Washington State University -- Impact 2004
Extension Livestock Volunteers Help Protect the EnvironmentSUMMARY
- Eighty-five volunteer Extension Livestock Advisors are helping small livestock producers in northwest Washington protect local watersheds from pollution as well as reduce production costs and improve their bottom line.
ISSUE
- Western Washington is home to at least 18,000 livestock farming families, according to county demographic data and WSU extension faculty who work with these producers. Based on the kinds of questions they ask, 90 percent have limited livestock management skills and as a result are polluting local watersheds, many of which are salmon-bearing streams and wetlands. Extension does not have adequate faculty resources to work with this audience.
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE
- The answer has been trained volunteers. Each year starting in 1980, Extension Livestock Volunteers have been selected, trained and certified through a time-tested curriculum involving 12 weeks of classroom instruction, field trips and a three-day tour of the WSU animal science and veterinary science facilities. In exchange for their training, each volunteer returns at least 80 hours of volunteer service. Today, an active cadre of ELA volunteers dating back to 1980, host farm tours and field trips; make farm visits and respond to phone inquiries on a wide range of subjects that benefit water quality, promote humane treatment of farm animals and increase profit margins for northwest Washington livestock and poultry producers. In particular, they host annual workshops in Snohomish, Skagit, Island and San Juan Counties that teach livestock producers Best Management Practices that help protect the waterways from manure runoff.
IMPACT
- About 2,000 families realized a 10 percent savings in production costs, totaling $40,000. It is estimated by program personnel that at least 62 percent of the farmers reached by Extension Livestock Volunteers have adopted one or more recommended best management practices that help protect waterways from pollution. Twenty miles of salmon-bearing watershed were less polluted by animal waste and mud runoff. This data was collected by livestock volunteers as part of the payback for their training.
PRIMARY AREA OF IMPACT
- Extension
FUNDING:
- Snohomish County Parks & Rec./Fairgrounds
State
Smith-Lever 3(b) &( c)
COUNTIES:
- The principal counties served are Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish
CONTACT:
- None