Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAg & Extension 08-03-04 AMENDED ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Clarence Malick, Chairman St. Croix County Board FROM: Ronald Raymond, Chairman COMMITTEE TITLE: Agriculture & Extension Committee DATE: August 3, 2004 TIME: 9:00 a.m. LOCATION: Agricultural Services & Education Center CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES ACTION ON VOUCHERS UNFINISHED BUSINESS: ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT • Federal Budget Report • State Budget Report • Preliminary 2005 County Budget • County Budget - Amended Agent Contract with UW- Extension • Personnel • WACEC • Fair Board Parent Committee • Theme for Next Year's Fair 4 -H YOUTH AGENT'S REPORT • County Fair Report • 4 -H Summer Camp • 4 -H Summer Assistant Report HORTICULTURE AGENT'S REPORT • St. Croix Community Gardens -Fund Raising and Open House • Organic Vegetable Production Workshop • Future Vegetable and Fruit Marketing Workshops • St. Croix County Direct Marketing Association • Apple Production Workshop in Pierce County • Pest Management in the Garden TV -13 Interview 1 NEW BUSINESS: ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order.) SUBMITTED BY: Kim Reaman DATE: July 28, 2004 COPIES TO: County Board Office County Clerk News Media/Notice Board Committee Members 2 x Draft - Unofficial ant -il approve- image 1 Ag Extension Committee Minutes August 3, 2004 Agricultural Service & Education Center Convened: 9:05 a..m. Baldwin Adjourned: 10:55 a.m. Present: Ronald Raymond, Lois Burri, Bill Peavey, Gene Ruetz, Kimberly Reaman, Jon Behling, and Danielle Bleck The meeting was called to order by Chairman Raymond. Date of next meeting was set for September 7, 2004. Ruetz moved that the agenda be adopted as presented. Burri seconded the motion. Motion carried. Peavey moved that the previous meeting's minutes be approved. Ruetz seconded the motion. Motion carried. Burri moved that the vouchers be approved. Peavey seconded the motion. Motion carried. Administrative Report Federal Budget - No report State Budget — No report County Budget — Reaman reported on the preliminary budget for 2005. It is a normal budget with few increases. Reaman distributed the Amended Contract with UW- Extension for the committee's review and approval. The second invoice for Agent's salary and fringe benefits will be $2,418 less than budgeted due to the pay increase, which never materialized. The meeting to review the 2005 final budgets for UWEX, Parks and LWCD will be August 25, 9 am to noon at the Ag Center. Personnel — No report WACEC — Reaman presented a plaque to Raymond in recognition of 10 years of service on the UWEX Committee. Arlen Leholm, Dean of Cooperative Extension will be visiting the St. Croix County Office on Friday, August 27, 12:30 to 3 pm. Extension Committee members will receive an invitation to participate and meet Dean Leholm. Fair Board/County Fair Items — Discussion occurred regarding the appointment of County Board Supervisors to the Fair Board. Currently three members on the Ag Extension Committee also serve on the Fair Board. It may be advantageous to the Fair Board to have broader representation from the County Board. Discussion also occurred regarding strategies to promote the Fair in the Western side of the County. pa Draft - noffici al un - C - _ i are rQ ed a 4 -H Youth Development Agent's Report County Fair Report – Everything went very smoothly. Woodworking entries were visibly down, jewelry and Lego entries were both up substantially. A full report on the number of entries will be provided at the September meeting. All the results need to be entered into the computer before we'll have the actual number of exhibits in each department. Sales in the 4 -H Jr. Leader food stand were down due to the addition of the beer tent, competition from private food stands and a smaller crowd at the event. Reaman is discussing with the Jr. Leaders the possibility of relocating the food stand down between the two horse arenas rather than at the south end. One parent is extremely unhappy because the glass on her daughter's picture frame was broken when another exhibit got blown over and hit it. The parent feels that the Fair or 4 -H should replace the glass. The policy is that exhibits are displayed at their own risk and she will not be reimbursed for the loss. 4 -H Summer Camp – Second camp for members in grades 5 through 7 was cancelled due a virus that went through the camp facility. It was a 24 -hour type flu bug that was very contagious. The way the two camps are structured with a change over day in the middle of the week did not allow adequate time to disinfect and sanitize the camp facility, which resulted in the cancellation of the second camp. Campers were offered the opportunity to apply their camp registration fee to the cost of the Wisconsin Tour. Many campers took advantage of that opportunity. Those who were not able to participate in the WI Tour received a full refund. 4 -H Summer Assistant Report _ State 4 -H & Youth Conference • 14 youth from St. Croix County attended • Chaperone: Paul Pieper ° June 21 -24 • Objectives: • Gain life skills— communication, leadership, etc. • Learn more about 4 -H • Make friendships with youth from around Wisconsin • Learn by doing —each delegate attends 4 sessions while at the conference Camp Counselor Training Y 12 counselors from St. Croix County attended. • June 10 -11 • Teens meet, work, and become friends with teens from other counties (4 -H Camp is a combined effort between Polk, St. Croix, and Dunn Counties). • Counselors learn to cooperate and communicate through teambuilding activities and planning the 3 -day camp including flag raising, sessions, and energetic campfires. Interstate Exchange • 14 delegates from Wisconsin (includes Dunn & St. Croix Counties). • Through the interstate Exchange youth get the opportunity to create friendships with youth from other sates while learning about cultural and geographical differences also. Camp June 28 -30 • Youth learn many how to decision - snaking and several other life skills through educational sessions and activities. • They also get the opportunity to meet youth their age from around their county and from Polk and Dunn Counties also. • Campers also learn to be responsible and accountable by keeping their cabins clean, being on time for sessions, participating in flag ceremonies, as well as taking turns setting up and cleaning up for meals. Clothing Revue • 27 youth participated — increase from last year. • Critiqued on garment fit, presentation, modeling, and construction • Youth gain self confidence by participating in a style show after the judging is over. Each youth writes a script and models their outfit on a stage in front of an audience. Action Centers • Jumping frogs, Jazzy Tennie Ties, and Popsicle Stick Puzzles • Hand - washing station at Foods' Fair Day Camp • 39 Youth; 7 helpers • Held at Millpond Park • Theme: Outer space • Day filled with large group songs and activities, a scavenger hunt, making t -shirts as well as other outer space crafts, galaxy Olympics, and project shoebox youth made cards and brought food items to send to men overseas WI Tour • August 4 -6 • Baraboo, WI • 50 5 -7 graders 5 Chaperones • These 4 -H members will travel on a coach bus to the Baraboo area and will see things like The Mid - Continental Railroad Museum, Oschner Park and Zoo, Blue Mounds State Park, Cave of the Mounds, Circus World Museum, and will have the opportunity to go bowling, swimming, and mini golfing also. Horticultural Agent's Report The St. Croix Community Gardens, supplying produce to the underserved of St. Croix Valley, is located in New Richmond near the County Health Care Facility. We have had a very strong group of volunteers this summer, numbering nearly 20 individuals. Work meetings for maintenance and now produce harvesting have been set for every other Tuesday night throughout the summer. These volunteers are also undertaking a bulb sale fundraiser this summer. This money will go towards supplies for this year and for 2005. We, so far have taken in over $300 in sales and the deadline is August 20` On July 26 UW Horticulture extension put on a joint Organic Vegetable workshop with MOSES (Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Services) out of Spring Valley, WI. The D : aft. - Unofficial unto l approved pace 4 project itself was funded by the USDA Risk Management group. Over 45 growers and potential growers attended. The session provided them an opportunity to learn and discuss the new USDA organic certification requirements. Harriet Beshar was invited in as guest speaker. She is a certified organic grower and USDA organic certifier from SE Wisconsin. Since the interest is high, I will offer a couple of workshops again this winter for vegetable and fruit market gardeners, and open it to the public regarding organic production. I have been contacted by the State Vegetable Specialist regarding Vegetable Workshops for the Hmong population. In discussions with the Agricultural Extension Committee, it was decided that we table any workshops targeted toward vegetable and fruit production for this specific group until the summer of 2005 as it may take up considerable amount of my time to set up and organize such classes or workshops. In the coming month I will be having a couple of sessions regarding Plant diseases in the garden and orchards. If these are well attended and interest remains high, I plan to incorporate this topic into the sessions that will be offered throughout the winter. I submitted a grant to the Emerging Agricultural Markets group with UW- Extension. They have Kohl dollars available again this year. If this is funded, I will meet with Lee and Pierce and Polk County agriculture agents to determine the specific topics that we would like to cover in a workshop for the public. The area of Agricultural Marketing is high on the topic list. I continue to be active with TV -13 interview segments. I have so far covered a number of topics ranging from seed purchasing in the spring to organic plant production and disease -pest management in the summer garden. These TV segments have helped gain exposure for UW- extension throughout Western Wisconsin. In September I'll be attending Horticulture meetings in Green Bay and also helping out at the Farm Technology Days near Bloomer, WI. The fifth meeting of the Direct Farm Marketing Association will be in late August. This group has organized in an attempt to nurture Direct Farm marketing within St. Croix County and to work with the County Government in an attempt to develop a workable ordinance and zoning plan for Direct Farm marketers. I have invited Dr. David Tretcher from UWRF to assist the group in setting up a mission statement and formulating long and short-term goals. Ruetzmoved to adjourn. Burri seconded. Respectively submitted, Gene Ri4 e t z Secretary mh