County Agent Magazine Mailed

The May, 2013 edition of The County Agent has been printed and has been placed in the mail.  Unfortunately, we have discovered an error that was made in the database file which was sent to the mailing house for postal addressing. Each of you have been mailed a copy to your address we have on file, but...the name column is incorrect. Please advise your front office staff that a copy of the magazine is on it's way...but will have an incorrect name listed.

Since the process of mailing across the country normally takes a couple of weeks for everyone to receive (and it just went in the mail last week)....please let me know in the next 10 days or so if you don't receive a copy. In the meantime - if you would like to review a digital version - please go  to: http://www.nacaa.com/countyagent/County%20Agent%202013-05%20web.pdf

Journal of NACAA Chair/Editor Opening - Deadline Extended

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 May 5, 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.

NACAA - OYF/Special Assignment

The NACAA board of directors has approved a new special assignment position to work with our friends at the Outstanding Young Farmer Fraternity. This prestigious award program provides recognition to the very best of America’s young farmers. NACAA has partnered with the OYF to help provide nominees for the program for several years. In an effort to provide more assistance to this program, NACAA is seeking a person to work with OYF in securing more nominees and coordinate publicity for the event. A more complete listing of the duties and expectations is listed below.

Please feel free to contact me for more information or if you have questions.

To be considered for the position, send your name, title, history of NACAA committee work and qualifications that make you uniquely qualified for the position to Paul Craig, NACAA President at phc8@psu.edu. The deadline for applying for the position is May 5, 2013

Sincerely,

Paul Craig

NACAA President

The NACAA Special Assignment will work with the Ag Issues and Public Relations Committee in securing nominees for the Outstanding Young Farmer Award from every state.  This can be done by working with the regional directors and state presidents to help insure proper publicity of the award and the application deadline.  OYF has developed a brochure that gives an overview of the program.  This brochure should be made available to the regional directors for distribution as they visit the state meetings each year. 

The NACAA Special Assignment will be responsible for coordinating publicity at the OYF annual meeting each year.  To insure that the annual meeting is given media coverage each year the special assignment shall work with the local extension office and affiliated Land Grant Institution(s) to help publicize the annual meeting.  Television, Radio, and local print media should be involved. 

The NACAA Special Assignment shall attend the National OYF conference with expenses being paid by NACAA.  This is in addition to the Ag Issues and Public Relations Committee Chair that is responsible for insuring that NACAA involvement is continual and of the highest level possible at the NOYF conference.  In the event that the NACAA Past President is not asked to serve as a judge of the National finalists, the special assignment and committee chair shall continue to attend and conduct their duties. 

A critical service this designee shall fulfill is continuity of programming and enhanced communication between the NACAA Board of Directors, the AI&PR Committee and the OYF.  The designee of the NACAA Special Assignment, before final confirmation, shall have written approval from their respective extension administration to allow them to carry out the required functions of this assignment for the duration of the term as determined by the NACAA Board of Directors.

 

April E-County Agent Update

Horticulture Tour Deadline Fast Approaching

The 2013 horticulture tour will be on September 20^th and 21^st 2013. It will be held as a post tour this year due to Galaxy. We are still in the planning process but the first day’s schedule is lined up.

Our first stop will be to Bob O'Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park. This course is Audubon certified to enhance wildlife habitat, reduce pesticide use and other possible harmful impacts. Our second stop is to a Master Gardener demonstration garden followed by lunch with the Master Gardeners. After lunch we will visit Harvest Valley Farms, a fourth generation family farm that provides produce through CSAs, farm markets, and roadside stands. Our last stop will be to Quality Gardens of Valencia. This nursery/garden center offers landscaping services, educational seminars and a farmers market.

Sponsorship for the tour has been attained from EcoScraps thanks to Jim Hruskoci, a former NACAA member and extension educator. With the sponsorship we hope to pay for most of the tour expenses (hotel, food, and tour transportation) for NACAA members. Non-members are welcome if room permits but their costs will not be covered.

The deadline to apply for the tour is April 15^th 2013. For more information about registration please see page 7 of The County Agent. http://www.nacaa.com/countyagent/2012-12.pdf

For more information on the tour stops please see the following links.

Bob O'Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park- http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/schenley-links-in-pittsburgh-certified-as-green-662740/)

Harvest Valley Farms- http://harvestvalleyfarms.com/

Quality Gardens of Valencia- www.quality-gardens.com)

For more information on EcoScraps- http://ecoscraps.com/

Stacey Bealmear

Urban Horticulture Agent

Yuma County Cooperative Extension

928-726-3904

Teamwork Award Deadline May 1st

            Excellence in Teamwork Award

Sponsored by

JOINT COUNCIL OF EXTENSION PROFESSIONALS

The Joint Council of Extension Professionals sponsors this award annually to encourage and recognize successful Extension team programs or projects that demonstrate effective performance and significant result impacts at community, area, state or multi-state levels.

AWARD

Two awards of $500 each and one plaque per team and certificates to individuals will be presented.

 PURPOSE

 The purpose of this award is to recognize outstanding Extension programs or projects in the nation conducted by a team and reward those that have achieved significant outcomes.

ELIGIBILITY

1. Entries must be submitted by a team of three or more members
2. Program/project must have been conducted within the past three years.
3. Program/project must involve at least two or more different program areas (i.e. agriculture, 4-H  Youth Development, family and consumer science, natural resources or community development).
4. At least 50% of the team members must be current members of at least one of the national Extension professional organizations and employed by Extension at the time the program/project was conducted.
5. There is no limit on the number of entries from any one state. 

DUE DATE

 All applications must be submitted electronically using the online submission procedure.  All applications must be submitted no later than 11:59pm on May 1, 2013 to be considered.  See the specific submission requirements in the application section below.

For a copy of the application – go to:  http://jcep.org/forms-and-applications/39-forms-and-applications/team-award/42-team-award-application

Galaxy IV Registration Soon to Open

Registration for Galaxy IV (NACAA Annual Meeting) is scheduled to begin May 1, 2013.  The direct link for registration (which is being handled by Galaxy directly) is http://www.galaxy-2013.org/registration.html. 

NACAA members who have submitted poster abstracts and presentation abstracts, should be notified prior to May 1^st.

NACAA has worked closely with the Galaxy Committee to secure the vast majority of normal (AM/PIC) activities and functions.  The Northeast Region has worked hard to prepare a number of great Professional Improvement Tours (like we always do)…to be held on Monday, September 16, 2013.

The next edition of The County Agent magazine is being worked on…and should be in the mail by no later than May 1^st (and on its way to you)…so you will have it no later than May 15^th.

Earlybird Registration for Galaxy is from May 1^st through July 15^th.  Details of Galaxy and NACAA activities will be listed on the NACAA website (www.nacaa.com) as well as in The County Agent magazine.

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