number of MC

students

27

19

2

Number of new

MC

Groups

382455Total

1652312005

172004

Number of MC

grads

Number of

sessions

Year

Evolution of program December 2003 in-service, some chapters drafted March 2004, manual draft completed December 2004 in-service, Educator guidebook, PPTs for most

chapters, bulk manual distribution 5,000 manuals distributed August 2005, updated manual December 2005, in-service with more training for educators to

present chapters July 2006, AAEA paper from cow/calf assessments (poster at these

meetings) September 2006, Master Cattleman summit March 2007, in-service on Electronic Based Cattle Management April 2007, Beef Industry conference September 2007, Master Cattleman summit

Program evaluation

Initial assessment surveyEnd of course surveyPost-participation survey underway

Funding support RMA

2003-04: $107,800 (personnel, manuals, travel, conference)

2004-05: $124,073 (manuals, travel, video-, students) 2005-06: $143,774 (manuals, video-, travel, undergrad and

grad student assistants, in-service travel) 2006-07: $114,638 (student assistants, travel, laptops and

personal response systems, software)

Fees of $75 per person or couple if sharing materials

Scholarships to graduates: 2 per county in East Central OK FCS trade area (54 of 77 counties)

Program Delivery

Ag Econ Mostly state and area specialists, occasional

Extension Educator

Animal Science Extension Educators, Area Specialists, and State

Specialists

Plant and Soil Sciences Extension Educators, Area Specialists, and State

Specialists

Important lessons learnedWell-developed curriculum plan was keyWebsite has been critical management tool

Events proposed, approved, listedQuizzes, credit hours recordedHard to anticipate all the flexibility needed

Multi-disciplinary efforts are always a management challenge.

New programs added to follow-on

Master Cattleman summit Beef Industry conferenceOccasional e-mails with upcoming events

Comparison to other programs

DistanceCowPokes,

Advanced MC, Master Grazer

BQA certification reduces fee

SummitsOther

8 sessions,

20 hours

8 sessions, 32 hours

12 sessions28 credits, more hours

Hours

Tobacco $Dept of AgRMAOther funding

$75$150*$75Participant Cost

AL/MSKYTNOK