ACTION: FY 2017 Appropriation Requests

ECOP representatives Rick Klemme, BAA Budget and Advocacy Committee (BAC), and Daryl Buchholz, BAA Policy Board of Directors, urge immediate action as outlined last week by Cornerstone Government Affairs related to the proposed FY 2017 USDA-NIFA budget. Deadlines to submit programmatic funding requests are March 15th for the U.S. House of Representatives and March 17th for the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. The BAC USDA-NIFA priorities are found on the individual fact sheets at http://land-grant.org/appropriations_docs.html. In addition, the eXtension Board of Directors, Dennis Calvin, Chair, has developed a one-pager found at https://extension.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/NewTechnologiesforAgExtensionNTAE-Final.pdf designed to help you advocate for protection of the New Technologies in Ag Extension (NTAE) funding. The FY 2017 proposed budget documents are posted at http://nifa.usda.gov/budget. 

4-H Engagement Campaign – 4-H Grows Here! – The ECOP National 4-H Leadership Committee co-chaired by Ed Jones, Virginia Tech, and Renee McKee, Purdue University, encourages your engagement with this campaign (known both as 4-H Engagement and 4-H Grows Here!). The vision is to engage 10 million youth in 4-H by 2025. Details are available at http://n4h.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=23972.0&dlv_id=38162. March 14th is the deadline for completed applications. The cost per institution is outlined at http://bit.ly/4HGrowsSched. 

eXtension at USDA Ag Outlook Forum – New eXtension Innovation Lab projects, including Unmanned Aerial Systems, Wearable Technology, and Oculus Rift, will be on hand for the USDA Ag Outlook Forum http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/ February 25-26 in the Crystal City, VA. The focus will be on how these technologies can be used to solve issues related to climate and food systems. USDA-NIFA also will host the showcase on February 24th. 

Urban Extension Strategic Plan – In support of an ECOP goal for 2016 http://www.aplu.org/CESGoals to support urban programming, learn more about Florida’s Urban Extension Strategic Plan. Register for the 9:00 a.m. ET, February 25th webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2111051702380768257. Taking a bold step toward active and deliberate engagement of the state’s urban regions, University of Florida’s Strategic Plan for Urban Extension Initiative is organized to use an adaptive management approach that promotes flexible, adjustable decision-making in the face of uncertainty. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. 

ECOP-ESCOP Align on Capitol Hill Event

Suat Irmak, University of Nebraska, and
Steve Slack, The Ohio State University

– Impacts of the Nebraska Agricultural Water Management Network http://water.unl.edu/cropswater/nawmn drew significant interest at the NC-FAR Lunch and Learn series “More Crop for the Drop” earlier this month in Washington, DC. Co-hosted by ECOP and ESCOP, the seminar for U.S. Senate and House of Representative staffers and others was augmented by social media coverage (@agisamerica) on February 8th. Speakers were Steve Slack, Ohio State University (retired), and Suat Irmak, University of Nebraska. For a recording of the presentation, go to http://www.ncfar.org/Hill_Seminar_Series_2016.asp. 

Suat Irmak, University of Nebraska, speaks to a crowd gathered on Capitol Hill

USDA Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden, center left, and Laura Perry Johnson,
center right, associate dean for UGA Cooperative Extension, welcome panelists
including, from left, Cindy Ayers Elliott, CEO of Footprint Farms in Jackson,
Mississippi; Caroline Hoffland Bakker, CEO of CBH International in Suwannee,
Georgia; Caula Beyl, dean of the University of Tennessee College of Agricultural
Sciences and Natural Resources; and Camille Young, senior professional at Cornerstone
Government Affairs in Jackson, Mississippi. (Credit: Blane Marable)

South Focuses on Women in Agriculture – More than 150 agricultural leaders from across 13 Southern states and Washington, D.C., converged on the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens on Feb. 8 to discuss leadership roles for women in agriculture. Women representing government agencies, farms, the Cooperative Extension System and agriculture-related industries were invited to participate in the UGA-led Southern Region Women’s Agricultural Leadership Summit. Participants were chosen because of the leadership roles they play in their home states. One of the goals of this summit, which was sponsored by the UGA President’s Venture Fund, the UGA Women’s Leadership Initiative and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, was to put these agriculturally minded women together to share their leadership experiences and document the barriers they have overcome. For more information, see www.caes.uga.edu/events/womensagleadershipsummit.
 
Awards Reminder - Nominate by 5.1.16 – ECOP in partnership with USDA-NIFA offers the 2016 nomination process for the national Excellence in Extension and Diversity awards. The due date for on-line nominations is May 1, 2016 at 5:00p.m. Pacific Time. For details and to access the online nomination forms go to: http://www.aplu.org/CESawards. Questions can be directed to Sandy Ruble sandy.ruble@extension.org, ECOP Staff Associate.