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Home My WebLink AboutU.W. Extension Committee - Minutes - 3/25/2015 BAYFIELD COUNTY AGRICULTURE AND EXTENSION EDUCATION COMMITTEE March 25, 2015 County Board Room, 4:00 p.m. Courthouse, Washburn, WI M I N U T E S 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 4pm by Vice Chairman Marco Bichanich in the absence of Dee Kittleson. Committee members present: Marco Bichanich, Jim Crandall, John Bennett and Fred Strand. Absent was Dee Kittleson. Also present were: Tim Kane, Ian Meeker, Donna Ganson, Matt Cogger, Jason Fischbach, Tessah Wickus, Kathy Beeksma and Karen Bade 2. Approval of Minutes of January 21, 2015 Meeting (action item) Motion made/seconded by Bennett/Crandall to approve the January 21, 2015 meeting minutes. Motion carried. 3. Public Comment No public comment. 4. Out-of-State Overnight Travel Requests (action item) No out of state travel requests 5. 2014 UW-Extension Budget Final Report Tim reported that the 2014 UW Extension expenditures came in within budget. However, he pointed out that several end-of-year expenditures that should have been charged to the 2014 budget were charged to 2015. It will be the decision of the County Auditor whether those expenses can be charged back to 2014 or remain as 2015 expenses. Items included:  Horticulture Educator Operating Supplies: $546.50  4H Educational Supplies: $517.76 6. 2015 UW-Extension Budget Update Report  2015 expenses are on target with the exception of the previously mentioned end- of-year expenses for 2014 that were mistakenly charged to 2015.  Part-time support staff will be charged to the correct line item this year. Last year everything was charged to full time. 7. Educator/Agent Program Sharing Tessah Wickus – AmericCorps/VISTA Volunteer  Attended Local Food Summit  Launched Chequamegon Bay Youth website http://www.cheqbayyouth.org/education.html  Finished “Seed School Online” class  Will attend Seed School in Idaho  Will continue to be involved in Seed Savers promotion/activities  Named Washburn Library Volunteer of the Year for her seed library activities  Attended Indigenous Farming Conference in Minnesota  Facilitated a seed swap on March 1  Seed library started in Red Cliff  Her AmeriCorps/VISTA position ends April18 Ian Meeker – 4H Youth Development Educator  In process of securing another AmeriCorps/VISTA Volunteer to work closely with the high tunnel project  Gave short PowerPoint presentation on recent program activities: o Superior Days o Kite skiing program o CANSKI club year-end activities  STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Career Day coming up  MAQA (Meat Animal Quality Assurance) training scheduled for April 9 at the Ashland High School  Cultural Arts Festival scheduled for April 25  Law Day scheduled for April 27 Jason Fischbach – Agriculture Agent  Has been working with Mark A-A on organizing the Large-Scale Livestock Study Committee  Hazelnut performance trials looking promising  Working with Bob Cropp, farm business consultant and attorney Rachael Armstrong, specializing in farm law/succession, to help six local farm families develop a farm succession plan  Will give a presentation on nutrient management planning in Ashland after current committee meeting Matt Cogger - Horticulture Educator  Continues to teach Master Gardener classes – 2 remaining  Master Composter training held Saturday, March 21  Continues to develop Backyard Farming Series which will be offered June 8 (pigs), 15 (poultry), 22 (Sheep) and 29 (Bees).  Working with WITC to offer machining classes to farmers  Continues to work with the Farm to School greenhouse projects  Kevin Schoessow, Agriculture Agent for Burnett, Sawyer and Washburn Counties, will be coming up with farmers to learn about pest control measures used by Bayfield fruit growers  Will be conducting Pesticide Applicator Training March 30 Donna Ganson – 4H Youth Development & Nutrition Education 4H  Donna gave an enrollment update on the current 4H year: o 258 youth o 96 adults o 21 new families  Investigating the possibility of starting up an afterschool 4H activity program at the Iron River Elementary School  A successful Sewing Camp was held February 7 at the Iron River Community Center  Farm & Garden Show featuring the 4H Dairy Breakfast will take place this coming Saturday, March 28; Donna encouraged all to attend  Cultural Arts Festival is scheduled for April 25 at the Drummond School NEP  Completed teaching grades 2-5 at Bayfield  Will be starting: o grades 3-8 at South Shore o grades 5-8 at Drummond Liz Lexau – Family Living Educator (presented by Tim in Liz’s absence)  Will be teaching four sessions of Building Strong Families Wednesdays, April 29, May 6, May 20 and May 27 from 5:00-7:00 pm at the Red Cliff Early Childhood Center  A number of events are planned in cooperation with Ashland County for Money Smart Week April 18-25: o Monday, April 20 - 9:00am-11:30am - Basic Budgeting Workshop at the Bad River Housing Authority, Odanah o Tuesday, April 21, - 3:00pm-5:00pm - Control Credit and Manage Debt Workshop at the Drummond Public Library o Wednesday, April 22 - 9:30am-3:00pm - Money Management Coach Training at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, Ashland o Thursday, April 23 - 1:30pm-3:00pm - Control Credit and Manage Debt Workshop at the Ashland County Housing Authority, Mellen and 4:00pm-5:30pm - Credit Report Checkup at the Washburn Public Library, drop-in or register o Friday, April 24 - 10:00am-1:00pm - Credit Report Checkup at the Red Cliff Early Childhood Center Health Fair, drop-in Tim Kane – Community Resource Development  Business Idea Contest (4th year) – application deadline June 15  Business on Stage – April 28 - Featuring Jon Hamilton, White Winter Winery; Renate Hauser, Bayfield Winery; and Caitlin Hauser, All Sisters Winery  2015 Northwest Wisconsin Lakes Conference scheduled for June 26 at the Hayward High School  2015 Bayfield County Clean Sweep Collections (no electronics subcontractor at this point): o Saturday, July 18 – Washburn & Iron River o Thursday, August 27 Herbster & Grand View Kathy Beeksma – WNEP Coordinator Ashland/Bayfield Counties  Big changes coming in Nutrition Education in 2016; educational focus will be on adults instead youth as it currently is; this is a result of changes in Federal guidelines  Will be hiring two new NEP Educators and creating new job descriptions to replace Ann Christensen (who is retiring the end of May) and Danielle Vanderschueren.  Heidi Ungrodt was hired as a 25% NEP educator in the interim 8. Announcements Capital Connections – April 30, 2015 at Madison Concourse Hotel and State Capitol, Madison; an opportunity for University of Wisconsin Extension volunteers, clients, colleagues and County Extension Committees to visit state legislators and staff about the value Cooperative Extension programming brings to legislators’ districts. Committee members interested in attending should contact Tim. 9. Next Meeting Date and Time Thursday, May 28, 4pm, County Board Room 10. Adjourn Meeting adjourned at 4:55pm. Submitted by: Karen Bade, Office Manager UW Extension Bayfield County