Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Institute holds first graduation

The first class of the Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Institute completed their training and graduated from the Leadership Training Institute hosted by Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center in March.
 
Held on the patio of the Jamie L. Whitten Building in Washington D.C., the highlight of the historic graduation ceremony was the keynote address presented by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johannes.

At the ceremony, each participant was presented with a certificate of achievement signed by SU Ag Center Chancellor Leodrey Williams and Colien Hefferan, administrator for the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. Johannes assisted Gina E. Eubanks, vice chancellor, SU Ag Center, in the presentation of certificates and personally congratulated each participant.

The goal of the Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Institute was to promote sustainability of small family farms through enhanced business management skills and leadership development. This one and a half-year long training program began in October 2005 and culminated in the ninth session which included a tour of Randolph Farm at Virginia State University, Philip Morris USA in Richmond, Va., and the graduation ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The 22 participants in the institute came from Louisiana, Florida, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas.  The members of the leadership team were: Gregory Reed, Alcorn State University; Michelle Eley and M. Ray McKinnie, North Carolina A & T State University; Nelson Daniels and Allen Malone, Prairie View A & M University; John Pierre, Southern University Law Center; Orlando Phelps, USDA – AMS; Tasha Hargrove, Tuskegee University; Henry English, University of Arkansas – Pine Bluff; and L. Washington Lyons, Association of Extension Administrators.

This project was supported by the Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Competitive Grants Program of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, USDA, Grant # 2005-01338.