HomeMy WebLinkAboutAg & Extension 04-01-03 ST. CROIX COUNTY
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING
TO: Clarence Malick, Chairman
St. Croix County Board
FROM: Chris Bethke, Chairman
COMMITTEE TITLE: Extension Ag Committee/Resource & Education Committee
DATE: April 1, 2003
TIME: 12:30 p.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
• 2003 County Budget Report
- Governor's proposal to eliminate state aid for fair premiums
• Personnel
- 4 -11 Summer Assistant Position
• WACEC Report
PLANNING DEPARTMENT'S REPORT
• Recycling Specialist
• DNR Annual Recycling Grant
• DNR Efficiency Grant
• Spring Events
• State Budget Comments
4 -H YOUTH AGENT'S REPORT
• Civil Rights Review
• UW -River Falls Fleet Vehicles Restrictions
• Educational Programs Planned and Conducted by Project Committees
• Work with UW -RF Marketing Class for Fair Ground Improvement
• New Leader Orientations
AG AGENT'S REPORT
• Heart of the Farm
• Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin
• Beef Cow — Calf Tour
• District Ag Agents Meeting
• Resource Management Plan Committee
• 4 -State Dairy Forage Conference
• Farm Financial Management
• Dairy Tour
• Professional Dairy Cattle Association Judging Clinic
• St. Croix County Dairy Banquet
• Wisconsin Association of Extension Professionals Conference
• Milk Money Program
• Post Tenure Review
RESOURCE AGENT'S REPORT
• Small Business Management Counseling
• New Richmond Business District Market Analysis
• Comprehensive Planning Programming: Your Town Workshop
HORTICULTURE AGENT'S REPORT
NEW BUSINESS:
ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE
POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING:
ADJOURNMENT
(Agenda not necessarily presented in this order.)
SUBMITTED BY: Kim Reaman
DATE: March 27, 2003
COPIES TO: County Board Office
County Clerk
News Media/Notice Board
Committee Members
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AG & EXTENSION/RESOURCE & EDUCATION /PLANNING COMMITTEE
April 1, 2003
Agricultural Service & Education Center Convened 1 pm
Baldwin, Wi. Adjourned 2:30 pm
Present: Ronald Raymond, Art Jensen, Dave Fodroczi, Lee Milligan, Jim Janke, Kimberly
Reaman, Buck Malick, and Jennifer Havens
Absent: Leon Berenschot, Chris Bethke, Lois Burn, and Mary Lestrad
The meeting was called to order.
Date of next meeting was set for May 6, 2003.
Raymond moved that the agenda be adopted as presented. Malick seconded the motion. Motion
carried.
Raymond moved that the previous meeting's minutes be approved. Jensen seconded the motion.
Motion carried.
Raymond moved that the vouchers be approved. Malick seconded the motion. Motion carried.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Federal Budget - No report
State Budget — No report
County Budget — The Governor's proposed budget includes the elimination of $555,000 for state aid
for county fair premiums. Last year the St. Croix County Fair paid $13,920 in premiums and received
$9,311 in state aid to offset the cost of premiums paid. The 2003 budget for 4 -H expenses includes
$14,000 for county fair premiums. The potential exists that we may not receive the $9,000 state aid for
the premiums. The District Fairs Association will be hosted in St. Croix County on April 23 and state
aid for county fair premiums will be one of the discussion topics.
Personnel — Reaman reported that Laura Van Dyk, a St. Croix County 4 -H Alumni was hired as the
4 -H Summer Assistant. Laura will officially begin on June 2 but is already working on some of the
arrangements for events she is responsible for this summer.
WACEC Report - No report
PLANNING DEPARTMENT'S REPORT
Recycling Specialist: Fodroczi introduced Jennifer Havens who was just starting her first day on the
job as Recycling Specialist. He explained that she had a Bachelor's Degree in Conservation Biology
from UW- Madison and has worked the last five years as a Pollution Prevention Specialist with the
Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance. She previously worked for Dakota County, Minnesota.
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Raymond added that he served on the interview panel and thought Havens was the best candidate. He
said he was glad to see her accept the position. Havens thanked the Committee members for their
welcome and said she was excited to be here.
DNR Annual Recycling Grant: Fodroczi reported that the Planning Department received the 2003
Recycling Grant Award Notice from the DNR in the amount of $227,000. He indicated that the local
recycling funds had been frozen again at 1999 levels.
DNR Efficiency Grant: Fodroczi said the administrative rules for these grants had been approved, and
DNR had distributed grant application materials. Our County program is eligible, and the grant
application would be submitted by the April 15 deadline.
Spring Events: Fodroczi presented the complete schedule of Spring collection events and highlighted
the details on dates, times and locations. The full schedule is posted on the County's website and will
be published in the Spring edition of the "Your Wasteline" newsletter in early May.
State Budget Comments: Fodroczi reported that the Governor's proposed State Budget would freeze
State Recycling Funds at 1999 levels and divert significant dollars to the General Fund. He provided a
letter with comments to be submitted on behalf of the County as part of the Joint Finance Committee
Hearing on the State Budget in River Falls on April P. Motion by Raymond, seconded by Malick to
approve the letter for submittal. Motion carried.
4 -H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AGENT'S REPORT
Civil Rights Review — St. Croix County UW- Extension is scheduled for a Civil Rights Review on
April 22. The review team will assess specific outreach efforts to minority populations and other
underserved audiences. Irn addition, they will review the office documentation for program
participation regarding ethnicity, gender, age (adult/youth), composition of mailing list, means of
informing partner agencies /organizations of the non - discrimination clause, etc. All four program areas
will be involved in the review.
UW -River Falls Fleet Vehicles Restrictions — We have just learned that UW -River Falls will no
longer allow their fleet of 15 passenger vans for the transportation of children in K -12 grade which
eliminates the entire 4 -H member population. We have relied heavily on the use of their vans for
transportation. The 4 -H Leaders' Council has begun to discuss the possibility of purchasing a 15
passenger van. The availability and cost of insurance needs to be investigated prior to making a
decision to purchase a van. Other transportation options will also be researched.
Educational Programs Planned and Conducted by Project Committees — There are 15 county
project committees made up of adult and youth volunteers in St. Croix County. The subject matters
include dog, horse, clothing, foods & nutrition, llamas, cultural arts, performance arts, meat animal,
cat, rabbit, photography, dairy, softball, goat and shooting sports. During this 4 -H year, these
committees will have offered 79 educational workshops for youth. These workshops are in addition to
the 4 -H club experience and the project meetings conducted by the club leaders. These educational
programs provide safe, structured activities for youth and an opportunity for them to develop an on-
going relationship with an adult. Both of these assets support the research base for positive youth
development programming.
Work with UW -RF Marketing Class for Fair Ground Improvement — Reaman is working with
this marketing class to help them develop a plan for fundraising on behalf of the St. Croix County Fair
Inc. The group will be conducting focus group interviews with 4 -H members, leaders and parents to
identify the value of the fair.
New Leader Orientation — 42 adults will be certified as new 4 -H leaders this spring. The certification
includes a background check for child safety related crimes, completing a new leader orientation and
annually signing a behavior agreement form. The orientation includes ways to create child- centered
learning environments in 4 -H and risk management issues for volunteers.
RESOURCE AGENT'S REPORT
The next bi- monthly business counseling sessions are scheduled on April 23. During March, Janke
counseled four clients.
The New Richmond Business District Market Analysis is moving toward its final phase. The report
from the four focus groups was given to the committee. The next step will be to identify opportunities
for retail and service businesses in the city. The city has hired a nationally known specialist Kent
Robertson to visit New Richmond and identify strengths and weaknesses of the downtown. Since he is
from St. Cloud his expenses will not be great.
The workshop "Your Town: Designing its Future" was held during the weekend of March 20 -22 at the
YMCA Camp near Hudson. Over 30 people from Western Wisconsin participated, including several
members of planning commissions from various St. Croix County locations. Participants learned about
community planning and design and had the opportunity to work on planning issues for a hypothetical
community.
The LWCD and Public Health are collaborating with UW- Extension to offer another round of drinking
water programs. The first program is scheduled for the weekend of April 11 and May 2 in St. Joseph.
Future programs are planned for all towns over the next two years.
AG AGENT'S REPORT
The Heart of the Farm Conference was held in Eau Claire. Milligan gave three presentations on debt
management to a total of 47 farm women.
Milligan and Greg Andrews, Pierce County Ag Agent, coordinated a Beef Cow -Calf Tour. Ninety -one
producers participated in the educational tour.
The Western District Ag Agents district meeting was hosted by Milligan in Baldwin. Mark
Stephenson, Cornell Ag Economist, gave a presentation on dairy farm management issues in the
morning and a presentation in the afternoon to agents and lenders on dairy policy.
Milligan coordinated a dairy tour for parlor operators to the Durst Dairy in Minnesota. Eleven
producers participated. The focus was on freestall, parlor, and manure management.
Farm financial data has been collected from 16 dairy farms. Data remains to be collected from three
dairy farms. Producers are identifying cost of production and focusing on future plans.
Farm financial management consultations were held with two dairy herds. Producers are determining
their future plans.
Numerous farm visits and calls focused on dairy and beef nutrition, land rent, livestock housing, and
farm financial management issues.
Milligan is participating in the LWCD Resource Management Plan Committee.
Milligan attended the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin Conference and the 4 -State Dairy
Forage Conference.
Milligan is helping coordinate the St. Croix Dairy Banquet in April.
Milligan is piloting a milk quality improvement program with two dairy herds. The goal is to increase
profitability through improved milk quality.
The Professional Dairy Cattle Association judging clinic will be hosted at the Henk and Bonnie
VanDyk farm near New Richmond. Milligan is helping coordinate the selection of six classes of dairy
cattle from five dairy herds.
Milligan will have a post tenure review in April.
Farm/City Day will be held at Ter -Rae Dairy Farms. Milligan will be involved in the coordination of
educational activities.
The St. Croix Valley Bull Test Sale will be held at UW -River Falls in April.
Milligan has been asked to participate in the evaluation of a potential dairy ration balancing program to
be used by the UW- Extension.
Raymond moved to adjourn. Jensen seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 2:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted
rAt
Art Jensen
Secretary
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