The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
(Vol. 21 No. 12)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
The Research and Extension 2015 Making a Difference for Kansans Annual Report has been delivered to each state legislator's desk with a personal cover letter, as follows:
"K-State
Research and Extension is moving forward to address five grand challenges that
directly affect all Kansans: global food systems, water, health, developing
tomorrow’s leaders, and community vitality.
We
aren’t going to solve these challenges alone but by capitalizing on partnerships
within Kansas, across the United States, and internationally.
K-State
Research and Extension is building the capacity of Kansas. Our statewide
K-State Research and Extension system trains and educates thousands of community
leaders and volunteers in a wide array of specialized areas. A few examples are: youth development through
4-H, Master Gardeners, Master Food Volunteers, improving health outcomes, horticulture,
family and community development, and crop advisors. We impact the lives of
Kansas citizens - young and old - each and every day. Through our programs, we
are educating and working with the next generation of students, scientists, and
extension educators to make a difference.
As
you read our 2015 report, please reflect on our accomplishments and join us as
we look toward building a successful tomorrow for Kansas.
I
encourage you to visit www.ksu.edu/challenges, which provides short
videos about the grand challenges and additional information on the impact our
programs have.
The
individuals listed below are extension leaders in your legislative district.
Please feel free to contact them as resources for any question or need for
assistance you might have.
Best
wishes for a great 2015.
Sincerely,
John
D. Floros
Dean
and Director
K-State
College of Agriculture
K-State
Research and Extension"
Note in the final sentences it points out that each legislator was provided the contact information, email and phone number, of our elected board leader for each local Extension unit, and the county or district Extension director's office phone number and email. We strive to build the connection of local Extension with the broader work of all of Research and Extension system wide.
Thanks to each of you for keeping us informed of any legislative discussions or proposals that will be of interest to Kansas State University and/or Research and Extension. This communication is valuable in seeing that we are preparing and responding to any issues or concerns as they may arise.
Copies of the 2015 Making a Difference Annual Report are heading your way for your use and distribution to key elected officials and stakeholders throughout your community.
All the best, and have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
CENTRAL PLAINS IRRIGATION CONFERENCE IN KANSAS
Kansas will host the 2015 Central Plains Irrigation Conference and Exposition February 17-18 at the City Limits Convention Center, Colby, Kansas. The popular annual event focused solely on irrigation-related topics is hosted in Kansas every third year. Sponsors include Kansas State University, Colorado State University, the University of Nebraska and the Central Plains Irrigation Association.
On the conference side of the event, technical session topics include the crop water budget, optimizing crop water productivity in a variable climate, sensor technologies for irrigation management, advancements in subsurface drip irrigation and center pivot irrigation, updates on groundwater issues and crop options for deficit irrigation.
Bob Gillen, head of tri-center operations for K-State Research and Extension’s Western Kansas Agricultural Research Centers, will present the first day general session on lessons from 100 years of agricultural research in northwest Kansas. Ajay Sharda, assistant professor in K-State’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, will lead a general session about the potential of technology and precision agriculture on the second day of the event.
The conference includes a menu-driven program, so participants can choose what to attend during the two days. The exposition will allow for industry representatives and irrigators to interact.
For a full list of sessions and presenters and the registration form, visit http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/sdi/REvents/CPIAprog.html. Register early by January 30 at a discounted rate of $85 per person. After January 30, registration is $100 per person. The fee covers access to technical and general sessions, the exposition and on-site meals. For more information, contact Donna Lamm at 785-462-7574 or donnalamm@yahoo.com. --Danny Rogers drogers@ksu.edu
DIVERSITY PROGRAMS OFFICE 2015 MLK OBSERVANCE WEEK
The DPO would like to share information about 2015 MLK Observance Week: • Today, Tuesday, January 27, the 11th Annual College of Agriculture Diversity Student Leader Reception will be held at 12:30 p.m. in the Cottonwood Room. At our annual program each student leader will receive a Dr. MLK, Jr. lapel pin. The guest speaker is Rodney Patterson, CoBank Director of Corporate Diversity and Talent Management. We encourage student leaders to come to this program to celebrate your efforts on campus. Please contact Carolina Camacho, carolinc@k-state.edu, or phone 785-532-5793 if you are interested in coming. • Today, Tuesday, January 27, the Commerce Bank Presidential Awards for Diversity will hold a reception to recognize the awardees at 3:30 p.m. in the K-State Alumni Center. This year Justine Floyd, senior majoring in Agribusiness and K-State MANRRS Chapter member from Wichita, KS, will be the recipient of this prestigious award. Please join us as we congratulate Justine! • On Friday, January 30, Black Faculty & Staff Alliance (BSFA) and Alianza will have a Social Justice Brown Bag in the K-State Union Staterooms at 12 noon. • The Laying of the Wreaths Ceremony will be held on Friday, January 30, at 2:00 p.m. at the Ahearn Fieldhouse at the MLK Bust. During this event, College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension (KSRE) will be laying a wreath. • Thanks to Frontier Farm Credit Services for serving as our sponsor for this week’s activities. • For a full list of activities for the 2015 MLK Observance Week please go to http://www.k-state.edu/diversity/2015mlkweekposter.pdf.
Please continue to look for more diversity events as we continue to advertise. We appreciate your support. For more information about upcoming events or to collaborate with the DPO, please call 785-532-5793 or contact Dr. Zelia Wiley, Assistant Dean of Diversity, zwiley@ksu.edu. --Zelia Wiley
ADDITIONAL K-STATE CMS TRAININGS SCHEDULED
Additional Content Management System training options have been scheduled. These options include:
Manhattan 8:30 to noon - Wednesday, February 4 Room 407 Hale Library
Kansas State University
Computers will be provided. Please RSVP using our survey. For questions please contact Julie Fosberg, jfosberg@k-state.edu.
Colby 9:00 to 3:00 - Thursday, February 12 (There will be a 1 hour break for lunch. Lunch will not be provided.) Northwest Area Office 105 Experiment Farm Road Colby KS, 67701-0786
Individuals need to bring laptops, computers are not provided. Please RSVP using our survey. For questions please contact Julie Fosberg, jfosberg@k-state.edu.
Session will include system training as well as a work session to get started on individual sites.
Reservations are required and should be made at least 24 hours before the session. Sessions may be rescheduled because of insufficient enrollment or inclement weather.
If you are interested in viewing a CMS user guide prior to the training, it is available for download. Hard copies will be provided at the training. http://www.k-state.edu/webservices/cms/ksre/trainings.html. --Julie Fosberg jfosberg@k-state.edu
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
My picks this week are from Erick
DeWolf and Christopher Toomajian in Plant Pathology.
**Outcomes of the program to reduce
the impact of wheat diseases:
Participants in this programs learned
about common wheat diseases, and how to identify growth stages critical to
wheat disease management. The main focus of these programs is selection of
wheat varieties that are productive and have the appropriate genetic resistance
to disease.
Interviews
with wheat producers indicate that they are learning to integrate information
about disease and local scouting reports when making fungicide decisions.
The wheat disease loss estimates for
2014 continued to document a decreasing trend in the disease related yield
losses in Kansas. This is due in part to the work of KSRE programs that
help inform growers about the risk of disease in their area and how to best
manage these diseases with genetic resistance.
**Outcomes of the program about molecular population genetics of
plants and plant pathogens: Our work continues to generate lists of genes in both plants and plant
pathogens that are candidates for harboring important functional variation. An
example from our Arabidopsis work includes genes whose expression is greatly
affected by increases in temperature, while from our Fusarium pathogen
work we are uncovering loci that deviate from the expected Mendelian
segregation ratios while at the same time enabling the study of species
differences. --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
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