In recognition of the Martin Luther King holiday, ECOP Monday Minute will return 1.26.15.
VOTE: NEW eXtension Board of Governors – Cooperative Extension administrative representatives from your institution who made a commitment to the NEW eXtension as either a premiere or basic member have received a ballot to elect the NEW eXtension Board of Governors. Your vote as applicable, due 1.20.15, is critical to naming the new Board and beginning work on the hiring process for a Chief Executive Officer. Elbert Dickey continues as the interim director. The slate of candidates, all Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators, has been provided by each region and, if elected, have agreed to serve. Eligible voters are asked to choose one candidate for each of the five Cooperative Extension regions. Questions about the NEW eXtension can be directed to Elbert Dickey edickey1@unl.edu. Questions about voting logistics can be directed to Sandy Ruble sandy.ruble@extension.org.
USDA-FSA Blog Features Producer Education Project – The USDA Farm Services Administration weekly blog called Fence Post will soon provide details on the producer education project implemented in cooperation with Cooperative Extension and partially funded by the Agriculture Act of 2014 (farm bill). To read more, see http://fsa.blogs.govdelivery.com.
Food Safety Letters of Intent Due 2.16.15 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA-NIFA have joined in a collaborative partnership to administer and manage the National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Program. The purpose is to develop a comprehensive food safety training, education and technical assistance program for those affected by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) to include owners and operators of small and medium-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, small processors, and small fresh fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers. FDA has issued a Request for Applications for the establishment of a National Coordination Center (NCC). The Letters of Intent for the NCC are due February 16, 2015 and full applications are due March 16, 2015. For additional information and the full request for application, please visit http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-FD-15-003.html. The programmatic contacts are Mary Tijerina (Mary.Tijerina@fda.hhs.gov) and Scarlett Salem (scarlett.salem@fda.hhs.gov). NIFA and FDA will also issue separate RFAs in the near future to request applications for the establishment of four Regional Centers (RC) which will be coordinated under the NCC. The NCC will provide national leadership, support and coordination for the RCs. Each RC will lead, manage, and coordinate the regional development and implementation of the National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Program.
NC-FAR Dialogue on Food and Ag Engagement – In mid-December 2014, the National Coalition for Food and Agriculture Research (NC-FAR) hosted a dialogue with Cooperative Extension Directors Tim Cross, University of Tennessee, and Michael Ouart, University of Missouri. The session Why Cooperative Extension? A Century of Food and Ag Engagement was the first in what NC-FAR hopes to be a continuing discussion on how Cooperative Extension can best meet the educational needs of farmers, ranchers and others in the food industry. See http://goo.gl/eh9juK for the presentation outline complete with participant comments in the notes section or go to http://ncfar.org/video-Extension-Dialog.asp for the video recording.
NACo Election Analysis – With the new Congress in session, the National Association of Counties (NACo) provides an analysis of how the shift in power may affect counties. See http://www.naco.org/legislation/Documents/NACo-2014-Election-Analysis.pdf.
