The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
(Vol. 18 No. 38)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
As the heat and drought continue across all of Kansas and so much of the nation, I want to express my sincere thanks and appreciation for all our faculty and staff who have stepped up to provide relevant, reliable, and important information and decision making tools to farmers, ranchers, homeowners, families, and senior citizens as they face difficult, critical decisions. Information and decision tools are research based and juried. It's impressive to see the strength of the Land-Grant University Extension faculty working across the states to provide the very best tools in these unusual and difficult times. You'll note that our KSRE homepage is loaded with links to decision tools and information relating to the continued oppressive heat and dry conditions. Unfortunately, as I write this message, weather forecasts provide for no relief.
Best wishes to all our Extension agents and local staff with your fairs and festivals. I hope all your youth, families, and volunteers can keep the appropriate perspective of personal growth, learning, and keeping cool! Have a great week. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
BLUE-GREEN ALGAE EXTENSION PUBLICATION AND SAMPLING
With the continued onslaught of high temperatures and sunshiny days,
ponds and reservoirs in Kansas are experiencing blue-green algae blooms. A new K-State Extension publication, Identification and Management
of Blue-green Algae in Farm Ponds, http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/h20ql2/mf3065.pdf,
discusses the causes of algae blooms, the livestock problems they can
cause, and how to submit water samples. Toxins produced by blue-green
algae can be fatal to livestock and pets. If a blue-green algae bloom
is suspected, a water sample should be collected and sent to a lab for
analysis.
A video demonstrating collection of a blue-green algae water sample can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRNWzFwKKjE&feature=youtu.be.
Livestock should be provided with another source of water if blue-green algae is found.
K-State
Extension agents have a unique opportunity to participate in a
blue-green algae research project being conducted by Dr. Deon van der
Merwe, Head of the Toxicology Section of the Kansas State Veterinary
Diagnostic Laboratory. By collecting an additional sample using a
filter paper method and sending it along with the water sample to the
lab, the usual diagnostic fee will be waived. A video demonstrating
this collection method can be found at http://www.agronomy.ksu.edu/extension/p.aspx?tabid=168.
For more details on sampling methodology and to obtain filter paper, contact Carol Blocksome, blocksom@ksu.edu. --Carol Blocksome
SPECIALTY CROPS TOUR SET FOR JULY 31
A day long tour of five specialty crop farms in the Edgerton and Lawrence areas will begin at 9 a.m., Tuesday, July 31. The tour is open to the public.
The tour begins in Edgerton at Gieringers Orchard, 39675 W 183rd, followed by Soaring Eagle Organic Farms. Gieringers grow peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, sweet corn, blackberries, and plums. They sell at the Olathe and Overland Park Farmers Markets and at the farm. Soaring Eagle grows and markets organic spelt, wheat, corn, clover seed, soybeans, barley, sorghum, and buckwheat on 400 acres.
Lunch will be at Smokey's BBQ in Wellsville. RSVPs are greatly appreciated by July 27. Lunch is complimentary for military veterans.
After lunch the tour resumes at Pendleton's Country Market, 1446 E. 1850 Road, Lawrence. Pendleton's grow vegetables, bedding plants, and cut flowers marketed through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and at the Lawrence Farmers Market. Final tour stops will be The Red Tractor Farm and Washington Creek Lavender, both near Lawrence. Red Tractor's owners grow vegetables and raise goats and chickens, marketed at the Lawrence Farmers Market and area restaurants. Washington Creek produces organic lavender that is made into sachets, dryer sheets, neck comforters, and coasters. The day concludes at the Lawrence Farmers Market on Vermont Street, between 10th and 11th.
The tour is sponsored by Kansas Farmers Union and the Center for Rural Affairs through a grant from USDA Risk Management to introduce military veterans to opportunities in production agriculture. Other groups involved are Farmer-Veteran Coalition and Kansas AgrAbility. To RSVP or for more information, contact Nick Levendofsky at 785-527-0941 or kfu.nick@gmail.com or visit kansasfarmersunion.org. --Kerri Ebert kebert@ksu.edu
NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR ANNUAL CONFERENCE AWARDS
The K-State Research and Extension Awards Lunch will be on Wednesday, October 17, during Annual Conference.
This
is our annual opportunity to recognize outstanding colleagues. I
encourage you to review the award categories below and nominate someone
by Tuesday, August 7.
The
nomination should include a maximum of two pages of information
summarizing the criteria for which the individual is being nominated.
Include the name, title, address, phone number and email of both the
nominee as well as the nominator(s).
Previous recipients of the awards are listed on the Employee Resources website. Go to www.ksre.ksu.edu/employee_resources. Click on Nominations for Awards in the center of the page.
BUILDER AWARDS
- These awards recognize individuals who have exhibited extra energy
and creativity over a number of years in building new programs,
audiences or institutions within K-State Research and Extension.
DIVERSITY AWARD
- K-State Research and Extension is committed to diversity in
programming, workforce and relationships with other organizations.
Nominees for this award will be individuals who have embraced and
demonstrated this vision.
TEAM AWARD - The Team
Award acknowledges outstanding efforts by a group of individuals
addressing one of the Strategic Opportunities of K-State Research and
Extension.
MENTORING AWARD - K-State Research
and Extension faculty are encouraged to nominate a mentor who has helped
them and others achieve higher performance and productivity. One award
will be presented to an extension agent mentor and one to an area or
campus-based faculty mentor.
LOCAL UNIT OFFICE PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR
County
and district offices are encouraged to nominate an office professional
who demonstrates initiative, productivity, creativity, adaptability,
teamwork, and service.
UNCLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR
(for the College of Agriculture and all divisions of K-State Research
and Extension on and off-campus). This award recognizes individuals
who are in unclassified non-tenure track positions. The nomination
should include information about special efforts and accomplishments.
For questions about the nominations or awards contact Stacey Warner, Awards Lunch Chair, at 785-532-3080, or swarner@ksu.edu.
I look forward to receiving the nominations by August 7.
Send all nominations electronically to Dorothy M. Doan, ddoan@ksu.edu, and include in the subject line: KSRE Award Nomination: <and name of award>.
Thanks! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
APPLICATIONS FOR ESP RECOGNITION DUE AUGUST 10
Now is the time to prepare an application for yourself or a nomination for someone else for Epsilon Sigma Phi recognition. There are twelve categories of awards to recognize members for outstanding accomplishments (listed below). Recipients will be honored at the Epsilon Sigma Phi annual recognition event at KSRE Annual Conference in October.
To be eligible for recognition by Epsilon Sigma Phi, individuals must hold current ESP membership and meet the guidelines for the recognition category. Applications and nominations must be received by August 10.
The process is easy! There is no special form required; just submit a brief - no more than 2 page - description of why the person or team should be considered for recognition and submit to Libby Curry, ESP Award Committee Chair, lcurry@ksu.edu, electronically by the deadline.
Full details and recognition descriptions are available on the ESP website at www.ksre.ksu.edu/esp-AlphaRho. Start preparing your application or nomination now!
ESP Recognition Categories:Administrative Leadership Horizon - County/District (2), Area (1), State (1) Early Career Mid-Career Visionary Leadership Meritorious Service - County/District (2), Area (1), State (1) Distinguished Service Distinguished Team International Service Diversity/Multicultural - Individual, Team Retiree Service Friend of Extension
--Libby Curry lcurry@ksu.edu
JIM GERRISH GRAZING SCHOOLS IN TOPEKA AND HAYS
Jim Gerrish, well-known Idaho rancher, researcher, grazing educator, author and co-founder of the Missouri Grazing School, will deliver two, 2-day workshops in Topeka and Hays in August. Gerrish will be in Topeka at the Ramada Inn, lower level meeting rooms, 420 SE 6th St., on Monday-Tuesday, August 13-14; and in Hays at the Whiskey Creek Restaurant, West Meeting Room, 3203 Vine St., Hays, KS on Wednesday-Thursday August 15-16. The workshops will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. each day. Each workshop will be tailored for the grasses, forages, rainfall, growing conditions, and grazing potential in that area of the state. Gerrish has over 20 years of beef-forage systems research and outreach experience while on the faculty of the University of Missouri and an additional 20 years of commercial cattle and sheep production experience on his farm. He is author of two books on the topics of management intensive grazing and year around grazing. He is also a contributing writer for Stockman Grass Farmer and a contributing editor to Beef Magazine.
Deadline for registration for food count is August 8. Registration fee is $80 per workshop, which includes lunch and beverages, and $50 per workshop for high school or college students. Register at the Kansas Rural Center website, www.kansasruralcenter.org, and click on the 2012 Jim Gerrish Workshop Registration button. From there you can print out a registration form and mail it, plus a check, to the Kansas Rural Center at P.O. Box 133, Whiting, KS. Or register online at the KRC website by clicking on your preferred workshop location and date.
For more information contact Mary Howell, KRC workshop coordinator, at 785-562-8726 or kfu.mary@gmail.com; or contact KRC at 785-873-3431, or ksrc@rainbowtel.net. The workshops are made available by a grant award to the Kansas Rural Center from the USDA Risk Management Agency. Co-sponsors include the Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops, Kansas SARE, Farmers Union, and the Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition. --Kerri Ebert kebert@ksu.edu
DRINK MORE WATER
 “Get
Half or more of your fluids each day from water” is one of the goals from the
K-State Research and Extension’s Healthy
You – Pick Two challenge.
Water
serves many functions in the body including contributing to brain health. Brain
tissue is 85 percent water. Dehydration can cause fatigue, dizziness, headache,
depression, confusion and disorientation.
Most
adults need at least 6 cups of fluids per day. Water remains the best drink
because it’s easiest for people to absorb. Cool water absorbs more readily than
warm, hot or ice water. Other recommended fluid sources include milk, fruit
juice, soups and fruits and vegetables with a high water content such as melons
and tomatoes. Drinks that do not do the job as well, such as sports drinks,
carbonated beverages and fruit drinks, include a large dose of sugar calories.
This
information is from Liquid Assets: The
Value of Fluids to Your Health, a K-State Research and Extension
Publication written by Barbara L. Ames, Wildcat District Family and Consumer
Sciences Agent. For more information go to http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/fntr2/mf2739.pdf. --Sharolyn Jackson sharolyn@ksu.edu
PART 2 - FINNEY COUNTY HEALTH/WELL-BEING ASSESSMENT AND SOCIAL CAPITAL STUDY
This is the second installment of information about a study just completed in Finney County called, Community Assets Project. We gathered data on about 10% of the population through surveys and focus groups conducted in four languages better to understand the assets, needs, and social relationships of this human and ethnically diverse population.
Data Collection Methods:
The survey instrument was designed by members of the ad hoc committee organized to complete this project. The survey was written in four languages - English, Spanish, Karen, and Somali. The translated surveys were taken from the original English questionnaire. Once the questions were translated, they were back translated to English to make sure that the integrity of the original questions remained and meaning was not lost. We took steps to assure that there would be what we believe to be a representative sample of Finney County's population. Most of the surveys were distributed in a focus group-type format in that groups were given surveys to complete. Focus group facilitators were trained prior to their proctoring the completion of surveys by any gathered groups of people. For example surveys were completed at the local senior center, with various parent groups associated to different school programs or adult education classes. The survey was also made available on-line in English.
Interviews: To date, 25 interviews were completed in English and Spanish, and any open-ended questions from the surveys were translated from Karen, Somali, and Spanish and analyzed with other qualitative data.
Data Analyses:
Frequencies
Test of Proportions (t-test)
Test for Independence (X²)
Ethnographic examples
Interviews (Qualitative data were analyzed separately from quantitative data.)
Total Surveys Completed: 464
Surveys completed in focus group setting: 327
Surveys mailed through postal service: 1
Surveys completed online: 136
Interviews: 25 (analyzed separately)
Language of completed survey:
English: 359
Spanish: 87
Somali: 8
Karen: 10
Residences of survey respondents
67846 (Garden City): 427
67851 (Holcomb): 27
67868 (Pierceville): 4
Missing: 6
In the following weeks, we’ll take a deeper look at the demographics of our respondents.
For more information, contact Debra J. Bolton, PhD, CFLE, dbolton@ksu.edu. --Debra Bolton
PATCH BURN GRAZING ANNUAL MEETING
Horn flies, prairie chickens, and grassbanking - all will be
topics at the upcoming Patch Burn Grazing Annual meeting on August 28-29, 2012
at Camp Wood YMCA near Elmdale, KS. The
goal of patch burn grazing is to increase prairie heterogeneity by manipulating
plant growth and grazing through the use of prescribed fire applied at specific
intervals and spatial scales. The
meeting will begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday and end Wednesday afternoon. Registration is $60 and includes all meals
and an overnight stay. Farmers and
ranchers are eligible for a scholarship that covers registration and up to a
$100 travel stipend. For more
information or to register, contact Carol Blocksome, blocksom@ksu.edu.
The Patch Burn Grazing Working Group meets annually in one of five states (Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma) to share research and management results related to patch burn grazing. If you would like to be added to the group listserv, please contact Carol Blocksome. --Carol Blocksome
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