The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
(Vol. 19 No. 37)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
The Association of Public and Land Grant Universities joint committees on organization and policy for the various sections of the Board on Agriculture Assembly will be meeting in Manhattan this week. We'll have roughly 85
leaders including Deans and Directors from across the US who are serving
on governing committees of their respective sections of APLU. A primary emphasis for this meeting is around the theme of integration. As a part of the event, Wednesday evening K-State will be hosting the group at our International Grains Program building for a reception, tours, and dinner. This will give K-State the opportunity to highlight a sample of our integrated work of teaching,
research, extension, and the private sector partnership. Tours for this invited group will include information about our IGP programs, the new flour mill, feed technology mill and center, and the bio-processing, value-added programs. We will also showcase the new Kansas Wheat Innovation Center and Heartland Plant Innovations work on wheat development. Should be a great week for this group in Manhattan!
Following is the announcement in a recent communication to Extension Directors across the nation regarding this meeting.
Integrated Programs Showcased at Joint COPs – Research Extension and Teaching: Innovative Mission Collaboration and Integration
is the theme of the APLU Board on Agriculture Assembly Joint COPs
meeting in Manhattan, KS, this week. About 85 key leaders from
Cooperative Extension, experiment stations, academic programs,
international programs, and deans of agriculture meet to discuss
national leadership issues. Director Sonny Ramaswamy will speak about
how USDA-NIFA views program integration. Also included will be a session
on the new USDA-NIFA strategic plan under development. ECOP,
represented by Chair-elect Jimmy Henning, University of Kentucky, led
the planning for this year’s meeting and moderates the joint session.
Thanks for all the great work happening across the state as local fairs are in full swing. Hope you have a great week. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
SEMINAR BY DR. SONNY RAMASWAMY, "SETTING THE TABLE FOR A HOTTER, FLATTER, MORE CROWDED EARTH"
Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the USDA's National
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), is in Manhattan this week and has agreed to present a special seminar, "Setting
the Table for a Hotter, Flatter, More Crowded Earth." The
seminar will be a global view of food and agriculture, the
transformative technologies needed to meet future challenges,
and how USDA/NIFA's programs and future priorities will
participate in development/adoption of those technologies.
The seminar will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the K-State Union,
Room 227, on Thursday, July 25. There will be time for
questions and interaction with Dr. Ramaswamy following the
seminar. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
2013 4-H NATIONAL YOUTH SCIENCE DAY AND EXPERIMENT
In preparation for the 2013 4-H National Youth Science Day and Experiment, the NAE4-HA Geospatial Taskforce, in partnership with National 4-H Council and Esri, is pleased to offer a series of 30-minute webinars aimed at increasing an educator's level of comfort in conducting 4-H geospatial activities. As a result of participating in the webinar series, participants will:
- feel more knowledgeable to lead or train others to lead a NYSD geospatial activity;
- feel more knowledgeable to lead or train others to lead one or more geospatial activities beyond the NYSD event.
Dates of the 4-H NYSD GeoWebinar Series:
July 25, 2013 – Learning to think spatially. Position yourself and your program to get the most value out of this year’s National Youth Science Day.
August 8, 2013 – Storytelling with maps. From photos to web links, explore a variety of venues that add uniqueness and personalization to a map using basic geospatial technology.
August 22, 2013 – Creating digital maps. Discover how a simple Excel spreadsheet can put you on the road to geospatial applications in almost any program area.
September 5, 2013 – Adding value to what matters. Go beyond just putting dots on maps and learn how even simple GIS can make a big difference in your community.
Attend all or as many as you can! All webinars are free and will be held from 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. EST.
Click here to indicate your interest and to receive more details on how to participate in the webinars.
Spread the word and be sure to save the dates by adding them to your calendar now. For questions, email bhecht@4-H.org or call 301-221-4859. --Gary Gerhard ggerhard@ksu.edu
2013 KANSAS 4-H STATE WHEAT SHOW LAST CALL
Join us for the Kansas 4-H State
Wheat Show near Great Bend on Thursday, August 1, from 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at
the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, 592 NE K-156 Hwy., Great Bend, KS 67530
(9 miles NE of Great Bend). The wheat
show is open to all 4-H members, family members, 4-H leaders, and Extension
staff.
There will again be eight divisions
open to youth members with cash prizes and ribbons awarded. The tour will involve three venues that
everyone will get to attend. New for 2013 is a $5 per person
registration cost payable at the door to help offset show costs. Pre-registration
is required for an accurate meal count and for class entries by July 25th on the
4-H registration system, http://www.kansas4h.org/p.aspx?tabid=432
or www.Kansas4-H.org. Click on the Kansas 4-H State Wheat Show listed
under “What’s Hot” on the home page. For more information, contact Deryl
Waldren at the Northwest Area Extension Office by July 25 at 785-462-6281 or
email dwaldren@ksu.edu. --Deryl Waldren
AUGUST 15 DEADLINE FOR ESP RECOGNITION APPLICATIONS/NOMINATIONS
August
15 is the deadline to recognize the outstanding Extension work you and
your colleagues are doing. Epsilon Sigma Phi (ESP) members may make
nominations/application for ESP recognition.
Alpha Rho
chapter recognition is aligned with national ESP requirements,
qualifying our recipients to be eligible for national awards as well.
The form and full details, including recognition category descriptions,
are available on the ESP/Alpha Rho website, www.ksre.ksu.edu/esp-AlphaRho, or use this link to go directly to the descriptions, http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/esp-AlphaRho/doc13790.ashx.
Charts that outline which recognition areas members are eligible for when one of the criteria is years in extension are located on the ESP Website at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/esp-alpharho/p.aspx?tabid=11. One chart is organized in alphabetical order and the other by years in extension.
The 12 recognition categories are listed below:
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
To be eligible for recognition, individuals must be current members of
ESP and meet the guidelines for the recognition category. Email the
completed form to the ESP Recognition Chair, Cheryl Boyer, crboyer@ksu.edu, by the August 15 deadline. --Margaret Phillips margaret@ksu.edu
ALL KANSAS PRIDE COMMUNITIES ARE INVITED TO APPLY FOR 2013-2014 GET IT-DO IT! GRANT
There is still time for local Kansas PRIDE groups to apply for the next round of Get It–Do It! grants. All Kansas PRIDE communities are eligible to apply for Get
It-Do It! PRIDE grants of up to $2,000.
Prior to this new funding
announcement, Get It-Do It! grants exclusively supported health
promotion activities conducted by youth-adult partnerships. The focus of the 2013-2014 Get It-Do It! grants is the building of leadership in rural communities especially among youth and
young adults. New Get It-Do It! grants will support youth and adult
partnerships to plan and implement projects that are important to the community, that strengthen rural youth
leadership and that build a community's social and human capital.
The grant opportunity is sponsored by K-State
Research and Extension in cooperation with Partners in PRIDE, and is administered by
Kansas PRIDE and the K-State Research and Extension School of
Family Studies and Human Services (FSHS). FSHS Extension personnel will provide awarded communities
training and technical support during the project.
Grant applications close on August 15, 2013. Applications are currently available on line at the Kansas PRIDE website from
the Resources tab, then Funding: http://www.kansasprideprogram.ksu.edu/pride/prideresources/welcome.htm.
For more information, contact Trudy Rice, Kansas PRIDE Coordinator, trice@ksu.edu; Jaime Menon at the PRIDE office, jmenon@ksu.edu, 785-532-5840; or Elaine
Johannes, Get It-Do It! program director and youth development Extension
specialist, at ejohanne@ksu.edu or
785-532-7720. --Elaine Johannes
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
This week my picks are outcomes and success stories from Rod Schaub and Darren Hibdon, Frontier District:
**Producers
are learning that pasture management, including brush and sericea
control, is an ongoing item. It is not something done once and you’re
done. The past two years have been troubling with heat, drought, and
reduced pond water. Producers are making decisions that will help their
pastures make it through these hard times. Some producers weaned their
calves early to reduce stress on their grass. This alone may reduce the
cow's needs by 30 percent. Others culled the ornery, poor producing, old
or structurally incorrect cows from their herds. Most producers were
forced to feed hay in parts of August to their cow herd in an attempt to
ease the grazing pressure on the pasture. In several instances, stocker
calves were sold off grass much earlier than normal, indicated by the
large sales at the local sale barn and the number of pastures without
cattle. Locations of water, mineral, and shade are also critical to grass
management. Producers are trying to separate these items in the pasture
to reduce overgrazing in areas.
**In 1989, when I started in
Osage County, producers typically sent in
70-75 soil tests annually. During 2011-12, we sent in nearly 500 soil tests to
the KSU Soils Lab. With high fertilizer prices,
producers are looking for ways to grow good crop yields while trying to
hold costs down. Producers using our services see the benefits that
soil testing provides.
**Through
including ag technology subjects in all of the agronomy programs, I observed
that even our smallest producers are interested in adding technology to their
farms. Producers say the added convenience and input savings pay for their
technology upgrades in a short time. Attendance at field days, producer meetings, and office traffic tells us KSU
extension information is needed and is sought after by our local
producers. Even with a shrinking number of ag clientele we continue to
have large meetings. --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
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