Oct. 22 is the application deadline for two openings on the Extension field staff. The openings are in Wilson County, for a 4-H & Youth Development agent, and in Halifax County, for an agriculture Extension agent. Applicants for the Halifax County position should a have a bachelor's degree in agricultural education or related area, and preference will be given to applicants with master’s degrees. Applicants for the youth development position in Wilson County should have bachelor's degree in child development, family and consumer sciences, or a related area. Applicants for both positions should have prior experience with Cooperative Extension or another agency providing educational outreaches.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/job-fare.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/job-fare.html Cooperative Extension Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:53:44 -0500 Burke County’s Muddy Creek Mushroom Farm caught the attention of the local paper, the Morganton News-Herald, which ran a story ran on Sept. 21 that covered the history and vicissitudes of shiitake mushroom production at Muddy Creek. The News-Herald story notes that the origins of the Muddy Creek mushroom operation can be traced to, “an article in Southern Living magazine about growing mushrooms,” and that the two families operating Muddy Creek “found help through North Carolina A&T State University....” The mycologist the tips and training allude to is Dr. Omon Isikhuemhen of the SAES. ]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/saes-headwaters.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/saes-headwaters.html Cooperative Extension Natural Resources and Environmental Design Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:52:56 -0500 The Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family & Consumer Sciences at N.C. State University is coordinating the second annual North Carolina Summit on Youth and Families in Raleigh Nov. 19-20. With more than 50 speakers from education, government agencies and advocacy groups, the summit will give Extension and family and consumer science educators a two-day immersion into dozens of hot-button issues and current strategies for addressing them. The registration fee is $250 until Nov. 7, and from that date forward the walk-in registration fee of $325 will apply.

Conference organizers are accepting nominations until Oct. 24, for the Annual North Carolina Awards for Excellence in Youth and Family Programming. Individuals, families and organizations that have contributed to programming activities benefiting youth or families in North Carolina in a substantial way are eligible.

]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/family-business.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/family-business.html Cooperative Extension Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:51:44 -0500 The first-ever National Science Experiment will be Wednesday, Oct. 8. The experiment that 4-H’ers and other youths from across the country will be conducting has a focus on the environment and water conservation, and it will explore the properties of water-absorbing polymers — chains of molecules that can be used in agriculture, erosion control, soil management and environmental clean-ups. Soil and water get involved also, as the experiment tests the effectiveness of polymers in preventing the spread of contaminants. Once they have completed the National Science Experiment, student scientists and their adult mentors can go to a special Web page to submit results, and compare their findings to those of other student scientists across the country.

National Science Experiment National Youth Science Day was announced in June alongside a new 4-H public service campaign One Million New Scientists. One Million New Ideas. The campaign supports the organization’s long-term goal of attracting a million new youths to 4-H science, engineering, and technology programs by the year 2013.

TV personality Steve Spangler is serving as the official spokesperson for National Youth Science Day, and Spangler’s website currently has a seasonal offering that will be of interest to teachers, 4-H leaders and parents who would like to insert an educational component into the festivities on Oct. 31. The “Making Science Fun” website is featuring instructions for six experiments with Halloween resonance.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/molecular-spong.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/molecular-spong.html Agricultural Research Cooperative Extension Natural Resources and Environmental Design Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:49:46 -0500 The call for proposals for workshops and training programs for the 2009 State Extension Conference (in Raleigh Feb. 23-25) has been issued, and the deadline for submissions is Friday, Oct. 3. The committee evaluating proposals will be giving special consideration to training that will help Extension educators move forward in community building. The list of suggested topics for professional development training also includes engaging underserved communities, lifelong learning, addressing cultural pluralism, new delivery methods for educational programming, and innovative communications strategies. Training program proposals will be evaluated for topic relevancy as well as their breadth of appeal to Extension educators. Proposal submissions should be steered through Cooperative Extension's Web-based Learning Management System, which requires a Unity ID for access. (Begin with "Submit an Event" on the main menu, and you'll next arrive at a form that has "Extension Conference" as an option for "Type.") For those who aren't regular visitors to the Learning Management System, there's a fact sheet with step-by-step guidance for State Extension Conference training proposals.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/answer-the-call.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/answer-the-call.html Cooperative Extension Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:28:27 -0500 The Cooperative Extension Program at A&T is accepting applications for an agribusiness and marketing specialist who will join the state-level staff at Coltrane Hall. Cooperative Extension also accepting applications for two openings on the Extension field staff. The field staff openings are in Wilson County, for a 4-H & Youth Development agent, and in Halifax County, for an agriculture Extension agent.

Oct. 10 is the application deadline for the agribusiness and marketing specialist position. Responsibilities include providing leadership in design, development, and implementation of agribusiness marketing programs. The selection committee is looking for applicants with experience providing technical support direct marketing. Applicants should have at least a master's degree in agricultural marketing, business administration or a closely related field, and preference will be given to those with doctorates.

Oct. 22 is the application deadline for the Halifax and Wilson county openings. Applicants for the Halifax County opening for an agriculture agent should a have a bachelor's degree in agricultural education or related area, and preference will be given to applicants with master's degrees. Applicants for the youth development position in Wilson County should have bachelor's degree in child development, family and consumer sciences, or a related area. Applicants for both positions should have prior experience with Cooperative Extension or another agency providing educational outreaches.

Complete details were recently announced for the first-ever National Science Experiment on Oct. 8. The experiment that 4-H'ers and other youths from across the country will be conducting has a focus on the environment and water conservation, and it will shed light on the properties of water-absorbing polymers - chains of molecules that can be used in agriculture, erosion control, soil management and environmental clean-ups. Soil and water get involved also, as the experiment tests the effectiveness of polymers in preventing the spread of contaminants. Once they have completed the National Science Experiment, student scientists and their adult mentors can go to a special Web page to submit results, and compare what they came up with to findings by other student scientists across the country.

National Science Experiment National Youth Science Day was announced in June alongside a new 4-H public service campaign One Million New Scientists. One Million New Ideas. The campaign supports the organization's long-term goal of attracting a million new youths to 4-H science, engineering, and technology programs by the year 2013.

Wicks is an entrepreneur — owner and founder of Philadelphia's famed White Dog Café — who has become a national spokesperson for the socially responsible business (SRB) movement. The movement has a philosophic foundation for business ventures that includes community-building and environmental protection. The White Dog Cafe operates with a commitment to local agriculture as one of the tenets for environmental protection and social responsibility.

The CEFS is operated jointly by the SAES, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State, and the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Sciences. Among its research units is a Small Farm Center, and the CEFS also has swine, dairy, organic cropping, farm systems and pasture-based beef units devoted to innovative practices for advancing sustainable food and farming. The Wicks lecture is the second installment in a Sustainable Agriculture Lecture series that the CEFS launched in 2007 with a talk by Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food International. ]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/entrepreneur-wi.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/entrepreneur-wi.html Cooperative Extension Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:01:23 -0500 The Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Project is accepting grant applications until Oct. 1, from individual producers, community groups and farm support organizations in Alexander, Beaufort, Burke, Caldwell, Caswell, Craven, Cumberland, Davidson, Forsyth, Greene, Guilford, Harnett, Iredell, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, McDowell, Nash, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Wayne, Wilkes, and Wilson counties. Grants of up to $10,000 to individuals and $20,000 to groups and organizations will be awarded for proposals with potential to fill the farm-income void resulting from lost tobacco revenue in the 24-county region. Projects involving products, services and on-farm resources are eligible, along with new crops and innovative farm-based enterprises. To qualify, producers must be full- or part-time farmers who were relying on tobacco crops for a significant amount of their farm income coming at the time of the Master Settlement Agreement (crop years 1997 and 1998). Community groups must include farmers from the target counties and have farmers active in group leadership.

The Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Project also has an on-farm demonstration funding program for farmers under 40, regardless of whether or not they are former tobacco farmers. The requirements are that applicants have at least three years of farming experience, and be a resident of one of the following counties: Burke, Caldwell, Caswell, Cumberland, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, McDowell, Wayne or Wilson.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/proposals-due-b-1.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/proposals-due-b-1.html Cooperative Extension Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:58:02 -0500 The Piedmont Research station, west of Salisbury, will be hosting a field day covering “Small-Scale Egg Production in a Range Setting” on Thursday, Sept. 18. The field day will get started at 8:45 a.m., and wind up with a tour of the research station’s poultry unit from 2 to 3 p.m.  The program includes talks by poultry specialists on forages, breed selection, marketing and biosecurity. The registration fee is $25 and the preregistration deadline is Sept. 12. ]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/poultry-reading.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/poultry-reading.html Cooperative Extension Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:53:03 -0500 Dr. Niki Whitley has joined the SAES with appointments to both The Cooperative Extension Program at North Carolina A&T and the Agricultural Research Program. Whitley comes to the SAES from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where she was an associate professor and Extension specialist dealing with livestock (pigs, sheep, goats and horses). Whitley received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia, and her Ph.D. from Mississippi State University. She also completed post-doctoral work at the University of Missouri. Whitley has 16 author and co-author peer-reviewed manuscripts and 33 abstracts in her publication list, and has had over $1.6 million in grant funding. She also has conducted numerous Extension workshops and presentations. Whitley’s SAES work will include sustainable livestock production.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/staff-update-40.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/09/staff-update-40.html Cooperative Extension Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:47:52 -0500 Cooperative Extension's Southern Region Program Leadership Network will be meeting in Greensboro Aug. 25 -28. In conjunction with the conference, members of The Cooperative Extension Program faculty and the Ag. Communications and Technology staff will be involved with focus groups and strategy sessions, and away from their offices.

The Southern Region Program Leadership Network was established by the Association of Southern Region Extension Directors (primarily Southeastern 1862 land grants) and the Association of Extension Administrators (1890 land grants) to strengthen multi-state and issue-oriented Extension programs and activities. The effort brings representatives from land grants together on committees to address: agriculture and natural resources; community development; family and consumer sciences; 4-H youth development; communications; information technology; middle management; and program and staff development.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/08/greensboro-to-h.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/08/greensboro-to-h.html Cooperative Extension Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:25:35 -0500 More than 1,500 agricultural Extension agents, from 46 states, came to Greensboro for the National Association of County Agricultural Agents’ (NACAA) annual conference in mid-July, and 66 of them went home with distinguished service awards. One of only five distinguished service award winners from North Carolina was Nelson Brownlee, who has been a member of The Cooperative Extension Program at A&T’s field faculty for 14 years. Brownlee serves as an area farm management agent in Bladen and Robeson counties.

Brownlee was cited for his sensitivity to issues facing small-scale farmers, his commitment to teamwork, and his use of advisory committees and environmental scans to guide and evaluate his programming efforts.

The NACAA selects recipients for distinguished service awards through a peer review process that has focused the recognitions on only the top 2 percent of the organization’s membership. ]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/08/good-guidance-i.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/archives/2008/08/good-guidance-i.html Cooperative Extension Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:24:49 -0500