The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
(Vol. 19 No. 17)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Seven new Extension agents are in town this week receiving a very important
component of their first year training in program development. As I
emphasize, programming is the only real reason for Extension. We can
answer questions from the public, but without a focused educational
program, purpose and support for Extension will diminish. I hope as
colleagues and mentors, each of you will help our new agents understand
how to create a focus and a strong educational program that makes a
difference in their communities. As Bill Snyder has been quoted in
"Leadership Lessons from Bill Snyder". Shoop and Scott, 1999:
"Many
people are not sure what they are working toward. They get up each day
and work hard, but don't seem to be getting anywhere. Accordingly,
they may become discouraged and stop working hard."
And he later goes on to say:
"Clarifying
your goals and making a plan are important, but ultimately meaningless
unless you are willing to focus on your plan and put in the tremendous
effort and hard work necessary for success."
Additionally, we have thirteen agents and specialists in Manhattan going through the Facilitation Workshop provided through the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy (ICDD). This training provides strength in a core competency of every Extension professional, that of facilitating group process and group discussion. I envision participants to come out of this training with a set of skills that will have utility and value throughout their professional work.
Hope you are all operating from a well focused plan and are continuously seeking opportunities to hone your skills and competencies in being the best possible Extension professional! Have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
WEEK 2 – GET FINANCIALLY PREPARED – TAKE STEPS AHEAD OF DISASTER CHALLENGE
Prepare a Household Inventory. A household inventory is an itemized list of the contents of your home, including basement, attic, and garage. It could also include a list of the contents of storage areas such as sheds or other small buildings on your property. If you have a rented storage unit off-site, consider completing an inventory for that, as well. An accurate inventory is a necessity whether you are a homeowner or renter.
An inventory of your belongings helps set an approximate value of items owned to determine needed insurance coverage. In case of a loss, your insurance company will require a listing of all items lost or destroyed in order to settle the insurance claim. It is often difficult to reconstruct a list of belongings from memory because it is easy to overlook items that are out of season or hidden away, as well as those you use regularly.
Join fellow K-State Research and Extension staff in participating in the Get Financially Prepared Challenge being held by the Family Resource Management PFT. Throughout the month of March, complete activities to prepare your home or workplace ahead of a disaster.
It is not too late to register for the challenge! Click here to register for the challenge. Or, use this link - https://kstate.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6Pw25VNcKvmJGfP.
Challenge tasks are listed below. Details for completing each task are posted on our blog, https://blogs.ksre.ksu.edu/getfinanciallyprepared/. We will also post updates and other useful information on the blog throughout the month.
You have the entire month to complete the Challenge. To help you stay on track, you will be asked to track your progress each week.
Week 2 Activities: o Decide on the format for your household inventory and inventory 1 room of your house. o Add at least 3 items to your grab-and-go kit. If your kit is complete, help someone start one. o Learn or review the meanings of Watch and Warning, as related to weather situations. o Share disaster preparedness knowledge in your community (newspaper, newsletter, KSRE lesson or activity). --Family Resource Management Program Focus Team – Elizabeth Kiss dekiss4@ksu.edu & Jamie Rathbun jrathbun@ksu.edu
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Building Community is a monthly article that addresses
community development topics. This month’s Building Community message concerns
the importance of building relationships, especially when working with new
audiences, and comes from Johnson County K-State Research & Extension’s own
Rick Miller...
I believe the secret to building community starts with
relationships. If people don't like or trust you, they likely won't work with
you. When our community development PDC decided to focus on reaching
underserved audiences and people thinking about starting a small business, we
knew we needed to develop relationships first. We added people who could
broaden our reach on the PDC and extended into the community where we found
partners who were already working in our focus areas. But it takes time.
Our small business effort began by networking with a number
or organizations including the chamber of commerce, the Small Business
Development Center, and eventually to an organization called the Small and Home
Business Connection. I attended their monthly network and educational meetings
for years and served on their educational program committee. Those
relationships led to the opportunity to start a small business expo that drew
over 700 people for our day long educational tracts, networking, and business
to business trade show. That continued
for three years.
The same process was needed to reach our growing Hispanic
audience. After sitting at the table with a local Hispanic taskforce for
several years, I threw out the idea of using a community garden to engage this
audience. One of the partners was interested, and with the right relationships,
we started our Grace Community Garden three years ago. The garden attracts
participants from the groups ESL class with individuals from Mexico, South
America, Asia, and Egypt. It’s been a
blast.
Good advice, Rick, and thanks for helping our colleagues
think about how they might better engage in Building Community! --Gregg Hadley ghadley@ksu.edu
BASIC 4-H OPERATIONS TRAINING, APRIL 8 & 9
Registration is now open for Basic 4-H Operations training.
The session begins at 1 p.m. on Monday, April 8, and goes through 5 p.m. on
Tuesday, April 9. All sessions will be held at Pottorf Hall, Manhattan.
This training is part of the New Agent Training Cycle, but
any agent or program assistant in the system is welcome to attend this training
where we share critical information for handling 4-H managerial issues that may
arise.
Topics to be addressed include: Accountability to the Youth
Development Mission, Youth Livestock Update, Accountability in Working with
Volunteers, Accountability in Fiscal Affairs, State 4-H Office Connection,
Accountability in Program Planning and Program Expansion.
If you have questions, please contact Diane Mack or Beth
Hinshaw. Cost to attend for those not in the New Agent Training Cycle is $25
payable to the Kansas 4-H Foundation.
Please register by April 1. To register, complete the google
form at: http://tinyurl.com/cqkdkrh. --Diane Mack dmack@ksu.edu
FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE LISTENING SESSION FOR REDUCED IRRIGATION
News release from USDA Risk Management Agency. Farmers know better than most people that fresh water is a precious commodity. In some areas, major crops are generally irrigated, while in other areas irrigation is used primarily to supplement natural rainfall. Each state has unique systems for determining who gets water and how much they get. Throughout the United States there are areas where the amount of irrigation water available to producers can vary from year to year, and can be significantly impacted by drought. In some areas, this means less water is available for agricultural use, particularly in recent years.
Because some farmers are being required to use less water while others are being offered alternative approaches to their water allocations, production of irrigated crops is changing. Many producers already face reductions from their historical water use; others will in the future. These reductions come from a variety of reasons including reduced well capacity, compliance with interstate river compacts, Intensive Groundwater Use Control Areas (IGUCAs), and water right administration policies. The reduction in the supply of irrigation water creates challenges for the farmers who use the water, the organizations that manage water use, and the public/private sector programs that insure farmers’ yields or revenues.
As a result, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Risk Management Agency (RMA) is evaluating how Federal Crop Insurance currently addresses producers intending to apply reduced irrigation. Furthermore, RMA is evaluating the feasibility of establishing a limited irrigation guarantee for producers who apply less water than they may have historically applied to their irrigated acreage. This USDA initiative has led RMA to issue a contract to study initially the impacts of “limited irrigation” on crop insurance offers for corn and soybeans in select counties in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. For the study, “limited irrigation” is defined by RMA as “a method of producing a crop by which less water is artificially applied during the growing season by appropriate systems and at the proper times than the quantity of water that was used to establish the irrigated production guarantee or amount of insurance on the irrigated acreage planted to the insured crop.”
As part of the contract study, two listening sessions are being held to gather input from interested stakeholders. One will be in Colby, Kansas, Community Building (285 E. 5th Avenue) on March 13, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. The second will be in Kearney, Nebraska, at the Buffalo County Extension Building at the Fairgrounds (1400 E. 34 Street) on March 14, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. Grower, insurance industry, and other interested stakeholders are encouraged to attend and share their concerns and feedback about limited irrigation and ideas to address the crop insurance consequences of the changing irrigation water situation in future years.
For more information contact:
Randy Landgren
Project Manager
Watts and Associates, Inc. under contract to USDA RMA
rlandgren@wattsandassociat
--Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
This week
my picks are outcomes, success stories, and public value from the What’s Cookin’ with Diabetes program. This report was submitted
by Mary Higgins for the Nutrition, Food Safety, and Health Program Focus Team.
In 2011-12,
for the seventh year, the interactive educational program, What’s Cookin’ with Diabetes, was offered through a collaboration
of K-State Research and Extension Family and Consumer Sciences educators and
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.
The What’s Cookin’ with
Diabetes educational program fosters healthy lifestyle habits for people
living with diabetes - especially how to manage blood sugar levels, be physically
active and make healthy eating choices, and helps Kansans understand how they
can reduce their risk of getting health complications from already-established
diabetes.
Outcomes:
Respondents indicated an increased intention to use both MyPlate guidelines
(3.8) and Nutrition Facts food labels (4.1) in the future, as compared to past
usage (3.2 and 3.5, respectively).
Success
Stories:
I
did not know that protein and fat metabolize into sugar. It was very good to
have samples of foods with recipes and their food values. How good the food was
– I will try the recipes at home! I think that I can eat diabetic food and not
feel like I am missing out on anything. Cowley County
I
was surprised to learn what whole grains are, and found the information about portion
control and the sodium content of foods helpful. The program added to my
knowledge, helped me refocus, and motivated me to try harder to do better. Finney
County
The public value
of this program is realized when Kansans adopt healthy lifestyle habits, which
will lead to fewer diabetic health complications and improved quality of life.
This will benefit other community members by lowering the public cost of health
care and health insurance and increasing the number of productive contributing
citizens. --Marie
Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
FEBRUARY EXTENSION AGENT PERSONNEL CHANGES
Alli Burns, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent in Finney County, resigned effective February 2, 2013.
Hilary Hanvey, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent in Comanche County, began employment effective February 3, 2013. Her email address is hhanvey@ksu.edu.
John Stannard, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent in Russell County, retired effective February 18, 2013.
Leslie Manning, 4-H Youth Development and Community Development Agent in River Valley District, began employment effective February 25, 2013. Her email address is lmanning@ksu.edu.
Todd Whitney, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent in River Valley District, resigned effective February 28, 2013.
–-Stacey Warner swarner@ksu.edu
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