FIELD's Northwest Agriculture Consortium will be holding a symposium on Rural Economic Sustainability on May 18 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The symposium will take place at the Chemeketa Eola Viticulture Center on May 18, 2006 from 9:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. The purpose of the symposium is to unveil the results of the research commissioned by Governor Ted Kulongoski on the workforce issues affecting rural communities. To learn more, read the REPORT BELOW or symposium invitation and our tentative agenda. To register, print the registration form.
For more information, please e-mail Chuck Beauchamp at charlesb@farmworkerinstitute.org.
FIELD’s REPORT ON OREGON RESEARCH
The Farmworker Institute of Education and Leadership Development (FIELD) forms a collaborative relationship called the Northwest Agriculture Economic Sector Consortium with employees, employers, non-profits, educational, and governmental agencies in the State of Oregon. The purpose of the consortium is to build Oregon’s workforce and economic development system and strengthen agricultural communities. FIELD’s Consortium organized a research-based project to document the needs of Oregon’s agricultural industry.
Background and Methodology
FIELD’s Consortium contracted with the National Economic Development and Law Center and with Chemeketa Community College to assist with the research in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. 200 limited English-speaking farm workers and 23 wine and nursery employers responded to the surveys. The surveys identified the skill sets, competencies, career ladders, and training needs of agricultural workers to increase the sustainability of agriculture.
Summary of Research Findings
The following are the most crucial rearch findings of the FIELD’s Oregon Project. Vineyard farm workers should receive short-term training on pruning, grafting, disbudding, suckering, spraying, and labeling bottles; in nurseries, FIELD should impart trainings on how to record plant information, grafting, pruning, treating weeds, diseases and pests, and spacing poinsettias. Long-term training should include horticulture, irrigation systems, spraying, tractor and machinery operation, and management. Female farm-workers need special training considerations. In the vineyards, female workers can be moved to year-round employment by providing training specifically on thin grapes, lift catch wires, shoot positioning, suckering, disbudding, and leaf removal. Farm workers also need to improve their soft (interpersonal) skills, language and communication, basic math, and leadership skills. Other training needs are welding, equipment maintenance, safety training, model behavior, management, budgeting, organizational structure and operation, plant identification, computers, and spray applications.
Recommendations
FIELD’s Consortium needs to develop training curricula incorporating intercultural and interpersonal skills sets. The development of professional curricula can lead to basic and mid-level certificates in viticulture and horticulture. It must be noted that farm workers also express the desire for non agricultural training curricula in computers.
Dissemination
FIELD’s Consortium is holding a symposium on May 18, 2006, to disseminate its research findings in Salem, Oregon.
For further information contact:
Teresa Figueroa, Ph.D.
Farmworker Institute of Education and Leadership Development
Email: teresaf@farmworkerinstitute.org
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