March 1st Updates - NACAA Activities

Journal of NACAA Chair/Editor Opening

 

The NACAA Board of Directors is currently seeking an Editor/Chair for the Journal of NACAA. This is a 3 year appointment. Members who are interested in submitting an application for this position are encouraged to download a copy of the application which can be found at http://nacaa.com/committees/2013/journal_chair_application.doc

For this committee appointment - the application process is not set up for "Electronic" submission. You must complete the Word document and submit directly as an attachment to NACAA Secretary Richard Fechter at rfechter@ksu.edu by no later than March 30, 2013.

 

Here's a brief summary of the job description for the Editor of the Journal of NACAA:

Job Description for Journal of NACAA Chair

• The Candidate must have a working knowledge of various types of technology used in the creation of documents for publication. Some examples are; the NACAA Web Page, internet links, the creation of spreadsheets for data tabulation, various document creation programs, wiki discussion pages, and photograph and chart creation and insertion techniques.
• The Candidate must establish a close working relationship with the NACAA Executive Director, the NACAA Electronic Communications Chair, the NACAA Internal Publications Committee, and the NACAA Secretary.
• The Candidate must administrate and communicate with the Journal Committee via conference call on a regular basis.
• The Candidate must administrate the recruitment of 25-50 reviewers for the reviewing process.
• The Candidate must design and provide training for reviewers that will improve the reviewing process for the journal.
• The Candidate must communicate regularly with reviewers to ensure timeliness in the reviewing process.
• After the deadline for receiving submissions has passed the Candidate must communicate with the participants informing them that their submission has been received.
• After the reviewing process is complete the Candidate should communicate with participants to inform them of the acceptance or rejection of their papers.
• Prior to or immediately after the "Call for Papers" the Candidate should communicate with NACAA membership to encourage the submission of papers.
• The Candidate must administrate the journal publication process to allow for publishing the journal at least on a biannual basis.

PILD Reminder

Public Issues

Leadership Development Conference—2013

April 21-24, 2013
The Westin Alexandria
Alexandria, Virginia

Register for the conference at http://jcep.org

Regular Registra on - $400 if paid between March 16, 2013 and April 15, 2013. If payment is not received by April 15th a $50 late fee will be added.
 
On-Site Registration   - $450
Note: Registration fees not received by the deadline date in each category will be assessed the higher fee. (for
example Early Bird Fees not received by March 15th will be charged the Regular Registration fee of $400.) 

For a detailed brochure please view http://jcep.org/images/PILD/2013-PILD/2013_PILD_Brochure.pdf

Reminder - March 15 Deadline for Award Applications and Journal Submissions

Just a quick reminder that March 15, 2013 is the deadline for Award and Journal Article Submissions.  Log into the NACAA Member database and submit your entries before the deadline.  This is a great opportunity to receive recognition for outstanding programming and articles you have produced.   

DAIReXNET (national eXtension) Webinars - Free to the Public

All of the currently planned webinars have been approved for one credit of CEU from ARPAS. To obtain the credit, you will need to apply for it on www.arpas.org after attending the session.

Outcome Driven Health Management

Dr. John R. Wenz, Washington State University

March 4, 2013

12:00-1:00 PM Central Time

The goal of the “Good Health Records” program at Washington State University (www.goodhealthrecords.com) is: Accurate and consistent health records, efficiently summarized, used to evaluate and inform management decisions on all dairies. "Good records" have long been recognized as a cornerstone of successful animal husbandry and are becoming increasingly important in the dairy industry as the size of herds has grown. However, industry-wide standards for recording and evaluating health data don't exist. Connect with us for this webinar to learn how to achieve truly “good” health records and use them to make health management decisions based on hard evidence (outcomes) from the cows rather than perceptions of people.

Upcoming Webinars

Far Off to Fresh Cow - Opportunities to Improve Transition Performance

Dr. Mike Overton, Elanco

March 18, 2013

12:00-1:00 PM Central Time

Far Off to Fresh Cow - Opportunities to Improve Transition Performance

Dr. Mike Overton, Elanco

March 18, 2013

12:00-1:00 PM Central Time

Economic Analysis Tools for Dairy Reproduction Programs

Dr. Victor Cabrera, University of Wisconsin-Madison

April 8, 2013

12:00-1:00 PM Central Time

New Tools for Dairy Reproduction Programs

Dr. Paul Fricke, University of Wisconsin-Madison

April 22, 2013

12:00-1:00 PM Central Time

You can also view past webinars at http://www.extension.org/pages/Archived_Dairy_Cattle_Webinars.

NACAA Activities - February, 2013

DAIReXNET (national eXtension) Webinars- Free to the Public

You can find information on accessing these webinars here. If you’re on twitter, please share our webinars using this link: http://bit.ly/8XiTaX

All of our currently planned webinars have been approved for one credit of CEU from ARPAS. To obtain the credit, you will need to apply for it on www.arpas.org after attending the session.

Better Milk Quality from Better Mastitis Therapy Decisions

Dr. Ron Erskine, Michigan State University

February 12, 2013

12:00-1:00 PM Central Time

Mastitis is one of the biggest chronic problems facing the dairy industry- it is ever present. In this session, Dr. Ron Erskine will discuss how to better identify cases of mastitis through tools such as milk culturing, somatic cell count records, and treatment records.

Upcoming Webinars

Outcome Driven Health Management

Dr. John R. Wenz, Washington State University

March 4, 2013
12:00-1:00 PM Central Time

Far Off to Fresh Cow - Opportunities to Improve Transition Performance

Dr. Mike Overton, Elanco

March 18, 2013

12:00-1:00 PM Central Time

Economic Analysis Tools for Dairy Reproduction Programs

Dr. Victor Cabrera, University of Wisconsin-Madison

April 8, 2013

12:00-1:00 PM Central Time

New Tools for Dairy Reproduction Programs

Dr. Paul Fricke, University of Wisconsin-Madison

April 22, 2013

12:00-1:00 PM Central Time

You can also view our past webinars at http://www.extension.org/pages/Archived_Dairy_Cattle_Webinars.

Feel free to email or call us with any questions you may have:

Nancy McGill

nancy.chenault@uky.edu

859-257-7541

Donna Amaral-Phillips

damaral@uky.edu

859-257-7542

Save the Date!

Join us for a dynamic dialogue designed to improve agricultural emergency and disaster preparedness from the local level all the way up to the federal level.

The EDEN Agrosecurity Symposium: Building National Networks and Partnerships will be held in Washington, DC, in April 2013. The 1.5 day symposium will explain existing agricultural preparedness measures and then interactive discussions will:

·         *  identify gaps in the system

·         *  develop potential solutions to fill the identified gaps 

The Symposium is hosted by The Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) Strengthening Community Agrosecurity Preparedness (S-CAP) program.

There is no fee to attend the symposium, but pre-registration is required. See the attached flyer for more details. Registration is now open. Partial registrations are available.

For more information or to register, visit the EDEN website: http://eden.lsu.edu/s-cap/symposium
 

What: Agrosecurity Symposium: Building National Networks and Partnerships

When: April 22 (8am – 5pm) and April 23 (8am – noon), 2013

Where: Patriots Plaza III Conference and Training Center, 355 E St. S.W., Washington, DC

Who: Federal, state, tribal, and local stakeholders and agencies; Cooperative Extension System personnel; non-governmental organizations; agricultural and food commodity/industry stakeholders and organizations; etc.

Why: To build nationwide networks and partnerships to synchronize disaster preparedness efforts affecting the food and agriculture sector through translation of federal agrosecurity initiatives to state and local levels; discussions about agricultural emergency management and whole community planning; and identification of future activities to advance agricultural disaster preparedness activities within communities.

Now Available: One-of-a-Kind, Career-Shaping Fellowship in Sustainable Agriculture

In 2007, Penn State Extension Educator Walter Bumgarner was among the first to participate in a new professional development opportunity that brings together Extension educators from diverse backgrounds to learn about sustainable agriculture. It turns out that the SARE/NACAA Sustainable Agriculture Fellows program has been one of the best experiences of Bumgarner’s career.

“I want to tell my fellow NACAA members that their participation in the SARE Fellows program could possibly be the highlight of their career in Extension,” Bumgarner says. “It has been for me and it could be for you.”

New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Educator Joran Viers, a 2009 Fellow, concurs, “This program has been one of the best professional development opportunities I’ve had, by far.”

Interested? Now is the time to take advantage: The National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) is accepting applications for the 2013 Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Fellowsprogram. The program is open to NACAA members in good standing with their state associations and with responsibility in agricultural production systems.

The Fellows program gives participants hands-on experience with sustainable agriculture and alternative farming systems, while offering meaningful networking opportunities and memorable exposure to the great diversity of U.S. agriculture.

The program accepts four Extension educators each year to participate in seminars and tours of farms and ranches over the course of two years. Selected from each of SARE’s four geographic regions, Fellows are given the opportunity to visit farms and ranches in each of these regions.

In a three-day tour last year, eight Fellows visited 14 Colorado operations, including cattle and bison ranches, a dairy, a mushroom farm and an aquaponics farm. Participants weighed the roles minimum tillage, drip irrigation, organic soil-building, pest control, energy efficiency, balance trait selection and GPS can play in sustainable production systems.

During year one of the program, participants attend events with Fellows from the previous year, and mentor the new group of Fellows during year two, making the Fellowship an excellent opportunity to build lasting professional and personal relationships with peers from across the country.

“Since participating in this program, I have personally worked with some of the other Fellowship awardees on grant projects, articles and other educational programs,” says Stephen Komar, a Rutgers New Jersey Cooperative Extension educator and 2009 Fellow.

Read stories about the experiences of past and current Fellows; also, check out biographies of recent Fellows.

How to Apply

Applications are due March 15. The Fellows program is open to NACAA members in good standing with their state associations and with responsibility in agricultural production systems. Find complete eligibility and entry details online.

Caption: During a 2008 Fellows tour, Washington farmer John Aeschliman shows Extension agents “worm tracks” in soil taken far down in his farm’s soil profile. Aeschliman was explaining how more than 30 years of no-till had improved his soil’s quality, water-holding capacity and small grain yields. Photo by Al Kurki, National Center for Appropriate Technology