On behalf of PLT:
The Program Leadership Team (PLT) http://extension.colostate.edu/staff-resources/#progplan is organized to build a network of program support and accountability to meet county/regional needs of Coloradans. The next PLT meeting is November 14, via Zoom. Extension Update content this week was contributed by Planning and Reporting Unit (PRU) leaders.
Planning & Reporting Unit Updates
Community Development PRU – Rusty Collins, Gen Ponce-Pore and Greg Felsen
Invitation to attend the Community Development PRU Meeting at Forum
Any Extension staff member who is interested in community development should plan to attend the Community Development PRU meeting at Forum. This meeting will be held on Thursday, November 10th, from 2:00-4:30pm in room 376/378. You do not have to be an existing participant in the Community Development PRU to attend. If your Extension work includes facilitating groups, convening discussions, mobilizing people or projects, or working through your community’s Wicked Problems like Food, Climate Change or Community Resiliency, you are practicing Community Development! Join us and be linked with your colleagues and a statewide support system. Many of our PRU members also belong to other PRU’s. Our Agents work in exciting areas like Fermentation Science (beer!), Broadband access to rural communities, Engagement, the Denver 2030 Food Vision, and more. Here is what we have planned for the meeting.
Meeting Agenda
- Welcome new leadership under incoming Co-Chairs Greg Felsen, Annette Shipley and Kyle Christensen.
- CSU Engagement HUBs – Gen Ponce-Pore
- Craft Brewery/Fermentation training – how did it develop in Arapahoe County? – Tim Aston
- Innovation and Economic Prosperity – Paula Mills
- Energy PRU – possible overlap of programming, shared assets and programs available, Community Energy Assessments are available for counties – Cary Weiner
- Extension Institutes – Greg Felsen
- Professional Development – Annette Shipley, Greg Felsen and Rusty Collins
- Cost Recovery from Community Development & Facilitation – Rusty Collins and Annette Shipley
- Community Development Brochure and Pricing – Rusty Collins
- Strategic Doing – Gen Ponce-Pore
- Planning a Combined PRU meeting in 2017
We hope to see you there!
-From your Community Development Co-Chairs Rusty Collins, Gen Ponce-Pour and Greg Felsen
Cropping Systems PRU – Ron Meyer
The PRU hosted a technical field tour at the Akron ARS station in June. We met with the Akron ARS professional staff during their field day. Stops included tours of the Cropping Systems trials, Wheat breeding and variety trials, and entomology and plant pathology stops. In addition, members of the Cropping Systems PRU also host a winter Crops Clinic. Last year the program was held in Ft. Morgan. More than 400,000 acres were represented at this meeting and the impact on attendees totaled $2.4 million.
The Energy PRU recently announced the launch of our new ‘Your Energy’ website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. Your Energy aims to be Colorado’s go-to source for consumer energy information. Please share, Like us, and Follow us if you haven’t already.
In other news, the PRU will be meeting for 2 hours at Forum, from 10am-noon on Wednesday, 11/9. Anyone is welcome, and we especially encourage attendance from anyone curious about what we do. We will:
- Provide a brief year-in-review
- Review our Plan of Work
- Discuss our menu of energy activities for Counties to consider
- Discuss ideas for the PLT mini-grants
We hope to see you then.
Food Systems PRU – Becca Jablonski
The Food Systems team works in four areas:
- Stewardship
- Business Development
- Food Security, Quality, and Public Health
- Investing in Community Food Assets
This update will cover the business development team which has been expanding its resources and capabilities. First the team has been revising its business planning curriculum for the Colorado Beginning Farmers (CBF) program by reevaluating the reading assignments that support the classroom program. One 8-week CBF classroom program will take place from October 18-December 6, 2016 in Larimer County; and one-day workshops, primarily on agritourism, are scheduled for fall/winter in Boulder, Denver and Chaffee counties.
Team members have also been conducting field research (funded by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and the CO Department of Agriculture) to support its business development outreach by continuing to collect market pricing information at farmers markets and farm stands throughout the state, and conducting market channel assessments to help growers evaluate profitability of individual market outlets and the relative impacts on aspects of their farm business and lifestyle. As part of this work, PRU team members presented at the statewide ag lenders tour (separate sessions held in Delta, Craig, Akron, Rocky Ford, and Alamosa), and participated in a webinar in conjunction with the CO Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and the CO Department of Agriculture to encourage producer participation.
The team is planning a two-day training workshop to be held in February 2017 that will prepare growers to engage in wholesale markets, and help CSU Extension staff provide appropriate resources to those growers interested in accessing new wholesale markets. Shorter versions of this program will also be presented as part of the Western Food and Farm Forum (Montrose), Western Horticultural Society (Grand Junction), and the CO Produce Day (Greeley).
Livestock & Range PRU – Chris Shelley
The Livestock and Range group will be meeting on Wednesday November 9 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. We hope anyone that can make it will attend. We want all PRU participants to weigh in and have input in the group. During this session, we will be continuing the conversation for our Networking and Planning Meeting held in September. In September we held a networking session, discussed areas of focus, Colorado’s needs and ways to facilitate group communication. For those that did not attend, we have several new specialists to introduce as well. We will have several updates from subcommittees formed. We also have the opportunity to finalize our 2017 plan of work. Hope to see you there.
Natural Resources PRU – Mark Platten
The Natural Resources PRU started 2016 with a combined CSUE/CS Forest Service webinar on the major insect outbreaks across the state and what we could anticipate for the year. We wrapped up the conifer identification YouTube videos and they were transferred into the PlantTalk resource site. We attended the Colorado Natural Heritage Program’s (CNHP) annual meeting, establishing opportunities for CSUE and CNHP to collaborate. Our team created a fact sheet on rain barrels based on the new law. We were an active part of the May Climate-Smart Forum held on campus and have submitted a NIFA grant with four other states to explore the possibility of a Climate-Smart Master program. We are in the process of completing some fact sheets, putting together a Colorado Native Trees Field Guide, and are identifying funding sources to develop a Woody App for Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming.
Finally, we are coordinating the second annual Natural Resources Consortium with Warner College of Natural Resources, CS Forest Service, CNHP, Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, and the Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands. This program will explore ways that Extension can partner with these agencies to tackle Natural Resource Issues across Colorado and the region. The event will start on Thursday, November 10 following our PRU meeting, and continue until noon on Friday. We have up to $200 for any Extension attendees from our PRU Grant for hotel and other expenses for that extra day. If interested, please contact Mark J. Platten.
Nutrition, Food Safety & Health PRU – Jessica Clifford
http://www.liveeatplay.colostate.edu/eat/healthy-kitchen/videos/index.php#.V_Pm4uUrKUk (also see attached poster)
This series of videos included 10 different videos (all less than 1 minute in length) posted on Facebook from July 25th – August 15th.
Below are some Facebook metrics that explain the reach and engagement of these videos:
- 10,915 impressions
- 8,094 people reached
- 2,492 video views
- 2,399 unique video views
- 15 total hours of engagement with videos
