 |
 |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IN THIS ISSUE... ...Word from the
Associate Director - Extension and Applied Research WORD FROM THE
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH Professional development is a commitment that each individual must make towards improving oneself towards such contributions as collaboration, partnering, teamwork, common purpose, and respectful disagreement. In Extension, we have identified eleven core competencies that are vital to the success of an individual and organization with a mission of service to the people of this state. This past week, four of our State Extension Advisory Council members and four Extension agents participated in the "Public Issues Leadership Development" conference in Washington DC. Such an experience is invaluable in gaining an awareness of the system within which we operate, to interact with professionals and volunteers from states across the nation, and to have the opportunity to interact with the Kansas Congressional delegation and staffers. This conference provides an excellent forum for exposure to national priority initiatives and the on-going work within the system to continually improve and prepare for the coming decade. Those attending from Kansas included: Andrea Burns, Ford County Extension Agent; Robin Deines, Walnut Creek District Extension Agent; Melinda Daily, Sunflower District Extension Agent; Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent; Rod George, Central Kansas District SEAC representative; Donita Sparks, Logan County SEAC representative; Michele Janson, Johnson County SEAC representative; and Kevin Journagan, Shawnee County SEAC representative. Additionally, J. Pat Murphy, Assistant Director for Ag and Natural Resources, and I were also in attendance. I encourage each of you to find opportunity to increase your competencies in leadership, collaboration, partnering, teamwork, common purpose, respectful disagreement, or whatever strength you can contribute to the broader community of K-State Research and Extension. The organization depends on these kinds of contributions of faculty and staff to achieve its greatness. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
SEARCH COMMITTEE
ANNOUNCES CANDIDATES FOR DEPARTMENT HEAD OF HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, AND
RECREATION RESOURCES Each candidate will present a seminar with time for questions and answers directly following the seminar. Each seminar can be viewed through Video Streaming for those unable to attend in person. Links to the candidates’ seminars, interview schedules, and surveys for you to provide feedback are available via the blind link: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/HFRR_Head_Search/Candidate_Info.htm . The feedback surveys will open the day after each candidate’s interview ends and close on midnight, May 31, 2007. Thank you in advance for your participation in this important process. The candidates and seminar schedules are as follows:
--Fred Cholick fcholick@ksu.edu
WORKERS NEEDED FOR KSRE BOOTH AT THE 3i SHOW IN GARDEN CITY I will bring the display, handout materials from campus, and be present during all three days of the show. If you would like to attend the 3i Show and also assist in the booth for an hour or more, that would be great. There is no entrance or parking fee. The 3i Show is a huge farm machinery show which also has some daily programming aimed at spouses. These programs are coordinated by K-State Research and Extension and are located in the SE room, under the Grandstand. Our booth will have information from our Core Mission Themes, plus we will be joined by some of the Watershed Specialists. Please e-mail and let me know which day(s) and what time(s) you would like to work in the booth. Thanks for your assistance. --Steven Graham sgraham@oznet.ksu.edu
KANSAS WHEAT COMMISSION 50TH ANNIVERSARY KICK-OFF CELEBRATION Call 866-759-4328 or e-mail jowens@kswheat.com. --Julie Owens
Severe weather season has begun in Kansas.
Unfortunately it is impossible to predict the weather when planning
for events that are weeks or months in the future. The K-State
Research and Extension Risk Management Guide has a section on severe
weather that you will want to review as you plan and conduct
educational events this spring and summer. You can access that
document at
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/misc2/RiskMgmt.pdf .
One of the important steps to being prepared, is
having severe weather shelters identified and available. Where are
those designated shelter locations for your office, fairgrounds,
experiment fields, sheds, barns or other places you use for work?
Is that location the same after hours? Make sure all staff and
others using your facilities are aware of designated shelters. --Beth
Hinshaw bhinshaw@ksu.edu
MACHINERY SYSTEMS PLANNING SURVEY The survey site will be active through May 15, 2007. Results from the survey will help us set priorities for machinery systems program planning. Thank you for your assistance and input. --John Slocombe slocombe@ksu.edu
KSU FOUNDATION UPDATE: YOU CAN HONOR A SPECIAL PERSON AND HELP BUILD
A BETTER WORLD You can make a gift that will stand as a memorial to a loved one and at the same time advance our mission in a meaningful way. It's hard to imagine a more thoughtful, satisfying plan. How you decide to honor this special person is up to you. Possibilities include immediate gifts, bequests from wills or living trusts and gifts from which family members keep lifetime benefits. For more information for members of your community to create this special gift, contact the KSU Foundation Gift Planning department at 800-432-1578. --Lori Rogge lorir@found.ksu.edu
JOHANNS ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF MORE THAN $19 MILLION IN GRANTS
FOR VALUE-ADDED AG VENTURES "These grants are a vital tool to help support rural businesses, create new markets for agricultural products and help the United States become more energy independent," Johanns said. "They represent the exciting new direction we're proposing for the energy and rural development titles of a new farm bill this year." Value-Added Agricultural Product Market Development grants, also known as Value-Added Producer Grants, are available to help agriculture producers develop business plans to produce biobased products from agricultural commodities. Awards may be made for planning activities or for working capital expenses, but not for both. The maximum grant amount for a planning grant is $100,000. The maximum grant amount for a working capital grant is $300,000. Applicants must provide matching funds at least equal to the amount of the grant requested. The grants may be used for planning activities, such as feasibility studies, marketing and business plans needed to establish a viable value-added marketing opportunity for an agricultural product. They also may be used to provide working capital for operating a value-added business venture, marketing value-added agricultural products and for farm-based renewable energy projects. Applicants must be an independent producer, agriculture producer group, farmer or rancher cooperative, or majority-controlled producer-based business. Since 2001, USDA has funded $139 million in value-added grants for more than 940 recipients nationwide, including $25 million to develop and market renewable energy projects in 33 states. Renewable energy projects include biodiesel, ethanol or wind energy production, or the use of biomass to generate energy. The deadline for applications is May 16. An application guide and other materials may be obtained at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/coops/vadg.htm , or by contacting the applicant's USDA Rural Development State Office. USDA Rural Development's mission is to deliver programs in a way that will support increasing economic opportunity and improve the quality of life of rural residents. Rural Development has invested more than $76.8 billion since the beginning of the Bush Administration to provide equity and technical assistance to finance and foster growth in homeownership, business development, and critical community and technology infrastructure. As a result, more than 1.5 million jobs have been created or saved through these investments. Further information on rural programs is available at a local USDA Rural Development office or by visiting USDA's web site at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov . USDA Rural Development State Director Chuck Banks announced that the Agency will host the fourth and final informational meeting covering USDA's Value-Added Producer Grant Program in Manhattan on May 2nd. The meeting will be from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Fire Department Training Center, 2000 Denison Avenue. The event will be conducted by USDA Rural Development and K-State Research and Extension. --Steven Graham sgraham@k-state.edu
MARIE'S PICK OF THE WEEK In 2006, stakeholders in nearly all the horticultural commodities were educated on current and emerging disease issues as well as the best management strategies for those problems. Those stakeholders are now better equipped to make informed, rational decisions for integrated disease management. Hundreds of people earned disease management credits for their annual pesticide applicator training, an important contributor to IPM in Kansas. There were many small success stories, grower by grower. Nearly every phone call or diagnostic sample led to improved disease control or awareness. For example, vegetable grower Jim Kientz saved most of a crop from a threatening cucurbit powdery mildew infestation. Pumpkin grower Dan Kuhn will now be treating seed to help prevent the devastating downy mildew epidemics he experienced in 2005 and 2006, a disease that he did not realize was seed related. Apple growers Mike Gerhardt and Rex Reese were made aware of fire blight in their orchards, a potentially serious disease that they have not had in the past. Stan George, superintendent at Prairie Dunes Golf Course in Hutchinson, had several diseases diagnosed and was able to manage them correctly in time for the US Senior Open, a major televised golf event that brought a huge amount of attention to Hutchinson and to golf in Kansas. --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
THANK YOU FROM BARBARA LILYHORN
THANK YOU FROM RITA DAWSON
LOOK PROFESSIONAL IN PRINT Writer Kathleen Ward will outline the rules and traditions of professional writing and will provide some photography tips. Editor Mark Stadtlander will follow with grammar, punctuation and editing hints. Printing supervisor Greg LeValley will discuss how to work with printers, ensure quality work and get more for your money. (He’ll also be available after the workshop, to answer questions.) And technology support specialist Steve Spencer will be available to answer "how-to" questions during or after the training. Please respond to Greg LeValley, glevalle@ksu.edu , or 785-532-1158, if you plan to attend the May 31 session. --Greg LeValley
USDA-CSREES TRACTOR SAFETY MINI GRANT OPPORTUNITY * Do you currently teach a safe tractor and machinery operation program? * Do you certify participants with a written, skills, and driving exam? * Do you issue the USDOL WH-5 Certificate of Training those who pass all exams? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then you may be eligible for a grant to purchase supplies and educational materials to support your efforts. To learn more and to apply for support funds, go to http://www.ystmomg.psu.edu . To learn more about the National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Program, go to http://www.nstmop.psu.edu . To learn more about the Gearing-up Safe Tractor Driving Program, go to http://www.gearingup.info . On a related programming note -- K-State's Farm Safety Program received a grant from the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Safety and Health to purchase the Gearing-Up Safe Tractor Driving Program CD for each county. Those CDs have been ordered and will be mailed to each county as soon as they arrive. --Kerri Ebert kebert@ksu.edu EDUCATIONAL DISCS ON THE WAY Two educational discs were distributed via the Friday distribution packet for the April 27 shipping: Preventing Listeriosis in Pregnant Hispanic Women in the U.S. and Be Food Safe. Each county/district/area office should receive one copy, and multiple copies are being sent to offices with more than one FCS agent. Preventing Listeriosis ... is a new community education CD from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The foodborne illness is caused by Listeria bacteria. Eating foods that contain this bacteria – such as traditional queso fresco made from unpasteurized milk – can lead to serious illness, and even death of the unborn baby. For more information, see the Website at: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/lmp-toc.html . Following is a message from the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding the other disc: The Be Food Safe Partner Toolkit was originally sent to you in September 2006. Unfortunately, after distribution it was found that some of the DVDs enclosed in the toolkit did not work properly. We are sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused and are furnishing a corrected DVD for your use. If you have any questions or need additional assistance please e-mail befoodsafe@fsis.usda.gov . --Nancy Zimmerli-Cates nancyz@ksu.edu
Submit corrections to previously submitted items to jzarger@ksu.edu . DATES TAKEN FROM THE MASTER SCHEDULE FOR MAY 9, 2007, THROUGH MAY 15, 2007: ADDITION: Monday, May 7 Friday, May 11, through Saturday, May 12 Tuesday, May 15, through Wednesday, May 16 .... State Master Food Volunteer Conference, Manhattan, Statewide, Karen Blakeslee kblakesl@ksu.edu
|
|
Please Submit Items no later than Noon on
Monday to include in the following Tuesday Letter to: K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer. |