Congratulations to Kim Gressley and her small animal advisory board who
have secured enough funding to build a small animal educational complex.
The primary donors are Jim and Mary Faul. They also have numerous other
donors for the electrical, plumbing, welding, materials, cages, etc.
required for the barn. We'll notify you as to the date and time of the
ground breaking event.
* The Dean's Pinal County Breakfast for Spring 2002 has been cancelled due
to the governor's budget cuts. Hopefully this important event will resume
in 2003, when budgets cuts are lifted.
* The Specialty Crops Block Grant Program will be administered by the
Arizona Department of Agriculture, which will review and score grant
applications on several criteria. Grant applications and a formal request
for grant applications will be available on Monday, December 10 on the ADA
webpage at <http://www.agriculture.state.az.us/>. For more information, a
workshop on this specialty crops grant program will be held on Friday,
December 21 on the second floor of the Executive Office Tower at 1700 West
Washington Street in Phoenix from 1:00p.m. - 3:00p.m. Alternatively,
interested persons may contact ADA's Assistant Director, Nicole Waldron, at
602/542-0978 or <nicole.waldron@agric.state.az.us>.
* The Navajo Extension Partnership was held in Window Rock, AZ. on November
26, 2001. People present included San Juan and McKinley County Extension
Agents (NM), Apache and Navajo Extension Agents, Navajo Nation Department
of Agriculture (NNDOA) Extension Agents and Director. Also attending were
two 1994 Land Grant Institutions, DINE' College from Tsaile, AZ and
Crownpoint Institute of Technology from Crownpoint, NM, and two Extension
Indian Reservation Extension Agents. Under a new leadership, discussion
centered around staff development (NNDOA); issues discussed were the
Electronic Communication Training for NNDOA once they get online, exploring
or expanding and utilizing the NN Broadcasting Services to deliver
extension programs on cable TV, and providing 4-H/Youth Development
training to NN Extension Agents. Current programs that are in the works and
to be implemented within the next two months are 5 winter livestock
management workshops, and 4- H/Youth Development awareness program for the
Eastern Navajo Agency. Taking the lead on these workshops is Crownpoint
Institute of Technology Extension Agent with presenters from NNDOA, County
Extension and EIRP Agents. Another extension plan is to assist with a
proposal for DINE' College Extension to hire a 4-H Extension Coordinator
for DINE' Extension through their Youth Opportunity Program Grant;
assistance will come from EIRP and Navajo County Extension Agents. Overall,
it was a good planning meeting with new people and partners willing to
develop and implement extension education on the Navajo Nation Reservation.
We must continue to value and appreciate, and provide NNDOA and 1994
extension agents as much extension exposure on campus as well as off campus.
* Applied science mini-courses provide for a unique blend of classroom,
laboratory, and field learning environments. Taught by UA faculty at MAC,
the curriculum should assist students with degree goals and working
professionals with continuing education and certification goals. Beginning
January 9: Russ Tronstad - Agricultural Business Management & Policy. For
more information on enrollment call 520/621-3612.
* The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
(CSREES), USDA, announces that it will no longer publish in the Federal
Register announcements of Requests for Applications (RFA) for CSREES grant
programs. Beginning immediately, RFAs will be made available on the CSREES
web page (http://www.reeusda.gov) under "Funding Opportunities".