Extension Funding Opportunities Through NC SARE

by Rick Koelsch

North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NC SARE) runs multiple competitive grant programs that may be of interest to faculty with an applied research or extension interest. NC SARE emphasizes outreach/engagement and farmer involvement (both in proposed projects and review panels), two features that should give Extension faculty a unique advantage. Rick Rasby and his team utilized these advantages in a recently announced $198,000 grant award.

NC SARE funds three priorities: 1) profit for the long-term, 2) stewardship of natural resources, and 3) quality of life improvements in communities.  While many equate organic agriculture with sustainable agriculture, organic projects comprise only 10 to 15% of the funding portfolio.  NC SARE funds a array of topics including soil/water/nutrient stewardship, local foods and urban agriculture initiatives, clean energy, sustainable pest management, crop diversification, and forage and grassland management. .

The NC SARE program offers competitive funding opportunities in five areas.  A quick summary follows and more information is found at  http://www.northcentralsare.org/Grants/Our-Grant-Programs .

Professional Development Program (pre-proposals due in mid-May)

• Funds professional development for "agricultural educators" including extension, natural resource agency, and non-government organization staff. 
• Funds requests for up to $75,000.
• Tapan Pathak has recently been successful with a project addressing agriculture adapting to a changing climate.

Research and Education Program (Pre-proposals due on October 24, 2013)

• Funds requests for up to $200,000.
• All research projects must have an outreach emphasis.
• Rick Rasby's successful proposal targets Impacts of Grazing and Baling of Corn Residue.

Farmer and Rancher Program (Proposals due on November 14, 2013)

• Grants range for $7,500 to $22,500 are made directly to farmers and ranchers.
• Target farmer proposed sustainable solutions to problems through on-farm research and demonstration.
• Must include outreach component with Extension encouraged as a partner.
• A Nebraska  producer recently received funding to determine the feasibility of integrating oil seed production into the existing rotation, processing the oil seed into food-grade oil for local resturant use, and retrieving used oil for re-use as bio-diesel.

Youth Educator Program (Proposals due on November 1, 2013)

• Targets educators working with youth on sustainable agriculture concepts.
• Grants are for up to $2,000.
• An Urban Farmers Program in a Lincoln middle school was funded to connect children to the soil and the origins of their food. 

Graduate Student Grant Program (Proposals typically due in the spring)

• Grant awards can be up to $10,000.
• Encourages graduate student connections with  on-farm research experiences.
• Two East Campus graduate students received funding for projects addressing Management of CRP Lands and Agronomic Benefits of Cover Crop Mix Diversity.

NC SARE provides many unique funding opportunties for Extension. Many of the UNL Extension Signature Outcomes addressing water conservation, soil health, agricultural literacy, professional development for natural resource issues, on-farm measures of sustainability, on-farm research, and nutrient management are a potential fit with NC SARE funding opportunities.  Visit with Gary Lesoing, Nebraska's SARE contact person, or myself about your ideas for pursuing SARE funding.

Sharing Extension TV with Clientel

by Rick Koelsch

UNL Extension recently released Extension TV, a technology product that provides a new and exciting opportunity to share the University's research and science in a format preferred by many clientele. So how do we get our clientele turning to Extension TV?  And how are you using Extension TV as a resource to answer clientele's next question?

Extension TV is an example of innovation by UNL Extension (see August 14, 2013 blog). Take advantage of opportunities to proudly share this resource with peers, clientele, and friends. Here are a few ideas of how.  Please post a comment to this blog with your own examples or ideas.

• Do a little homework on Extension TV.  Review the one minute introductory video at http://ExtensionTV.unl.edu, play with the search engine to find content on topics of interest, or attend the archived webinar (https://connect.unl.edu/p8a3y4crisk/).
• Share the Extension TV graphic (jpeg is at http://go.unl.edu/us33 ) or the August 14 Rick's Ramblings blog through your social media networks, newsletters, or as a hard copy at your office entrance (pdf -  http://go.unl.edu/extensiontv-handout).
• Use your next radio, social media, or newspaper media release to  recommend a video from Extension TV that illustrates a concept you are addressing.
• Keep Extension TV web link close at hand for the next client that walks through the door or calls with a question.  Search Extension TV for an answer to their question.
• Host your next webinar on Extension TV. The TV screen on Extension TV can house a graphic linking to web presentation. Linda Temple will set up the link to your Adobe Connect or Google Hangouts session in the TV screen.  The link to your future webinar can be promoted as http://ExtensionTV.unl.edu.
• Draw upon your 4-Hers to promote this resource to friends, parents and grandparents.  The Extension TV video of the experiences of 37 Saline, Gage, and Jefferson youth at Washington DC Focus trip might be shared by these young people with friends and family.
• Re-purpose one or more slides from Introducing Extension TV (http://www.slideshare.net/rkoelsch1/extension-tv-webinar-aug-19-presentation) to a future presentation, pre-meeting Extension promotion, or other display.

Extension TV must not be another best kept secret.  Proudly help our clientele discover the rich content found on Extension TV.

UNL's Extension TV Release and Webinar

by Brandon Schulte, Rick Koelsch, and Extension Leadership Team

UNL Extension is pleased to announce the release of Extension TV. This product, unique among Extension systems in the US, is an example of the leadership of our system’s efforts to launch Extension into the second 100 years. Extension TV brings together video from registered YouTube, Vimeo, and UNL Streaming accounts on a website optimized for desktop and mobile devices.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Educators faculty are producing valuable resources on video websites like YouTube and Vimeo. However, multiple locations and accounts can make it challenging to find and aggregate video-based information to answer the questions of our clientele.

Extension TV (http://extensiontv.unl.edu) includes features that will search several video websites for UNL Extension videos, bring them together at Extension TV, and provide faculty, staff and clientele with access to our video resources in an easily searchable web site by category, popularity, and latest content. During live events a featured streaming area will appear while the event is happening providing faculty with a very simple method of inviting clientele to our latest web delivered education. Many pages offer related videos and the search is optimized to quickly find content. Extension TV makes it easy to find and browse video from registered UNL Extension faculty, staff, and teams.

Please join us on Monday August 19th at 3:30 to explore valuable resources offered by UNL Extension on Extension TV and how you can utilize them in your outreach efforts. The live webinar can be viewed by going to extensiontv.unl.edu or extensiontv.org. For those unable to attend, an archive of the presentation will be sent out to this list serve following the event. Learn how you can insure that your video products are automatically being found by Extension TV as well as how you use this new resource to answer the questions of our clientele. Please contact Brandon Schulte at 402-472-2990 with any questions.

What Is UNL Extension’s Role in “Sustainable” Agriculture?

by Rick Koelsch
 

The term “Sustainability” as it relates to agriculture is in a transition.  The term is taking on a new and broader meaning as the term is applied to both conventional and traditionally defined sustainable agricultural approaches. This blog will focus on a couple of trends related to “sustainable” agriculture and start a discussion about the role of UNL Extension in future education on this topic.

The term “sustainability” is increasingly being applied to all forms of agriculture.  The vast array of writings addressing the challenges of feeding a world with 9 billion people asks difficult questions about our ability to feed a world with a limited natural resource base. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs (co-chaired by Catherine Bertini, former executive director for the UN World Food Program, and Dan Glickman, former Secretary for USDA) discusses this challenge in “Advancing Global Food Security:  The Power of Science, Trade, and Business” (http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/files/About_Us/Press_Releases/FY13_Releases/2013_Symposium_Report_Global_Food_Security.aspx).  The report recommends the need to forge a new science targeting “Sustainable Intensification” of agriculture which would create agricultural systems that utilizes modern scientific strategies to produce foods measured by their ability to 1) improve nutritional qualities, 2) efficiently use land and other inputs, 3) improve human health, 4) adapt to climate change, 5) reduce environmental impact, and 6) reduce food waste.

The 2013 Commodity Classic gathering of the leadership for the major crop commodity associations focused on theme of Sustainability.  The presidents of Corn, Soybeans, Wheat and Grain Sorghum national associations all touted the importance of their industry engaging in a discussion of sustainability and defining systems and practices to improve sustainability. Since then the United Soybean Board has announced the “U.S. Soybean Sustainability Assurance Protocol” which establishes the processes and practices for the U.S. soy industry to ensure international customers of U. S. farmers’ sustainable soybean production (see http://www.unitedsoybean.org/media-center/releases/u-s-soy-organizations-demonstrate-commitment-to-sustainability-with-assurance-protocol/ for more information).

Field to Market (http://www.fieldtomarket.org/), a coalition of commodity groups, industry supply chain businesses, and environmental NGOs, has published a collaboratively developed tool to measure sustainability for major U.S. commodity crops.  The coalitions “Fieldprint Calculator” is designed to measure sustainability using six indicators (five shown in Figure below plus a new water quality indicator). Randy Pryor and a group of about 20 corn producers participated in a pilot of this tool 3 years ago.

 

For better copy of graphic, refer to page 11 of Summary Report in "Field to Market National Report" (http://www.fieldtomarket.org/news/2013/238/).

 

So what is UNL Extension’s role in this effort to apply “Sustainability” to commercial agriculture?  Here are a few thoughts to which I hope others will add their own:

• Should Extension faculty invest professional development time in understanding methods being used to define and measure sustainability of agricultural systems?  The Fieldprint Calculator might be one method worth gaining familiarity.

• Would Extension educators be willing to identify 10 of their top crop farmers to use the Fieldprint Calculator on one field and share that information among the group of 10.  What might be learned of 10 educators each with 10 crop producers gatherer this data in 2014?

• Should we engage these same industry leaders in some challenging discussions around topics such as 1) the value gained from this exercise; 2) what carrots will be needed to engage their peers; 3) how is this exercise viewed in relation to the future of their industry?

• As we discuss the issue of “Feeding a World with 9 Billion People”, is a key role for UNL Extension to introduce Nebraska agricultural producers to the concept of “sustainability intensification” of agricultural systems?

So how would you propose including sustainability in future UNL Extension programs targeting food systems?

Agency Communication on Natural Resource Education – Part II

Rick Koelsch

How well are we communicating with our natural resource education opportunities to agencies and organizations addressing water, soil and nutrient issues?  Part I introduced this topic in a June 5 blog (found below).  Do all of us have responsibility for the answer to this question?  A few of my thoughts as to how we can each contribute to future communications with agency staff follow…

 UNL Extension’s outstanding educational programs provide rich professional development opportunities for agency staff, especially our federal partners challenged with significant budget cuts. The upcoming Physical, Chemical and Biological Properties of Soil and Water CMDC, West Central Water and Crops Field Day at the Big Spring Water Resources Lab and the range management programs at the Gudmundsen Laboratory are excellent examples of educational experiences beneficial to our agency partners.  Here are a few ideas on how we improve our communications with natural resource agencies.

Reaching Agencies Statewide

NRCS has identified three contact points for communicating UNL Extension programs with NRCS staff:

·         Renee Hancock (Water Quality Specialist) – lead contact for all UNL Extension communications and programs specific to Nutrient Management. 402- 437-4064 or Renee.hancock@ne.usda.gov

·         Corey Brubaker (State Conservation Agronomist) – lead contact for UNL Extension programs specific to Soil Health.  402 -437-4164 Corey.brubaker@ne.usda.gov

·         Jacob Robinson (Acting State Water Management Engineer) - lead contact UNL Extension programs specific to Irrigation Water Management.  402-437-4030 or Jacob.robison@ne.usda.gov

I will be watching for educational opportunities to share with these individuals.  Faculty are welcome to do the same.  Please copy me on topics that you share so I can avoid duplicating your efforts.

Katie Pekarek, Extension Water Quality Educator, has agreed to be the point person for communicating opportunities with Natural Resource Districts and Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.  Please share educational opportunities of interest to these agencies with Katie.

Local Agency Connections

There is nothing better than a direct phone call, email, or mailing from a local educator to our agency peers. Your local relationships and invitations are essential to welcoming agency staff to our educational programs.  Do you know who these key individuals are locally?  If not, these resources may help you locate agency staff serving your region.

Natural Resource District:  Staff can be located for your local NRD by starting from http://nrdnet.org/find-your-nrd.php .  The NRD manager and the Information & Education Coordinator are two names that should become a part of your local network.

Natural Resource Conservation Service: You network of local contacts should include the District Conservationist (aligned with Natural Resource District regions) and the Resource Conservationist found in each of the Field Offices.  These individuals can be identified through the NE NRCS Employee Directory found at http://www.ne.nrcs.usda.gov/contact/directory/index.html  or ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NE/Outgoing/Directory/6-24-2013_NRCS_NE_DIRECTORY.pdf .  The first link will also inform you of the priority “Resource Needs and Concerns” identified for your NRD region.

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality:  NDEQ maintains its field people at its main office in Lincoln and its six regional field offices in Omaha, Norfolk, North Platte, Holdrege, Scottsbluff, and Chadron (http://www.deq.state.ne.us/Gen.nsf/Pages/OffInfo ).  Another option for finding NDEQ field specialists in your region is to contact the Agriculture Compliance Assistance (402-471-8131 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting) or Water Quality Program Assistance (402-471-4220) hotlines.

Nebraska Department of Natural Resources:  DNR maintains field offices in Norfolk, Ord, Lincoln, Cambridge, and Bridgeport (http://dnr.ne.gov/division/division2.html ).  Field Office staff can be located at http://dnr.ne.gov/docs/dnrstaff.html#division .  DNR Field Office Supervisors should be a part of your local network.

What Else Can Be Done?

Have you:

___ Invited these local contacts to coffee at your office to get better acquainted.

 

___  Shared a recent edition of CropWatch, BeefWatch, Acreage, or other electronic newsletter and invited agency staff to sign up to receive these products via their email?

___  Placed your events on the Extension calendar and tag them so they show up on the most appropriate umbrella web site such as http://water.unl.edu? The first place I point individuals to is our Extension calendar system.

Growing Your Professional Development Audience

by Rick Koelsch

Last November this blog discussed the use of Learn (http://Learn.eXtension.org) for accessing a wide range of professional development weginars. In the next week there are 15 professional development webinars targeting Extension faculty on topics suchs as "Helping Children Adjust to the Return of a Military Parent", "Modern Livestock Production Trends and Vulnerabilities", "Use of Surveys in Extension for Program Development and Evaluation", and "County Fairs and Zoonotic Diseases" to name a few. Increasingly, our peers from around the US are coming to this site for their professional development. Participation increased from 3,400 in 2011 to 25,500 in 2012 with another  big jump expected in 2013.

Can our peers around the US find UNL Extension professioal development webinars in eXtension's Learn site?  If not, consider investing 5 minutes to announce your next professional development within Learn in addition to your own typical promotion efforts.  Here's my top 5 reasons for "Why UNL Extension professional development should be found on Learn:"

• #5. Learn maintains a Log of every professional development I Attend, Present, and Follow (click on "Activity" option) that can be quickly used for the next Activity Insight annual report.
• #4 Learn provides a professional looking web page for both promoting and archiving each individual professional development session.
• #3 Learn provides our participants the opportunity to access  handouts, powerpoint slides, and evaluation tool.
• #2 Learn provides us access to an audience from around the US consisting of your peers and other professionals.  Your professional development sessions are actively promoted twice monthly through eXtension newsletters to all Extension professionals registered with eXtension.
• #1 Presenters become recognized around the US for their expertise.

Add your next webinar for faculty professional development or clientele training to Learn.eXtension.org  to grow your reach, your recognition, your impact, and your professionalism.

Communicating with Agencies on Water & Nutrient Management

Rick Koelsch

How well are we communicating our natural resource education opportunities to agencies and organizations addressing water, soil and nutrient issues? Two recent meetings in which I have participated suggest that Extension may be missing some important opportunities.

A recent meeting with Nebraska NRCS State Conservationist Craig Derickson and District Conservationists suggested that professional development of NRCS field staff is a critical need around several issue areas including irrigation, nutrient management, and soils and soil health. Tight NRCS travel budgets has created difficult challenges for NRCS to meet the professional development needs of their field staff.  They were hungry to learn about existing on-line courses through UNL Extension and eXtension as well as planned producer and advisor targeted workshops. The discussion suggested considerable inconsistency in their awareness of workshops that had occurred this past winter and complete lack of knowledge of our on-line course offerings.

This week Katie Pekarek and I met with the NRD managers and shared a two-page summary of nine water related extension initiatives and highlighted in our oral presentation the Brule Water Resources laboratory and its August field day, the Ag Water Management Network (and the value of the Extension/NRD partnership), and the partnership between Extension and Monsanto’s Water Education Center.  In conversations with individual NRD managers I learned that many of the initiatives we shared were new news to the NRD managers.

So how do we better communicate our Extension educational opportunities with NRCS, NRDs, NDEQ, Department of Agriculture and other organizations?  Here are a couple of thoughts for your consideration.  I would welcome additional suggestions you may have:

·         For programs that address natural resource topics in your county or region, have you connected with regional NRD(s), NRCS, or NDEQ offices as possible partners, co-sponsors, or promoters?  These organizations may be able to help us connect with potential clientele as well as offer to their own staffs these educational experiences as a professional development opportunity.

·         Have you met and established a working relationship with the Information/Education Specialist or Public Relations Director for NRDs in your region.  This is an important point of contact within NRDs with which Extension needs to have a strong relationship.

·         Do we need to have a means of collectively gathering all Extension programs on selected topic areas (e.g. ag water use, nutrient management, soil management, water quality, urban/suburban water issues) and sharing with these agencies?  This was the request that was made of UNL Extension by the State and District Conservationists for NRCS. Suggestions as to how we might implement this are welcome.  Volunteers who might serve as a point person for gathering professional development opportunities around one of the topic areas would be most welcome.

 

Please give some thought as to how we might better engage our natural resource related agencies and organization in sharing of our educational program plans and opportunities.