The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service

  
Vol. 9, No. 40   August 19, 2003

IN THIS ISSUE...

...Keep Your Web Site's Information Current to Maintain a Positive Web Presence
...Morris County Livestock Judging Contest
...Free Book for Ag Agents Who Complete SARE Survey
...Q & A on FCS Project Changes for 03/04 4-H Year
...State Fair Food Clerks Needed
...Kansas State Fair Entry Cards
...Wanted: Volunteers, to Share Their Love of Purple!
...Building a Sustainable Business Guidebook
...Master Schedule

MORRIS COUNTY LIVESTOCK JUDGING CONTEST
Morris County Livestock Judging Contest will be held August 23, in Council Grove. Eight classes of cattle, swine and sheep will be judged. Official for the contest is Dr. Scott Schaake, Livestock Judging Coach at  Kansas State University. The contestants will be divided into juniors (13 years and under) and seniors ( 14 years of age and over as of January 1). Two sets of reasons for junior and four sets for senior contestants. $5  will be collected at entry, to cover the trophies, noon meal and contest expenses. Registration is from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. with the first classes at 9:45. Additional information can be obtain from the Morris County Extension Office, 620-767-5136. --Loy James ljames@oznet.ksu.edu 

FREE BOOK FOR AG AGENTS WHO COMPLETE SARE SURVEY
The NCR Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program has developed a survey to evaluate SARE's program in the North Central Region. This is part of a two-year pilot program that SARE is implementing to better support extension educators with their educational programs. The survey has been professionally designed for the web and underwent a pilot testing with county extension agriculture agents and educators.

Ag agents are asked to complete this easy and short survey (15 minutes). The survey is on the following web address until September 5th: www.surveyhouse.com/sare . Use the password: saresurvey. Thanks to those  that already completed the survey!

One free Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) publication of your choice will be sent to all those who complete the survey as a thank you for your time and effort. Please send Jana Beckman an e-mail indicating you have filled out the survey and indicate which publication you would like to receive. Titles include The New Farmers' Market - Farm Fresh Ideas for Producers, Managers and Communities; Managing Cover Crops Profitably; Steel in the Field: A Farmers Guide to Weed Management Tools; The Small Dairy Resource Book. The entire list may be viewed at http://www.sare.org/htdocs/events/pr/currenttitles.htm . --Jana Beckman beckman@oznet.ksu.edu 

Q & A ON FCS PROJECT CHANGES FOR 03/04 4-H YEAR
4-H'ers, Leaders, and Extension staff may find a Frequently Asked Questions site on the State 4-H web site regarding changes in FCS projects for the 2003-2004 year. This is the same message sent to counties on August 7. Please look for the link in the right column of the 4-H cover page or go to: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/4hyp/PDFfiles/FCSchanges.pdf . --Gary Gerhard ggerhard@oznet.ksu.edu 

STATE FAIR FOOD CLERKS NEEDED
I still need 5 volunteers to help clerk the State Fair 4-H Foods Division on Friday, September 5, starting at 10:45 a.m.  Approximately 1,500 foods items will need to be judged that day. 

If you can help or if you know of individuals in your county who would be interested in helping, please e-mail me at dmack@oznet.ksu.edu . Diane Mack

KANSAS STATE FAIR ENTRY CARDS
By the end of this week, the State 4-H Office will have made 2-3 mailings of entry cards for your counties' static exhibits! If you have not been receiving them or are missing any based on date of entry and a specific mailing, please contact Cheryl at the State 4-H Office immediately! --Jim Adams jadams@oznet.ksu.edu 

WANTED: VOLUNTEERS, TO SHARE THEIR LOVE OF PURPLE!
The College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension will once again set up booths at the Kansas State Fair. The booths will be located in the Pride of Kansas Building. We are looking for volunteers who want to share information about K-State and K-State Research and Extension. This is a great opportunity to interact with the public, and let them know all that we do!

Any faculty or staff from campus, county offices, agronomy fields, and Research and Extension Centers are officially certified as volunteers. We need people to go to the fair and work for several hours on any one day. We would also appreciate agents, and/or faculty who are going to be at the fair, to sign up to work a few hours.

We need volunteers in the two booths for the fair, which runs from Friday, September 5, through Sunday, September 14, 2003. The hours for our booths are on both Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday - Thursday from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m.; and the last Sunday from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.

If you would like to work in one of the booths, please contact Cassie Mitchell at 785-532-5729 or cmitchel@oznet.ksu.edu  as soon as possible. Please let her know which booth you want to work in, and at what time. –Steven Graham sgraham@oznet.ksu.edu and Jackie McClaskey jax@ksu.edu.

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS GUIDEBOOK
The University of Minnesota recently published “Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses." This 280-page guidebook assists farms and rural businesses in creating a holistic business plan rooted in personal, community, economic, and environmental values. The guide focuses on key business planning tasks, including: identifying values; assessing farm history and current situation; developing a vision, mission, and goals; strategic planning and evaluation; and monitoring progress. Worksheets for completing all of the planning tasks and examples from five Minnesota farmers' actual business plans are included. The guide is available free online at www.misa.umn.edu/publications/bizplan.html . --Robert Wilson rwilson@loki.agecon.ksu.edu 

VIEW THE MASTER SCHEDULE OR ADD NEW ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS . 

Submit corrections to previously submitted items to jzarger@oznet.ksu.edu .

DATES TAKEN FROM THE MASTER SCHEDULE FOR AUGUST 27, 2003, THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2, 2003:

Wednesday, August 27
.... Fall Field Day/KSU NW Research-Extension Center, Colby, Statewide, 9:00 a.m., Rob Aiken raiken@ksu.edu

Thursday, August 28
.... Fall Field Day/KSU SW Research-Extension Center, Garden City, Statewide, 9:00 a.m., Randall Currie rscurrie@ksu.edu
.... NC Kansas Experiment Field Fall Field Day, Belleville/RP, Statewide, Barney Gordon bgordon@oznet.ksu.edu
.... Horticulture Tour/KSU Agricultural Research Center, Hays/EL, Statewide, 6:30 p.m., Joe Becker jbecker@ksu.edu

Saturday, August 30
.... State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest, Manhattan (123 Weber Hall), Statewide, Registration 8:00-8:45 a.m., Julie Voge jvoge@oznet.ksu.edu

Monday, September 1
.... Labor Day

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