The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
(Vol. 16 No. 37)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Summer for me usually involves a significant amount of time
out of the office. This summer has been
no exception, spending two weeks on the road to visit 18 local Extension
offices, this past week at our North Central Mini Land-Grant meetings, this
week at our National Extension Committee on Organization and Policy meetings. Then I'll have some personal time to move a daughter to Kansas City, to visit my mother and more family in South Dakota,
and then having some special time with my wife, Joyce, as we celebrate 30 years
together on August 3rd.
With this "word from," I want to focus on discussions last week with Extension Directors across the NC Region. A part of that discussion focused on
reorganizations of Extension in several states and implications for relevance, value, and sustainability. The real question was, “does the downsizing and
reorganization really have any effect on how Extension serves the people?” When having just reorganized, evidence is
lacking as to the effects, and perceptions prevail.
Maintaining local civic engagement and connections with key
constituents and stakeholders came up as a key issue and concern. Extension Directors across the NC region are
envious of our having a state statute that dictates the option of organizing into Districts in Kansas. Its greatest strengths are in teaming of staff to increase the educational opportunities for local constituents, stabilizing funding through the local Board, and keeping our presence strong, or even stronger in every Kansas county. I’ve been asked by several Directors why only 1/3 of the Counties are
organized into Districts.
We also discussed how critical our brand/logo is in making
stakeholders and the broader public aware of the connection local Extension has
with the Land-Grant University. We all agree that it does us no good to hear
someone say “Cooperative Extension is the best kept secret.” We CANNOT be a secret in today’s world! Using the K-State Research and Extension brand/logo
is absolutely necessary in everything we do. We cannot afford our public and stakeholders being unaware of what we do. Using other program or office logos without the K-State Research and Extension logo is counter-productive in
informing the public of the great connection Extension has with Kansas
State University. We must take every opportunity to make stakeholders aware that an office or a program is a
part of K-State Research and Extension, which then tells the public we are all
connected to Kansas State
University. Such connections to K-State and K-State Research and Extension add value, relevance, and credibility at every level of our organization. I hope you will make every effort to put the
K-State Research and Extension logo prominently on every flyer, newsletter,
website, and any other promotional materials. Let our public and stakeholders know, without question, this is brought to you by K-State Research and
Extension!!
Thanks, and have a great week! –-Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
ANNOUNCING DR. PHIL SLODERBECK AS PERMANENT EXTENSION DIRECTOR-SOUTHWEST AREA
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Phil Sloderbeck is being appointed as the permanent Extension Director-Southwest Area.
At the time of his interim appointment, I promised to Phil that a decision would be made regarding going out for a national search for the Southwest Area Director position prior to his interim appointment anniversary date (July 26, 2010). Several indicators pointed to requesting Dr. Sloderbeck be appointed permanent. First, the feedback I have received from Extension agents, SW Area Extension faculty and staff, County Extension Board members, and his administrative colleagues all point to his providing excellent leadership, commitment, and capacity for the position. Secondly, Phil has indicated the work to be a positive challenge for which he looks forward to making continued contribution in support of the KSRE mission, and lastly, the economic outlook remains cloudy at best such that a national search would represent an unnecessary expense. With that, Interim Director Gary Pierzynski and Provost April Mason both approved this action.
The SW Area Extension Entomology position for which Dr. Sloderbeck vacated has been returned to the central budget and that position will not be refilled.
Dr. Sloderbeck's title will officially change effective Monday, July 26, 2010. Please extend your congratulations to Phil for the contributions he has made in the interim role and the continued leadership and direction we can all anticipate in this permanent position as Extension Director -
Southwest Area. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchholz@ksu.edu
2010 WHEAT SHOW AND 2011 WHEAT PLOT NEWS
2010 Kansas 4-H & FFA State Wheat Show Registration Deadline
The Kansas 4-H and FFA State Wheat Show will be in Larned on Friday, August 6, from 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the J. A. Haas Building on the Pawnee County Fairgrounds. The free wheat show is open to all 4-H and FFA members, family members, 4-H leaders, Extension staff and Vocational Agriculture staff. Pre-registration is required for an accurate meal count and for tour divisions by July 31, on the Kansas 4-H website registration system, www.kansas4-h.org.
There are nine divisions of classes to enter wheat and wheat-related products. Register by clicking on “4-H Events Registration,” and then “Wheat Show.” For those with no computer connections, contact Rod Wallace in Pawnee County Extension for a food count by July 30, at 620-285-6901.
For details about the wheat show, visit: http://www.kansas4h.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=226.
Last Call for Kansas 4-H and FFA Wheat Variety Plot Enrollment
It is time to remind members to re-enroll or ask new members to enroll for the 2011 Kansas 4-H and FFA Wheat Variety Plot program. The program begins September of 2010 and goes through September 2011. Visit http://www.kansas4h.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=297 for full details and an application form. 2011 enrollments are preferred to the Northwest Area Extension Office by July 23, 2010. The plot varieties will not change for 2011. The wheat and signs will be distributed on the first Friday of the 2010 Kansas State Fair.
For more information about either program, contact Deryl Waldren at 785-462-6281 or e-mail him at dwaldren@ksu.edu. --Deryl Waldren
DO YOU NEED A NEW NAME BADGE?
All participants attending the upcoming Annual Conference, October 18-21, 2010, will be requested to wear their K-State Research and Extension name badges.
If you have never received a name badge, if you still have one of the old variety, or if you wish to purchase a new badge, e-mail Sue Robinson, srobinso@ksu.edu.
Be sure to specify the kind of backing you want - magnet, clip or pin - and specify how you want your name on the badge. There is not room for titles, but department, area, county, district, or research center will be shown if you desire. The alternative I like is just your name below the K-State Research and Extension brand.
Each new employee, at the instructor level or above, receives his/her first name badge free of charge. Counties, districts, areas and departments are encouraged to order name badges for other employees and will be invoiced in the amount of $4.50 for each name badge.
If a new name badge is needed, please order soon so you can receive them in plenty of time for Annual Conference. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR KYLF WORKSHOP PROPOSALS
The workshop proposal deadline for the Kansas Youth Leadership Forum has been extended to Thursday, August 5. The
Kansas State 4-H Youth Council members hope that you will be
interested in sharing your expertise through this opportunity.
The 11th
Annual Kansas Youth Leadership Forum will be held in November at Rock
Springs 4-H Center. This conference, designed for youth, ages 14-18,
will include speakers, workshops, consulting groups and the election of
the 2011 Kansas State 4-H Youth Leadership Council.
We are
recruiting
proposals for workshop session instructors/presenters for Saturday,
November 20. Topics should
center on some aspect of leadership. Some ideas might include, but are not limited to,
community service, leadership in an industry or career, citizenship,
communications, conflict management,
ethics, motivation, decision making, leading by example, time
management, international citizenship, multi-cultural studies,
diversity, business etiquette and getting involved after high school.
The letter and proposal form are both on the
State 4-H Website, on the KYLF page. Proposals
are due by August 5. Questions can be directed to Beth
Hinshaw, bhinshaw@ksu.edu. --Beth Hinshaw
USDA-NASS SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON FUTURE ENERGY PROGRAM
The Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is seeking stakeholder input as it develops an annual program to collect and publish data about agriculture's production and use of renewable energy.
"With growing national interest in energy efficiency and alternative energy sources, there is a need for solid data about how the agriculture sector is generating and using renewable energy," said NASS Associate Administrator Joseph T. Reilly. "In response to this need, we're expanding our data collection efforts and are hoping that farmers, farm and energy organizations, and other stakeholders will weigh in and tell us exactly what information they want and need."
In the 2007 Census of Agriculture, NASS for the first time included a question about on-farm energy production. Based on the information gathered from the census, NASS is currently conducting USDA's first On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey, focusing on farms and ranches that produced renewable energy via solar panels, wind turbines and methane digesters in 2009.
"This initial survey will provide important baseline data, and our plan is to expand our efforts into a broader, annual survey program beginning in 2012," said Reilly. "We're open to looking at all aspects of renewable energy production and use, including issues such as the costs and benefits, the motivators and obstacles, and the handling and use of energy co-products."
A notice in the June 21 Federal Register includes details about the opportunity for interested individuals and organizations to provide input to NASS. Additional information, including an online comment form, is available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/energysurvey/. --Steven Graham sgraham@k-state.edu
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
This week my picks are success stories reported by Chip Miller, Central Kansas District #3:
The Central Kansas District #3 Master Gardener Advisory Board wished to provide firsthand project oversight by visiting each of the six gardens supported by the District Master Gardeners. What we found was very encouraging. Four of these gardens are designed, planted, and maintained by Master Gardeners. The first is our Demonstration Garden in Salina's Kenwood Park. It received the Search for Excellence Award for 2007. It serves as our trials and teaching garden, and is our flagship project in the district. The entry garden to Southeast of Saline (all-district, K-12 school) is the second garden. It is built on a large parking lot entry median on a hilltop with no protection from the elements; it is a colorful xeric garden filled with native and well-adapted plants. The third is what we call Gypsum Barrels, container plantings to beautify the main street of a community of 414 people. Fourth, the Country Club Perennial Gardens show what can be done to beautify small areas at two corners of a neighborhood park.
Two additional gardens are joint projects. The first is the Assaria Children's Square Foot Garden, partnered with the Assaria PRIDE Program. Assaria, a community of 446 people, like many small towns, suffers from a lack of activities of interest to elementary- and middle school-aged children. Thirty children have small individual gardens and a large community planting area. An experienced adult gardener is present nearly every day to teach and assist the children. The flowers and produce grown by the Assaria children make up the majority of entries in Children's Floriculture and Horticulture divisions at the Tri Rivers Fair in Salina. Second, we visited the Southeast of Saline District Elementary School Butterfly Garden that is used as a teaching site. Wild, but well maintained, the garden has everything the average butterfly needs, and features artwork by elementary students.
All the garden projects met or exceeded the expectations of the Advisory Board and reminded us to pay more attention to programs that are ongoing and not problematic. --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
KANSAS TO KENYA PROGRAM UPDATE
Three
years ago, Bill Hargrove, then Director of our Kansas
Center for Agriculture and the
Environment (KCARE), went to Kenya
and signed an agreement with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and
Technology (JKUAT). He also interacted
with programming in a village called Maai Mahiu, Kenya, carried out by an
organization called Comfort the Children (CTC) International, which has ties to
Kansas.
In
the past two years, Bill and others from K-State Research and Extension visited
JKUAT and Maai Mahiu. Discussions at
JKUAT centered on how the university might reach out to the youth of Kenya, conduct
various youth activities, and do some recruitment of students for the
future. In the village of Maai Mahiu,
K-Staters have taught gardening and drip irrigation skills; worked with school
environmental clubs; conducted some nutrition and health education with
HIV/AIDS patients; and taught women how to be entrepreneurial through
establishing a sewing center.
In
June 2010, Sandy Procter, EFNEP Coordinator; and Simon Nyambura, Ph.D.
candidate from Kenya in political science at K-State; met with officials at
JKUAT to seriously discuss how to move forward with a Youth Leadership Workshop
in 2011. Discussions went very well and
the Kenyans are to send us their proposal for the workshop by mid-July, 2010.
Also
this summer, Denise Dias from the Sedgwick County Extension Office, is leading
a team from her national sewing guild to Maai Mahiu to further train the women
entrepreneurs and take some improved sewing machines and equipment to the
village.
In
addition to Hargrove, those with K-State who have visited Kenya with this
project over the past three years are: Sandy Procter, Denise Dias, Mary Meck Higgins, Herschel George, Ann
Religa, Tonya Bronleewe, Donna Martinson, Nancy Muturi, Laszlo Kulcsar and
Simon Nyambura, as well as students Courtney Held and Valerie Stull. Others
working on the Youth Leadership Workshop proposal include: Shannon Washburn, Pam Van Horn, Deryl Waldren,
Joyce Baptist, Sam Mawangi, and Steven Graham.
The
visits to Kenya
have opened up many exciting possibilities for other K-State Research and
Extension collaborations and research. We will keep you updated as the Kansas
to Kenya Program continues to develop. If you have questions, please e-mail Steven Graham, sgraham@k-state.edu. --Steven Graham
KSRE GRANT WRITING TRAINING: SEPTEMBER 21, SEPTEMBER 27 IN SALINA
The current economy, budget concerns and calls for expanded services are creating demand for local grant writing skills.
To meet this demand, attend the Grant Writing training built exclusively for K-State Extension professionals and stake-holders. The one- day (9:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.) training will be offered twice at K-State Salina, College Center Conference room, on SEPTEMBER 21 (Tuesday), and SEPTEMBER 27 (Monday).
For $35 you will receive instruction, materials, refreshments, lunch and a copy of the Grantsmanship Center's Program Planning & Proposal Writing- Expanded Version guide (what a deal!).
In response to whether participants of the 2009 training would recommend the session to KSRE colleagues, agents said, "Absolutely! It's a good time to focus and learn about writing grants." "Yes, now that I have been in the system for a few years I think that every Extension Professional should be exposed to some sort of basic grant writing professional development."
Training objectives include:
* Increase awareness and knowledge of grant resources for youth-family- community programs.
* Learn grant writing techniques.
* Increase understanding of the fit between grants, program planning and program management.
* Build a K-State Extension team that supports each other in grant writing and management!
Registration is available through the Kansas PRIDE website. Scroll down to "State Funding," complete the registration form and send it by September 6 to Paula Seele, pseele@ksu.edu.
For more information, contact Elaine Johannes, ejohanne@ksu.edu, 785-532-7720; Paula Seele, pseele@ksu.edu, 785- 523-5773. --Elaine Johannes
2010 SYMPOSIUM ON FOOD AND AGRICULTURE SECURITY
Dates: October 18-20, 2010
Location: Monona
Terrace Convention Center, Madison, Wisconsin
Theme: Taking
the “Target” off the Food and Agriculture Sector
As a critical infrastructure, the food and agriculture sector constitutes
one-sixth of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) - over a trillion dollars a
year. This symposium will highlight how federal, state and local government,
together with industry, are working to reduce threats, minimize impacts, and
more quickly recover from a food and agricultural security event.
Symposium Topics
- National and international threats - latest news
- Regional state-level partnerships – accomplishments
- Food and Agriculture Government Coordinating Council - industry integration
at the national level
- Food and Agriculture Criticality Assessment Tool (FAS-CAT) - lessons learned
and next steps
- Continuity of business - keeping industry moving
- Agriculture and Homeland Security Integration - State Fusion Centers,
Homeland Security Strategies
This symposium will offer networking and insights to further protect our Food
and Agriculture Critical Infrastructure/Key Resources including:
- Communication
- Intelligence sharing
- Keeping products moving
- Relationship building and partnering
Sponsors: USDA, US Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FDA
For more information, go to
http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Meetings/2010-symposium-on-food-and-agriculture-security.php. --Steven Graham sgraham@k-state.edu
COMMUNICATIONS MINUTE: PLAN PRINT OR DESIGN PROJECTS
Are you planning a promotional or educational brochure,
newsletter, fact sheet, or poster? The staff in the Department of
Communications is available for consultation and project management.
Use these ideas to plan your project. Goal and Use
- What is the project goal? Awareness? Education?
Marketing? How will this project meet that goal?
- How will you use or distribute the item? As a handout?
Poster? Online form? Mailing?
- Who are the target readers or recipients?
Diabetics? 4-H members? Retirees? Pork producers? Gardeners?
- What theme or "look" is
appropriate? Sleek? Friendly? Casual? Trendy? Official?
Scheduling
- What date will you use or distribute the
finished product?
- When does the printer or other vendor need the
file to meet your deadline?
- When do you need to review the first draft and
final proof? Does anyone else need to see or approve it? How much time must be
allowed for review or revision?
-
Are text, photographs, charts, or other graphics
prepared and approved for use? If not, who will provide them? How long will it
take to obtain each element needed?
Cost
- What is the production budget?
- How many colors are needed? (Color,
along with quantity and stock used, affects print production costs.)
- How many items will be produced?
- Who should receive the invoice?
Our staff
can help with estimates, ideas, and information about editing, design, or print projects. Contact the Department of Communications publishing unit at 785-532-1148. --Nancy Zimmerli-Cates nancyz@ksu.edu
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