Thursday, May 12, 2011

2011 AMPIC "First Timers" Webinar Recorded

Is this your first time attending an Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference? If so, learn more about the conference, the registration process, and tips and tricks from seasoned attendees to get the most out of the meeting!

The Kansas Association of County Agricultural Agents, the First Timers Committee, and the NACAA Early Career Development Committee would like to extend an invitation and encourage you to attend ...the 2011 NACAA AM/PIC in Overland Park, KS. We are very excited about this year’s event and confident that the program offers something for everyone. AM/PIC is educational, motivating, and very family oriented. Plus, the registration fee for any first timer with less than 10 years of experience is FREE!

The first step you need to take is getting registered. For someone new to AM/PIC, we know this can be somewhat of a daunting task. There is a very comprehensive schedule to navigate through and numerous decisions that need to be made on what to attend. Well, we’re here to help. The Kansas First Timers Committee and Registration Chair have teamed up with the National Early Career Development Committee to offer a free webinar that will hopefully make your decision to attend AM/PIC and the registration process much easier.

This hour-long webinar was held on Wednesday, May 11, 2011. They highlighted the benefits of attending AM/PIC, what events and activities first timers can and should attend throughout the week, and, finally, we’ll went through the steps of the registration process. 


To view the recording, go to: http://tinyurl.com/2011AMPICFirstTimerWebinar


INSTRUCTIONS: This webinar uses Elluminate. If you have any hardware or software issues you can call Elluminate support at 1-866-388-8674, option 2. 

Also watch the e-County Agent, NACAA website, 2011 AM/PIC website, and the "NACAA-Early Career Development (ECD)" Group Page on Facebook, and NACAA Early Career Development Committee’s Wiki for reminders about this webinar. Those sources will have an electronic link to the hosting site as well as the instructions for Elluminate.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Better Farm Management A Potent Tool During Hard Times

Editor’s Note: Contact Robin Brumfield, extension specialist in farm financial management,
Rutgers Cooperative Extension, by email at brumfield@aesop.rutgers.edu or by phone at
732-932-9171, ext. 253

Better Farm Management A Potent Tool During Hard Times
Extension educators and specialists to receive training to support farmers

MOUNT POCONO, N.J. – An in-service training workshop on how to better support farmers through the use of various management tools will be offered to extension educators and specialists in the Northeast on June 20-21, at the Mt. Airy Resort and Casino in Mount Pocono, PA.

The workshop, Farm Management During Tough Economic Times, will begin at noon on June 20, and will conclude at noon on June 21, to allow for travel within the Northeast. It will be conducted by a committee of extension specialists in farm business management from several northeastern states with the aim of providing valuable training to extension agents who support farmers and producers in the region.

According to Robin Brumfield, extension specialist in farm financial management with Rutgers
Cooperative Extension , “Many farmers in our region are facing many challenges to keeping afloat and
unfortunately, there is decreasing support in the field as state funding lessens and fewer extension staff
with farm management knowledge remain to serve producers.” As a result, there is increased need for
farmers to be even better managers than in the past to keep their farms viable, but in general, record
keeping is still shown to be among their weaker skills, Brumfield added.

The training workshop is intended to share an array of farm management skills with educators who will, in turn, train farmers to better manage the increasingly competitive agricultural enterprise of modern-day farming and to maintain a marketing edge. Workshop topics include marketing, crop insurance, tax tips, fundamental finances, succession planning and educational programs for women in agriculture. Keynote speaker David Becker, online and digital media pioneer and contributor of “Friend of the Farmer,” a blog featuring farmers and the challenges they face, will talk about the “nuts and bolts” approach to getting farmers online using social networking tools. His article “20 Ways Farmers Can Improve Their Marketing Chops” was featured on HuffPost Green.

The training is funded by the Northeast Center for Risk Management Education, whose goal is “to improve the risk management decision-making processes of agricultural producers in the Northeast Region through a comprehensive educational program.”

This workshop will be offered free for extension specialists and educators from the Northeast, although registration is required by May 15. All meals are included. Funding is available for hotel stay and travel scholarships on a first-come, first-served basis.

To register, go to http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~farmmgmt/. Contact Danelle Miley at dmiley@rci.rutgers.edu for additional information about the conference.

For more information about Farm Management During Tough Economic Times, visit the Facebook page or Rutgers Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.

The material that will be covered in Farm Management During Tough Economic Times is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA, under Award Number 2010-49200-06201.

Rutgers Cooperative Extension, a unit of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, is an equal opportunity program provider and employer.