Monday, September 25, 2017

Extension Disaster Education Network

Supported by NIFA, Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) is a collaborative multi-state effort with land-grant universities and Cooperative Extension Services across the country, using research-based education and resources to improve the delivery of services to citizens affected by disasters. EDEN's goal is to improve the nation's ability to mitigate, prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters. EDEN equips county-based Extension educators to share research-based resources in local disaster management and recovery efforts. The EDEN website offers a searchable database of Extension professionals, resources, member universities and disaster agency websites, education materials to help people handle a wide range of hazards and food and agricultural defense educational resources. Steve Cain, Purdue Extension Disaster Communication Specialist and the Indiana Point of Contact for the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) will be presenting at the upcoming NEDA conference.

Jim Woodell, APLU

Exploring Intersections of University Engagement and Extension -  Participants in two of APLU’s member groups—the Council on Engagement and Outreach (CEO) and the Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness, and Economic Prosperity (CICEP)—are focused on developing tools and resources to help universities create and demonstrate economic and societal impact, and both groups are interested in engaging the Cooperative Extension perspective and experience in this work. Please consider contacting APLU Vice President for Economic Development and Community Engagement Jim Woodell jwoodell@aplu.org to express interest in connecting with one or both of these APLU groups. For those attending NEDA in Vermont, please note that Jim will be there.


Ag Census Survey Opportunity is Coming Soon - In just a couple months, farmers and ranchers across the nation will start receiving the 2017 Census of Agriculture. Producers can mail in their completed census form, or respond online via the improved web questionnaire. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has extensively revised the online questionnaire this year to make it more convenient than ever. Very user-friendly, it can now be used on any electronic device, and can be saved and revisited as time allows. Responding online saves time and protects data quality, and better data mean informed decisions; that’s why it is so important that every producer be represented! New timesaving features of the online questionnaire include automatically calculating totals, skipping sections that do not pertain to the operation, and providing dropdown menus of frequent responses. Producers still have until October 1 to try the online questionnaire demo on the Census of Agriculture website. For more information about the 2017 Census of Agriculture, visit www.agcensus.usda.gov or call (800) 727-9540. The Census of Agriculture is a producer’s voice, future, and opportunity.


CYFAR’s 25th Anniversary Celebration of Great Collaborative Work with the Land-grant and Cooperative Extension Systems - NIFA acknowledges the CYFAR (Children, Youth and Families at Risk) Program as the 25th year of program funding in the report CYFAR at 25 Years: What Are They Doing Now? During this time period, CYFAR has served over 250,000 children, youth and parents.  The report offers just a few examples of how the Extension educators and other caring adults have impacted the lives of past participants, youth and adult, regarding their career/life choices. The projects are representative of the 1862, 1890 and 1994 Institutions. Though, at this time the 1890 and 1862 Universities are eligible for CYFAR funding, the eligible institutions have forged partnerships with the 1994 Institutions in some cases. Some state accomplishments, scope of project totals, and state highlighted projects are also included in the impact report.