Start an Adult Agriculture Program
in Your School and Community

The catalysts behind any good adult agriculture program are the agriculture instructors in the local school and the farmers and other agricultural professionals in the community who are interested in initiating opportunities to improve the viability and profitability of their own farming enterprises and agricultural businesses. They also see the overall benefit of adult education in terms of what it can do to increase agriculture's contribution and influence in the local economy. When the agriculture instructor and a group of interested patrons decide to start a program, the steps are simple. Adult programs are funded either as "hourly" programs or "full-time" programs.

Start a Short-Term or 'Hourly' Adult Program

Step 1: Identify Classes and Activities

Get a group of three to eight interested persons together to identify what types of classes and adult activities will fit the community’s needs and will attract sufficient enrollment. Use the topics list as a resource to get some ideas on the table. In addition, don’t hesitate to use neighboring agriculture instructors, the district agricultural education supervisor and the state Farm Business Management Analysis (FBMA) coordinator as resources.

Step 2: Prepare a Budget

Make a list of the class sessions and activities your group selected, and prepare a simple budget of how much it will cost to operate the program and from where the funds will come. Present the written plan and budget to the school administration for approval. (Use our sample form for your written plan and budget.) It is key that the local school determines how much the instructor will be paid for coordinating the adult class. The school might decide to pay $20 per hour of adult instruction, but the maximum state reimbursement is $10 per hour. Classes also must enroll at least 10 students to qualify for reimbursement. Typically, a teacher would request three hours of reimbursement for each adult class session or 25 hours of reimbursement for each FBMA enrollee who completes the analysis program.

Step 3: Gain State Approval

The school submits the program to the Agricultural Education Section of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for approval on a Form FV-1. The forms must be received in the state office by Oct. 1 for summer, first-semester or full-year programs and Feb. 1 for second-semester programs. Our sample Form FV-1 shows how to complete it for several different types of adult classes. You can download a blank Form FV-1 at http://dese.mo.gov/divcareered/forms.htm. The school district will receive program approvals and VEDS forms in 30-60 days, giving the agriculture instructor authorization to proceed with the adult class.

Step 4: Verify Enrollment

As soon as the class is completed, the agriculture instructor must verify it was conducted, report the total enrollment on the VEDS form and return it to DESE. That is required for the salary reimbursement to be made. After the completed VEDS form is received, DESE will remit the salary reimbursement to the local district, which will – in turn – pay the instructor for the class.

Start a 'Full-Time' Adult Program

Starting a full-time adult program (hiring a full-time adult teacher) in a local school district involves basically the same steps as an hourly program. The requirements for funding reimbursement are structured differently, however, because full-time adult programs are required to complete a minimum level of work in each of the three adult components: Farm Business Management Analysis, classroom instruction and leadership development (Young Farmer chapter). The requirements are outlined in the Missouri Agricultural Education Program Planning Handbook.

State funds through DESE currently are not available for full-time-instructor salary reimbursements for the startup of additional full-time adult agricultural education programs in Missouri. Any new full-time programs would have to be funded from other sources secured by the local school district.