FOCUS ON FACULTY:
- Congratulations to David Kopec who received the National Distinguished Service Award on July 19 from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents at its 92nd Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference in Grand Rapids. The selection is made by County Agent peers in that state and endorsed by the State Extension Director. This year, 69 individuals from throughout the United States were presented the Distinguished Service Award.
- Dave Schafer , Bob Kattnig , Bopper and all the staff at the V Bar V hosted Farm Service Agency State Directors from the Southwest area, including Alabama and Washington , D.C. They did a wonderful job of explaining the workings of livestock operations in the Southwest to the Washington , D.C. employees who write and administer livestock and conservation programs. Alan Nulliner (FSA Director) stated that the experience gained from the visit will be invaluable to Farm Service Agency employees and the customers we all serve. He received wonderful comments about the tour and the dinner from each and every person who attended. His supervisor, Steve Connelly attends all the area meetings of FSA State Directors and said the tour was extremely informative as well as very enjoyable and the best he has attended.
- Mike Kilby (professor and specialist emeritus) hosted the annual pecan meetings in Tucson last week. Mike did a superb job keeping us involved with the pecan industry. Jim Walworth received an award of appreciation for all his outstanding work in the pecan industry and Bill McCloskey and Rick Gibson helped with the program. My thanks to these and the other faculty, staff and students from the UA that participated.
FOCUS ON STAFF:
- I'd like to extend a welcome to Eunice Gonzales who started work as the new Business Manager in Maricopa County last Monday, September 17.
COMPETITIVE GRANT OPPORTUNITY :
The Arizona Community Vitality Initiative Workgroup is making available three competitive grants, ranging from $500-$1,000, to promote university and community partnerships in community vitality/community development. A university community partnership is required. Matching funds are encouraged but not required. The deadline for submission of electronic applications is September 28 at 5:00pm. You can download a call for proposals/application . For more information, contact either Cathy Martinez (520.836.5221 x203) or Dan McDonald (520.626.5161 x106).
NEW PUBLICATIONS:
There are some new CALS publications (both print and DVD/VHS) that are available:
- Assessment of Doneness in Cooked Ground Beef by Scottie Misner and Evelyn Whitmer
- Additional Turkey Cooking Methods by Scottie Misner and Evelyn
- Cattle Handling Safety (DVD/VHS) featuring David Schafer - topics include facilities design for housing cattle and ways to work safely around these sometimes temperamental animals.
- Lethal Impact (DVD/VHS) developed by Arizona 4-H Youth Development, the National Rifle Association Foundation and local law enforcement agencies - emphasizes basic gun safety and shows the damage bullets cause, using dramatic demonstrations.
Complementary copies of the DVD/VHS items are available to any Cooperative Extension office or on-campus specialist by request to Glenn Gigstad (520.621.7180).
UPCOMING EVENTS & DEADLINES:
MAC Field Day will be held on Wednesday, October 3 and is being presented by the Maricopa Agricultural Center (MAC) and the USDA Arid Lands Agricultural Research Center . Registration will begin at 8:00am and includes a morning filled with bus tours, posters, equipment display, and the symposium (followed by lunch at noon). The theme for this year's Field Day is "Water—Securing Our Future." Reminder: There are still a few spaces open for the Poster Session. Submit your reservation form ASAP or contact Ed Martin (520.381.2244) to reserve a space or for questions or additional information.
- The 2007 Safford Agricultural Center Field Day will be held on Friday, October 5 beginning at 9:00am. Topics to be covered at the field day include updated weed control strategies for cotton, late season cotton management and defoliation, updates on current late season cotton disease issues, and an update on the pink bollworm eradication program. A field tour will then look at current research being conducted at the Safford Agricultural Center . Lunch will follow the tour at noon. To register or for questions, call 928.428.2432.
- The Arizona Dairy Production Conference will be held on Thursday, October 11 at the Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix Airport (3422 E. Elwood ). The purpose of this conference is to provide industry updates and information about current research to dairy producers and their employees, extension personnel, veterinarians, nutritionists, milk quality specialists and others involved in dairy operations. The morning sessions this year include Immigration Reform, Feeding for High Feed Costs, Raising Holstein Steers. The afternoon will be devoted to Methane Digestion. If you would like to view a conference brochure or download a registration form, go to http://ag.arizona.edu/extension/dairy/ and click on the Arizona Dairy Production Conference logo. If you need further information, contact Laura Rittenbach (520.626.9382).
- The Eighth Annual Arizona Highlands Garden Conference will be held October 11-12 at the Apache Gold Casino, five miles east of Globe. The conference is open to the public and will offer three concurrent sessions both days on high-country gardening and landscaping, including hands-on workshops. This year's conference theme is “The Go Native, How-To Gardening Conference!” Registration fees $65 for one day or $125 for two days. Registration forms and other details are available at www.cals.arizona.edu/gila/horticulture .
- 10th Annual Southwest Vegetation Management Association Annual Conference will be held October 24-26 at the Radisson Suites (6555 E. Speedway, Tucson ). To register or see an agenda, go to www.swvma.org or contact Ed Northam (602.470.8086, ext. 339). The conference registration rate at the hotel ends September 29.
- The Annual Arizona Nursery Association (ANA) EXPO will be November 8 at the UOP Stadium. ANA sent invitations to many of the UA departments and programs to have a booth at the EXPO. Kai Umeda, ANR/Turfgrass Agent, Maricopa County ) has proposed to ANA to have a designated area that will be an "island" or "row" of all UA exhibits/booths. This will show the industry that the UA is one unified entity instead of a bunch of individual programs and/or departments with varying names that confuse the clientele and the public in general. Kai is willing to work with ANA to coordinate all requests. Contact Kai (602.470.8086, ext. 314) with any questions and/or requests.
- The National Livestock Emergency Response Conference will be held December 5-7 in Tucson . Last year's conference was extremely well received and interest was high enough to hold another conference this year. Last year there was a one-day conference in Phoenix and it has been expanded to 3 days with two days of field exercises. Peder Cuneo and Bob Kattnig , along with the Arizona Livestock Incident Response Team (ALIRT) team, are helping with the effort. The ALIRT model is being adopted, in whole or in part, by numerous other states. New Mexico adopted the model completely. This conference is designed to provide information and training to a diverse audience, including County Extension Faculty and Arizona Department of Agriculture Livestock Officers. State Beef Quality Assurance Coordinators from across the country have indicated an interest in the material and some have indicated they plan on attending. This year the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is co-sponsoring the conference and Mr. John Queen, NCBA President, is confirmed as a speaker. This conference will have nationwide exposure. More information to follow.