Ben Boyles serves as the Director of the Clemson University Cooperative Extension South Carolina New and Beginning Farmer Program (SCNBFP). This program, the first of its kind in South Carolina, provides comprehensive agribusiness training to help famers develop (or accelerate the development) of their farm businesses. The program convenes a cohort of farmers from all across the state of South Carolina each year and traditionally these participants would have gathered in-person to attend the program’s core workshops. When COVID-19 restrictions were enacted, a record number of 54 participants chose to move forward with the online format, while the dozens of guest presenters came together in a great show of support for a new schedule and program delivery platform. With a reduction in travel time due to remote program delivery, attendance was at unprecedented levels and engagement with participants and program presenters was facilitated through online interaction strategies. The SCNBFP team looks forward to employing successful remote learning strategies and tools post-COVID to continue to deliver training that meets the needs of our state’s new and beginning farmers.
