On behalf of PLT:

• Program Funding Announcement – Jan Carroll
• Journal of Extension – Jan Carroll
• CPRS Reminder – Jan Carroll
• 4-H Youth Development
• Community Development
• Cropping Systems
• Energy
• Environmental Horticulture
• Individual Family & Community Well-Being
• Food Systems
• Nutrition, Food Safety & Health

Program Funding Announcement – Jan Carroll

The RFP for Program Funding has been sent to PRU Leaders.  Proposals are due June 21.  $25,000 is available and funded projects must expend their dollars by June 15, 2020.  Currently funded projects, please remember to submit your reports in order to be considered for future funds.

Journal of Extension – Jan Carroll

The Journal of Extension (JOE) is now indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection’s Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). Coverage in ESCI is the result of continual efforts to improve the quality and value of JOE and signifies that JOE meets various criteria applicable only to journals demonstrating a certain level of importance. This distinction increases discoverability of JOE’s content and, thereby, the visibility of Extension overall. Recognition of JOE’s value through indexation in ESCI can elevate awareness of and appreciation for Extension among members of the academic community involved in the behavioral sciences, public policy fields, interdisciplinary studies, and other relevant fields. In short, advancement of JOE equals advancement of Extension!

Indexation in ESCI also increases the visibility of JOE authors and can assist them in meeting requirements of their institutions and funders. Additionally, due to JOE’s inclusion in ESCI, JOE authors with access to the Web of Science Core Collection database can track citation activity associated with their articles.

CPRS Reminder – Jan Carroll
While looking for some reportable information in CPRS today, I discovered that more than 80 colleagues have entered nothing for 2019.  First quarter data were to be in by April 10, and more by May 10.  Please take time now before summer activities — to catch up.

4-H Youth Development

4-H MP:

4-H MP are part of 3 STEM grants:  Imagine Science, Career Pathways and CS (Computer Science Clubs) and will be implemented at Fort Carson, the U.S. Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base and Buckley Air Force Base.

4-H MP is also planning and leading the 9^th year of CSUE 4-H Rocky Mountain Adventure Camp for 200 military connected teens from around the U.S.     The camp focuses on mindfulness training and challenge by choice outdoor activities at CSU Mountain Campus – Pingree Park.

Colorado 4-H Shooting Sports:

2019 Colorado 4-H Shooting Sports Leader trainings were conducted throughout the state in March and April.  4-H volunteers who participated in the 15 hour trainings learned age appropriate techniques of teaching safe & responsible handling of firearms and archery equipment as well as teaching 4-H youth the life skills and crucial aspects of positive youth development that are found in all 4-H programming.  Over 200 4-H Shooting Sports volunteers attended the 2019 trainings.

Colorado 4-H Livestock:

Agents are utilizing the updated Colorado 4-H Meat Quality Assurance materials state wide to educate    4-H youth involved in livestock projects on the importance of animal safety / welfare and food safety / biosecurity & quality assurance.

Colorado 4-H Horse:

The Colorado 4-H Horse work team has been continuing discussions and collecting input about the current status of the Colorado 4-H Horse Levels program.   The work team is working to identify different ways that may be utilized to improve the content, and efficacy of the existing levels program.  The Colorado 4-H Horse work team has also developed a Horse Safety 101 training program that is currently being tested in many counties across the state.  Evaluation information will be collected and adjustments to the training will be assessed to move the program forward as a tool for 4-H Agents to use state wide in their county 4-H Horse programs.

National Mentoring Program (NMP):

National Mentoring Program (NMP) year 9 grant cycle has begun and will kick off the year with a STEM Day Camp at Jefferson County Fair Grounds on June 4^th and 5th.

Dear Futures Hub (Coca-Cola):

Coca-Cola’s Dear Futures grant is supporting new Computer Science programing in Clear Creek, CO.

Lockheed Martin (LM) Building a 4-H Career Pathway:

Lockheed Martin’s Building a 4-H Career Pathway Trailer has been built and sent to Colorado Springs for grant program implementation in 4-H clubs on multiple military bases along the front range.

Lockheed Martin (LM) Growing 4-H Computer Science (CS):

Lockheed Martin’s Building a Computer Science Pathway grant will support 3 new CS 4-H clubs in our military 4-H Programs at fort Carson, Peterson AFB, and Buckley Air Force Base during the spring and summer of 2019.

Mobile STEM Lab Program:

Poudre River Rural Electric Coop. is sponsoring a third STEM K-12 Mobile Science Energy lab that will be made available to 4-H agents, state-wide, who are interested in implementing new Energy Production and Use programing within their counties during 2019 and beyond.

Imagine Science:

Imagine Science Programing has been implemented in Adams County and is also being implemented into the military 4-H programs at various bases along the front range.

Imagine science military staff training was conducted on Fort Carson on May 7^th and 8^th.

4-H STEM K-12:

4-H STEM K-12 has partnered with CSU College of natural Sciences Department of Computer Science.  We have submitted a CS grant that, if approved, will support new Computer Science Programing in rural areas served by 4-H state-wide.  Approval date is in Oct., 2019.

2019 4-H State Conference:

There will be over 250 youth participating in contests and STEM, Leadership, and Environment workshops across campus.  The opening session will include speeches from State President and Vice President candidates and motivational speaker Greg Peterson from Peterson Brothers.  We are excited to have all these youth on campus in June

Development of Curriculum:

Finishing up with revision to the Cake Decorating manuals.  A committee of agents and industry and leaders worked to update and revise the manuals with the latest information on cake decorating.

Other manuals that are being updated and revised are scrapbooking, entomology, and leathercraft.  These revisions and updates are done through a committee of agents and volunteer leaders.

Community Development

Community Development PRU Leadership 2019 transition

The team wants to show its appreciation to the outgoing CD PRU chair, Gregg Felsen for all his work (and those who co-chaired and worked with him).

Starting in Spring 2019, the new CD leadership team will include:

Kerri Rollins (Larimer County Director), Tom Johnson (Office of Community and Economic Development) and Patti Schmitt (State Extension Office, Director of FLTI of Colorado)

Starting in July 2019, Dawn Thilmany and Rebecca Hill from the Department of Ag and Resource Economics will be transitioning and have one-half of their appointments in the Office of Community and Economic Development office (with Tom) and also be willing to provide more support and leadership to the CD PRU, including continued linkages to the Food Systems PRU.

Given the leadership and staffing changes in this topic area, this June’s upcoming team retreat (details below) will be used to revisit, modify and update the team’s goals, planned outcomes and linkages between campus, field staff and our key partners.

Upcoming Events

We are excited to have the resources to gather our team to do long-term planning under this new leadership team, and we welcome all who are interested to join us at:

Thursday, June 20^th
8:30am – 5pm (*Subject to minor changes as we continue to plan)
The Ranch – McKee 4H Building
5280 Arena Circle
Loveland, CO 80538

For map and directions: https://www.larimer.org/locations/ranch-mckee-4h-building

Potential areas of new programming and support for the team include:

Community profiles and Data discovery

Community Assessments and IRISS

Strategic Doing

Training for elected officials

FLTI

Metro Denver Extension activities and National Western Center

COME LEARN ABOUT THESE INTIATIVES AND GIVE INPUT ON HOW TO USE THEM IN YOUR COMMUNITY AT THE JUNE MEETING!

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities:

NACDEP (https://www.nacdep.net/) June 9-13, 2019, Gen, Greg and Rusty attending

Engaged scholarship Consortium – October 6th and 7th, Denver

(https://engagementscholarship.org/)

ESP Conference, Colorado Springs – October 14th – 17th https://espnational.org/2019-conference

Cropping Systems

• Collaborative On Farm Trials (COFT trials) – the Cropping Systems team has successfully established 26 wheat trials in eastern Colorado for the 2019 season.  COFT trials are planted and harvested by wheat producers who are testing the newest varieties.  This research is partnered with the Colorado Seed Producers and the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee.  Many of the locations are shown.
• Other on-farm trials that are being planned for the 2019 seasons include corn, sunflower, milo, onion, dry bean, and hay. We may have as many 20 other on-farm trials planned with these crops.  Adding herbicide, fertility, and insecticide trials could bring this total to 60 different on-farm trial undertaken by this PRU team.  In addition, team members are participating with numerous campus specialist on other trials such as cover crops and Ogallala aquifer research.
• Partners outside of producers for the 2019 season include both public and private partnerships.  Syngenta, Dow/Dupont, Bayer, BASF, FMC, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Colorado Department of Agriculture, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, as well as the Colorado State University Experiment Station.
• Programming completed:  Private Pesticide Recertifications, Soil Health Conference, Food Safety and Modernization Act workshops, Colorado Conservation Tillage Association, Nutrient Management workshops, Crop Production workshops, Certified Crop Advisor training, Soil Health workshops, Cover Crop programming.

Energy

• We have entered into a contract with Energy Smart Colorado to start conducting home energy assessments on the eastern plains. There was a lack of qualified contractors and yet reasonable demand for this service, so 3 agents will get trained and pilot assessments this year.
• We are exploring the idea of another Local Government Energy Academy, also for the eastern plains.
• Tim Aston has delivered an energy efficiency workshop for a local HOA, and is actively planning for renewable energy workshops and summer outreach events.
• Cary Weiner and Tim Aston are partnering with Jason Quinn from Mechanical Engineering to host an intern who will likely focus on a community energy assessment for the Town of Hayden.
• Cary Weiner has been conducting a number of Know Before You Go workshops on solar and electric vehicles in locations across Colorado. He also recently presented preliminary results from our 30 economic feasibility assessments for on-farm solar at two locations on the western slope.

Environmental Horticulture

• Attend our annual face-to-face meeting on May 21 and 22 at the Larimer County Fairgrounds (The Ranch) in Loveland. Cost is $15 and includes all meals on May 21. The CMGLC meeting will be from 9am-noon, followed by the Hort Agent meeting from 1pm-4pm. Tours will be on May 22 from 8am-noon and include Arrowhead Dahlia Farm, Green Valley Turf, and the Treasure Island Demonstration Garden in Windsor. Register here by May 17.
• The 2019 Master Gardener training wrapped up in April. Over 300 individuals were trained throughout Colorado. Look for Master Gardeners at various outreach events this summer!
• The Twilight Garden Series will be held on June 4 and June 18 from 6pm-8pm at the CSU Annual Trial Gardens in Fort Collins. Cost is $10 per session.
• The Plant Select Annual Meeting will be Tuesday, June 11 from 9am-3pm at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Cost is $65. The meeting includes various speakers and lunch. Register here.
• The 12th biennial CSU Short Course will be Friday, July 12 at Northern Water in Berthoud. Cost is $65 (by June 21) and is limited to the first 100 attendees. Register here. This event is geared toward the Green Industry and Master Gardener volunteers. Several horticulture staff are presenting, including Drs. Jim Klett, Tony Koski, and Whitney Cranshaw, Amy Lentz, Eric Hammond and John Stolzle, as well as staff from Northern Water.

Individual Family & Community Well-Being

A sampling of the work being done by this PRU:

• Financial Management Series – Erin Durant, Gunnison County, partnered with the local library to plan this free series of classes, which took place over the course of four weeks.  Topics included financial goals and budgeting, managing credit and getting out of debt, investment basics, and saving for retirement.  Different financial experts from the community taught each class.  A total of 38 participants attended, and feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
• Emergency Management Presentation – The local library recruited Erin Durant, Gunnison County, to teach a class on emergency management as part of their Modern Homesteading Series.  She partnered with the Gunnison County Emergency Manager to teach the course, which covered both how to prepare for and respond to emergencies.  Attendance was low, with only four people attending the program. In the future, efforts will be made to increase advertising and potentially offer this as an add-on program to other events.
• Strengthening Families Program – FCS agents in NE and SE Colorado continue to work with Dr. Doug Coatsworth and faculty/staff in the Prevention Research Center on the Strengthening Families program to prevent opioid use and abuse in rural communities. After a long delay from campus, community classes are just beginning to be planned. Gisele Jefferson is partnering with Centennial Mental Health to facilitate the first group in Fort Morgan.  Debbie Chapman and Abby Weber are working towards recruiting and scheduling their first class series in SE Area.
• We are looking forward to FLTI in Eagle County having graduation on June 3, 2019.
• Ten youth participated in a Babysitting Basics Training Program in Eagle.
• Sue Schneider and Diana Juarez continue to support efforts of the GRANDcares project in Larimer and Adams counties. We currently are running a grandparent Powerful Tools for Caregivers-Grandfamilies class and a grandchildren youth club in Larimer County.  In Adams county we are focused on building community partners and recruitment of grandfamilies for future classes. Discussions among Colorado and Hawaii colleagues have focused on sustainability efforts, as we enter year 05 of the CYFAR grant.  – Christine Fruhauf
• Live Smart Colorado Blog – Sheila Gains, Glenda Wentworth, Carla Farrand, and Elisa Shackleton serve as editors for this state-wide weekly blog for everything Family and Consumer Sciences in Colorado Extension. Blog posts from this PRU thus far in 2019 include: Writing a Great Resume (Erin Durant), Importance of Sleep Can’t be Over State? (Gisele Jefferson), Preparing for Retirement Finances (Laurel Kubin) and Tips to Help You Save Money (Tracy Trumper).

Food Systems

At the Food Systems team’s March meeting, the decision was made to focus on three key programming areas for the remainder of 2019, including food business development, a Colorado food summit focused on bridging rural-urban linkages, and a meat summit.

Food Business Development: Following an initial successful pilot course in November 2018, As part of the Food Systems PRU’s efforts to launch a food business development program, Martha Sullins, Danielle Ardrey, and Greg Perry (Dept of Agricultural and Resource Economics) will be hosting a CSU Extension intern this summer focused on researching existing food and agricultural business development curricula from around the U.S., synthesizing where strong programs have been built and identifying where gaps might lie. Needs were identified through a survey including over 1894 cottage food businesses in the state. Though the Food Systems PRU has been teaching a Building Farmers and Ranchers course since 2006 and is aware of the needs of beginning businesses, the PRU members want to better understand how food product businesses differ from ag production, especially in terms of the regulatory environment and planning for distribution and business scalability.  This information is helping to inform potential programming plans for the National Western Center (more information below).

Colorado Food Summit and Rural-Urban Linkages: The Food Systems PRU will help to support and promote a statewide food summit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, planned for January 7, 2020. The Colorado Food Summit will work to build urban-rural linkages that meet diverse food procurement goals while creating viable market opportunities for Colorado farmers and ranchers. Partners on the summit include: CO Farmers Market Association,  Colorado Beef Council, Colorado Department of Agriculture, Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council, Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, Colorado Pork, Colorado Potatoes, Colorado State University Food Systems, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Public Health and Environment, Denver Sustainable Food Policy Council, Denver Urban Gardens, Department of Local Affairs, Farm Bureau, LiveWell Colorado, National Western Center, National Young Farmers Coalition, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Western Horticultural Society, and more! For questions, please contact Becca Jablonski @ Becca.jablonskI@colostate.edu

Dawn Thilmany and Martha Sullins are leading an effort at the National Western Center called FFEED (Food and Farm Education and Enterprise Development). FEFED combines ongoing programming efforts of both the Food Systems PRU and the ABM team. To ensure appropriateness of the effort, they held a listening session at the Governor’s Forum with over twenty farm, food and rural development stakeholders to compile programming ideas and priorities, and participated in an Ag -College open house in April. The goal of this effort is to build off of opportunities documented through the Colorado Blueprint for Food and Agriculture, which was led in part by the Food Systems PRU.

House Bill 19-1012, the Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council, was passed and provided with over $100k in annual funding. This funding will go to CSU and be used to hire a full time coordinator for the Governor’s Food Systems Advisory Council, It is anticipated that this person will help to connect efforts of the Food Systems PRU, campus, and state entities that work with food access/security issues, education, agriculture, and economic development.

Meat Summit: Several members of the Food Systems PRU and the Livestock and Range PRU are planning a Rocky Mountain Meat Summit. This 1.5 day event is scheduled for February 2021. There are noticeable disconnects (perceptions, knowledge and values) across rural and urban stakeholders in Colorado and throughout the Western U.S. regarding meat production and its supply chain. At the same time, there are significant opportunities resulting from changing consumer demand for high quality Western U.S. meat products. The proposed summit will work to advance market opportunities, build connections, and support collective skills development and learning across many segments and scales of Colorado and the Western U.S.’s meat supply chain. To learn more or to get involved, please contact Martha Sullins, Ragan Adams, Todd Hagenbuch, Ryan Rhoades, Libby Christensen, or Becca Jablonski. Note that Extension is also piloting a Meat School which will begin in October 2019 and run for 6 weeks in several regions of the state. Contact Martha Sullins for more information.

Finally, our website has been updated! Please go and check it out! Foodsystems.colostate.edu.

Our next meeting date/time is June 13^th – 230-4pm. All are welcome! Zoom call: https://zoom.us/j/560084290

Nutrition, Food Safety & Health

Erin Durant (Gunnison County) taught a ServSafe Food Protection Manager course on April 9, which had 21 participants (all of whom passed).  She also taught a Cottage Food Safety course on May 1, which had 10 participants (all of whom also passed).

Michael Lucero (El Paso County) collaborated with the Pikes Peak Library District to incorporate 4 Food Safety Works Workshops within their youth programs.  Had 38 youth complete and pass exam.

As of May 9, a team of 13 CSU Extension FCS Agents has offered Cottage Food Safety Training in 14 counties, to 343 participants from 27 different counties.

Jessica Clifford (Campus) will present a poster titled “A Mediterranean Diet Toolkit for Extension Educators: A Pilot Test” at the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior National Annual Conference in July. Agents involved in this project include Sheila Gains (Arapahoe County), Laura Krause (Pueblo County), Gisele Jefferson (Washington County), and Joy Akey (Yuma County).