Wednesday, August 26, 2015
2015 AM/PIC Proceedings Now Available On-line
The 2015 AM/PIC Proceedings has now been posted online and can be found at http://www.nacaa.com/ampic/2015/2015%20Proceedings%20web.pdf
Thursday, August 20, 2015
2015 AM/PIC Survey Now Available for your Input
NACAA Members,
Here's a link for the 2015 AM/PIC Survey https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1WYUnS0lSWVzzr7
We would like all NACAA members to participate, whether you attended the
2015 AM/PIC or not, as there are questions which will pertain to you, and will
help NACAA for future meeting planning.
The survey will be active for the next two weeks and information will be
summarized and shared with the NACAA Board.
Thank you for your membership in NACAA.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Protecting Pollinators In Ornamental Landscapes Conference
Protecting Pollinators In Ornamental
Landscapes Conference
The early registration deadline –
Aug. 1 – for the Protecting Pollinators in Ornamental Landscapes Conference is quickly approaching. This conference, hosted by Michigan State University
Extension and North Carolina State
University, is Oct. 12-14, 2015. It is
intended for extension educators, academic and industry researchers, growers
and representatives of related industries interested in or involved with
ornamental plant production or maintenance.
Experts from across the country and
from Canada and the United Kingdom are presenting at the conference on how to
protect pollinators in managed landscapes, yards and gardens. Speakers will
share research-based information on the factors contributing to bee decline of
native bees and managed honeybees. The largest session, “Pesticides and Pollinators,”
will offer talks from seven leading researchers on the impacts of pesticides on
pollinators in landscapes. Speakers will also highlight programs that they have
designed to engage consumers in the national conversation on pollinator health.
In addition to the 23 educational
sessions, the conference will offer a poster session open to all attendees to
share their research, outreach and achievements with their colleagues. The
posters must demonstrate conservation, education, extension/outreach, regulatory
perspectives or research about protecting pollinators. The posters must be
submitted for review by Sept. 1, and authors will be notified of their
acceptance by Sept. 15.
An optional tour to Biltmore, the 8,000 acre estate of George Vanderbilt, will feature a
one-hour horticultural tour to learn how Biltmore Gardens addresses pest management and protects and
encourages pollinators. Attendees will then have a two-hour, self-guided visit
inside the Biltmore house, gardens and conservatory, as
well as the village, farm, winery and legacy exhibit at Antler Hill. The
Biltmore Horticultural Gardens Tour is rapidly filling up, so register today to get a
spot!
If you register for the conference
before Aug. 1, the cost is $180. After Aug. 1, the cost of the conference is
$250. Registration for the conference closes Oct. 1, 2015. Registration for
the conference is limited to the first 170 participants! Register online
for the Protecting Pollinators in the Ornamental Landscape Conference.
Lodging is not included with
registration. Participants will need to reserve their rooms ($115/person/night
for double room; $150/person/night for single room PLUS $5 registration fee) as
soon as possible as space is limited. Reserve your hotel now.
Please also check out:
- Protecting Pollinators in
Ornamental Landscapes Conference keynote speakers announced
- First national conference
on how to protect pollinators in ornamental landscapes
Thank you to our current conference
sponsors:
- Gold: Bayer CropScience, Valent
- Silver: Biobest
- Bronze: American Floral Endowment, MPS
Friday, July 24, 2015
NACAA 2015 AM/PIC Photos Are Now Available Online
NACAA 2015 AM/PIC Photos are now available online at http://www.nacaa.com/ampic/2015/2015AMPICPhotos.php
Pictures are catagorized by day. There are still additional photos for a
few award events that will be uploaded shortly.
These photos are hi-res versions (so please realize it may take a little
while for the photo thumbnail images to load for viewing) - and can be uploaded
Free of Charge - compliments of NACAA.
If you would like to order professional prints directly from the
photographer you may do so by contacting Kevin Blayney at kblayney73@att.net or call him at 816-225-6120.
NACAA - OYF/Special Assignment - Applications Now Being Accepted
The
NACAA board of directors has approved the renewal 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 or Wes Smith, Current OYF Liaison for more information
or if you have questions. Wes Smith’s
email address is swsmith@uga.edu.
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 Cynthia
L. Gregg, NACAA President at clgregg@vt.edu. The deadline
for applying for the position is September 1, 2015.
Sincerely,
Cynthia
L. Gregg
NACAA
President
The
NACAA Special Assignment will work with directly with the Outstanding Young
Farmers Fraternity 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. The OYF Liaison 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 chair shall continue
to attend and conduct their duties. The NACAA Special Assignment shall also
attend the NACAA AM/PIC and have registration/travel costs covered by NACAA per
NACAA policy.
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. The OYF Liaison will report
to the NACAA Board to present the Annual OFY Report and in addition will give a
brief annual summary during Regional Meetings at the NACAA AMPIC. There will need to be sent periodic updates
via email to the Board members and membership pertaining to but not limited to,
submission of nominees by members, number of finalists NACAA members nominated,
etc.
Job description of NACAA OYF Liaison
Duties
· Secure
nominees for the Outstanding Young Farmer Award from every
state
· Notify any agent who has a National OYF Winner (top 4)
that their NACAA AM/PIC Registration Fee will be reimbursed to the next NACAA
meeting.
· Be the contact person for agents that have National
finalist attending OYF Congress, sharing pertinent information about Congress
and what they need to do.
Duties at OYF Congress & NACAA AM/PIC
· Make initial contact with local media of host city in
October/November. Follow up two weeks
out and again during the Congress week. (OYF
Congress)
· Make report to the board at pre- or post-board meeting
about the progress on the program. For example: how the liaison has had contact
with membership, how many times, and what national media has covered the program
due to the liaison’s efforts. The liaison also needs to report how many
applications the previous year were from NACAA and take recommendations from the
OYF board to the NACAA board. (NACAA AM/PIC)
· Meet with each region during region meeting to update
on the program and make final push for applicants for that year as our national
meeting is around 2 weeks before the deadline.
(NACAA AM/PIC)
· Try to include OYF personnel at their state’s Night
Out to help foster relationship between the two organizations. (NACAA AM/PIC)
· Help OYF with booth on our trade show floor as schedule
permits. (NACAA
AM/PIC)
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Ag Issues & Public Relations Webinar – June 30th -10 am PST, 11 am MST, 12 pm CST and 1 pm EST
Ag Issues & Public Relations Webinar – June 30th -10 am PST, 11 am MST, 12 pm CST and 1 pm EST.
Webinar
Topic: Agriculture’s Opportunity to Take a Role in Monarch Butterfly Conservation
The
monarch butterfly is one of the most well-known and widely distributed
butterflies in the United States. Dozens
of species of milkweed are acceptable larvae host plants, but over much of the eastern
and central United States common milkweed and butterfly weed are a few of the
most widely available. Both species are
strongly influenced by agricultural land use decisions and weed management
practices.
A
sharp decline in the population of this butterfly over the last decade has
captured public and government attention.
The Corn Belt region of the U.S. is known as a high production area for
breeding monarchs, but with the widespread loss of their larval host plants in
the region due to the onset of herbicide tolerant crops, monarch and milkweed
populations have diminished. While this has been identified as one of the chief
causes of the monarch decline, conservationists are working to mitigate
numerous threats throughout the North American range.
Public
Opinion on Agriculture’s Impacts on the Monarch Butterfly
Public
concern about B.t. toxins in the pollen of B.t. corn causing harm to monarch
larvae is also apparent. Studies have shown that while this toxin can be
detrimental to other Lepidoptera, including monarchs, it may not be as high of
a conservation priority because exposure levels are lower.
Significant
reduction of milkweed populations due to an increase in use of
glyphosate-resistant GE corn is a more recent focus of public attention. See http://www.mlmp.org/results/findings/pleasants_and_oberhauser_2012_milkweed_loss_in_ag_fields.pdf for a published article documenting the
reduction of milkweed availability and its impact on monarch populations.
Butterfly
weed, among other species, is a typical component of seed mixes used in conservation
plantings. High corn prices raised public
concern that conservation plantings would be put into crop production,
lessening natural habitat for many wildlife species, including monarchs.
These
topics have generated a great deal of discussion amongst many partners looking
to identify ways to collaborate on a viable solution for an iconic species.
Scientific
and Governmental Attention to the Monarch Butterfly Situation
A
North American Monarch Conservation Plan was put forth in 2008 by the Commission
for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), an organization with representation from
the United States, Canada and Mexico.
See http://www.mlmp.org/Resources/pdf/5431_Monarch_en.pdf
In
February 2014 a joint statement was issued by President Obama, Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. It included:
“Our governments will establish a
working group to ensure the conservation
of the Monarch butterfly, a species that symbolizes our association.”
In
August of 2014 a petition to place the monarch on the federal threatened and
endangered species list was presented to the U.S. Secretary of the
Interior. Some groups disagree with this
method of protection monarchs, but it has garnered a lot of public attention to
the issue. The fate of this petition is still to be determined. The full
petition can be found at http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/invertebrates/pdfs/Monarch_ESA_Petition.pdf.
The
U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service released information regarding $2 million
in funding for monarch conservation in February of 2015. For more information, see:
“Conservation
and Management of Monarch Butterflies: A Strategic Framework” was published by
Forest Service of the U.S.D.A. in March of 2015.
There
are a number of organizations and groups that are concerned with monarch
conservation, two of the most authoritative are:
Erwin
'Duke' Elsner, Ph.D.
Small
Fruit / Consumer Horticulture Educator
Michigan
State University Extension
520
W. Front Street, Suite A, Traverse City, MI 49684
phone:
231 922-4822 fax: 231-947-6783 email:
elsner@msu.edu
Duke
Elsner has been an agricultural educator for Michigan State University
Extension for 25 years, currently specializing in small fruit production and
consumer horticulture. He holds a B.S.,
M.S. and Ph.D. in Entomology, and has studied North American butterflies and
moths for over 40 years. He is a former
president of the Michigan Association of Extension Agents and the Michigan
Entomological Society.
Wendy
Caldwell is the coordinator of the Monarch Joint Venture, a national
partnership working to conserve the monarch butterfly migration. In this
position, she works with over 30 partner organizations across the U.S. to
protect and restore habitat for monarchs and other pollinators. Prior to her
role with the Joint Venture, Wendy worked for Dr. Karen Oberhauser at the
University of Minnesota Monarch Lab, leading the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project
and assisting with research efforts and educational workshops for teachers.
Friday, June 5, 2015
Protecting Pollinators in Ornamental Landscapes Conference
Protecting Pollinators in Ornamental Landscapes
Conference (October 12-14, 2015) The registration
process is now open at: http://events.anr.msu.edu/event.cfm?folder=PPOL
This professional development opportunity will be limited to
the first 170 participants so please register early if you wish to ensure your
attendance. The program is jointly sponsored by Michigan State University and
North Carolina State University.
See this article for more details:
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