North Dakota State University
NDSU Extension Service
Preface
Introduction: The NDSU Extension Service in 2004
Extension to the 21st Century: The Leadership
Restructuring Extension - County Organization
Restructuting Extension - Integrating Specialists with Academic Departments
Responding to Disasters
Adopting and Using Technology
Making an Impact
NDSU Extension Service Employees (88KB)
The fundamental role of the NDSU Extension Service is to provide education that enhances the lives of people and communities, primarily by extending the resources of the College of Agriculture and the College of Human Development and Education. These educational efforts involve many disciplines and are delivered in many different ways. The following are examples of extension programs that have had an impact on North Dakota and its people.
Providing education and information on crop production has been a major part of extension work in North Dakota since its inception. North Dakota agriculture has always been largely dependent on small grain production, although in the past most farms were diversified with both crop and livestock enterprises, involving some production of feed and forage. Increased specialization, however, led to a virtual monoculture of wheat, durum and barley interspersed with summer fallow. Sunflower provided an alternative, and potato and sugarbeet production were important in the Red River Valley, but reliance on small grains remained heavy. This lack of diversity did not allow good rotational cropping systems.
Extension Agronomist Duane Berglund recalls that when he returned to North Dakota in the late 1970s to take his extension job, soybean acreage in the state was very low. He was instrumental in helping form a soybean growers' group that in 1984 evolved into the North Dakota Soybean Council. Acreage has steadily increased, to about 2.5 million acres.
Crop diversity became a larger issue in the late 1990s as weather in the form of excess precipitation, economic pressures, low commodity prices and environmental issues all placed added stress on the farm economy. Starting in 1998 extension responded with a comprehensive program effort of crop diversity and cropping systems. Diverse crops included canola, field peas, sunflower, soybeans, dry beans, flax and lentils. Canola schools, oilseed schools, soybean workshops and pulse crop and legume crop workshops were held statewide. Extension agents and specialists also worked individually with producers interested in trying these rotational crops.
Over a four-year period the North Dakota landscape changed, with more broadleaf and alternative crops being produced. Canola acreage increased by 183 percent, soybeans by 143 percent, flax by 562 percent, field peas by 131 percent, lentils by 205 percent, mustard by 190 percent, edible beans by 27 percent, and corn by 65 percent. Sunflower acreage remained the same while wheat acreage was down 25 percent and barley down 42 percent.
Based on 2002 yields and prices, these changes in cropping practices increased farm gate revenues by an average of $11.40 per acre over what would have been realized had 1995-96 cropping patterns been repeated. Increased gross income to North Dakota farmers amounted to about $227 million in 2002.
Members of the crop diversity team included Berglund and area specialists Greg Endres, Kent McKay, Terry Gregoire, Roger Ashley and Janet Knodel.
The potato industry has been a major economic force in North Dakota with over 125,000 acres planted each year. Potatoes grown supply the fresh potato market, the seed market and the processing market, including chips, hash browns, french fries and other products. Until the drought of 1988-89 practically all potatoes were grown under dryland conditions in the Red River Valley.
During the drought, processing companies, especially french fry processors, felt a need for irrigated potatoes to ensure a consistent supply of high quality potatoes. The drought, combined with increased demand spurred processors to consider expanding or building new plants.
From 1988 to 2002, irrigated potato acreage in the state increased from around 5,000 acres to over 35,000 acres, an increase of about 2,500 acres per year. Almost all the irrigated acres produce potatoes for the french fry processing market. Since 1994 a new processing plant has been built in Jamestown and a plant in Grand Forks has been expanded twice.
Most of the land and aquifers for irrigated potato production are located outside of the Red River Valley. This meant potential growers needed to know about irrigating potatoes, as well as about local aquifers and suitability of soils for irrigation. NDSU extension and research were asked to put together information and developed a report with maps outlining irrigable, conditional and non-irrigable land over the aquifers in 23 counties surrounding Jamestown. The report clearly showed the potential for irrigated potato production in central North Dakota.
In 1991 extension, in cooperation with several electric coops and other agencies, created the Irrigated High Value Crops Task Force. This group generated funds to create an area diversification specialist located in Valley City to act as a clearinghouse for information on markets for high value crops, including potatoes. This effort was instrumental in helping bring a potato processing plant to Jamestown.
A publication on growing irrigated potatoes was developed in 1992 and revised in 1996. Economic information on production budgets and capital costs of irrigation equipment from the publication has been used to obtain funding for several irrigation districts, irrigated potato demonstrations in the Williston area, and by farmers to justify investment in irrigation equipment to lenders. Between 1991 and 1999 28 one-day irrigation workshops were held at various locations in North Dakota. In 1994 a two-day irrigation workshop was held at the Carrington Research Extension Center, with the first day designed for potential irrigators and the second on irrigated potato production.
Expansion of the Grand Forks plant and construction of the Jamestown plant have had substantial economic impact. For example, the Jamestown plant has resulted in $20 million in new direct revenue to farmers, major increases in business activity for agri-business, more than 280 employees in the plant and an estimated $170 million in gross business volume to the state of North Dakota. Jamestown has seen increased real estate values and new commercial and residential real estate development. The plant and residential property associated with plant workers provide about a million dollars of property tax per year. Expansion of the plant in the near future will create additional economic activity.
The task force along with commercial interests and state agencies continued after the major irrigated potato project was complete, working to support new projects involving high value irrigated crops such as carrots, alfalfa, onions, turfgrass seed, vegetables for salad production, peppers and fresh herbs.
Extension team members were Tom Scherer, irrigation specialist, and Rudy Radke, diversification/high value crops specialist.
The closing years of the 20th century and opening years of the 21st saw extreme economic and social difficulties for rural families and communities, brought about by depressed market prices, fluctuations in demand for agricultural products, weather-related impacts, and increased costs of agricultural production. A poll of North Dakota rural life in 1999 showed that 98.5 percent of farm and ranch operators felt there was a "rural crisis." Resulting impacts on rural families included financial challenges, emotional distress, increased social isolation, and more health concerns.
The poll indicated 85 percent of farm and ranch operators were concerned about the negative effects of farm stress on themselves, their spouses or their children. Rural families are often uncertain about working with community institutions for support. Community professionals often have limited familiarity with the experiences of rural families under stress or how to effectively provide resources and support.
Family Life Specialist Sean Brotherson developed a training seminar for community professionals working with families under stress. "Hard Choices in the Heartland" focused on the impacts of rural stress on families and communities, strategies for working with rural families, and developing resources and support for rural families under stress. The seminar was intended to help participants understand the importance of rural stress on families and communities, become familiar with resources and materials on working with rural families, learn about effective approaches to working with rural families under stress, and to plan to use resources and strategies in their work with rural families.
Five one-day workshops for community professionals were offered at locations across North Dakota in late 2001 and 2002. Training was offered by a team of professionals from NDSU extension, the Family Therapy Center at NDSU, NDSU faculty, and the MeritCare Health System. The 146 seminar participants included social workers, psychologists, clergy, nurses, attorneys, addiction counselors, farmers, farm loan managers and others.
Feedback from participants indicated about 86 percent felt the training on understanding rural families under stress and the resources and materials provided were useful to their work. Most participants said they were much more knowledgeable about working with families under stress and planned to use resources and strategies they had learned about.
Written comments from participants included: "I now understand and relate much better to low-income farming families," "I appreciated the statistical information, and putting ourselves in others' shoes and looking at the issues facing farm families in a clearer light," and "I was challenged and encouraged to be a pioneer in rural ministry -- thank you."
Precision, or site-specific, farming is relatively new to North Dakota. In 1994 only one commercial fertilizer applicator offered variable-rate service, and about 10,000 acres were treated with some sort of variable-rate application. That year NDSU extension established an educational program focused on precision farming and its possible use in North Dakota. The precision farming team included Soils Specialist Dave Franzen and Agricultural Engineer Vern Hofman.
Research fields were established to evaluate soil-sampling methods and the profitability of variable-rate fertilizer technology to local crop rotations. Workshops on site-specific agriculture were offered every year from 1995 through 1999 to provide updates on developing technology and provide a forum for people interested in precision farming to interact with others. Many other presentations on various aspects of precision agriculture were also made to growers.
Research found that zone sampling for soil testing gave producers similar information to that obtained from more expensive grid sampling, making site-specific technology practical not only for growers of high value crops like sugarbeet but also commodity crops. As of the 2002 crop year, about a third of Red River Valley sugarbeet acreage is treated with variable-rate application. At least 20 variable-rate commercial applicators were operating in the Valley, and several producers operated their own equipment. Site-specific management had also spread west of the Valley, and combine yield monitors could be found scattered across the state.
NDSU extension serves North Dakota families with very limited incomes through two nutrition programs. The Family Nutrition Program (FNP) offers nutrition education for food stamp recipients. Limited resource families with young children are served by the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). The 2003 extension family nutrition team included EFNEP/FNP Coordinator Margaret Tweeten, Sue Fungingsland (working on a diabetes project), FNP Specialist Barbara Holes-Hauck, and nutrition education assistants and agents in county offices.
FNP staff members deliver programming related to basic nutrition, food safety and food purchasing to food stamp recipients in all 53 counties. The objective is to help participants acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes and behavior needed to maximize their resources and achieve nutritionally sound diets. During the 2001-2002 program year FNP staff members made 68,800 direct contacts with food stamp recipients. As a result of FNP involvement participants improved overall food safety practices, improved overall dietary quality, moved closer to dietary recommendations, improved shopping skills and decreased the need to seek emergency food assistance. Positive impacts in health and family economics have contributed to an overall sense of pride for successful participants.
The EFNEP program is provided at six locations in North Dakota, including tribal reservations at Fort Berthold, Spirit Lake Nation, Sioux County and Rolette County and in Cass County and Grand Forks County. Nutrition education assistants provide lessons on nutrition, food resource management, food preparation and food safety to families participating in the program. A total of 716 families participated in EFNEP in 2001-2002. EFNEP also works with youth in various ways. More than 1,700 fourth grade students participated in a number of nutrition education programs provided at schools, after-school programs, day camps or youth centers.
An extension team including an area cropping systems specialist, an extension plant pathologist and county agents in southwestern North Dakota developed a demonstration using a soil fumigant to show producers the yield and quality losses that can be expected when planting continuous wheat, planting wheat every other year, and with at least a two-year break between wheat crops. Nitrate levels in the root zone were also compared to show the potential environmental impact with continuous wheat if nitrates should be leached below the root zone.
Demonstrations and results were observed and discussed with producers at field days and county agricultural improvement tours. Presentations were also developed for delivery to producer groups and were included in an extension CD that was distributed to county agents.
Results showed that producers who include a two-year break from wheat in their crop rotation see an increase in gross income of $36 per acre compared to continuous wheat. Some producers reported up to $40 per acre return on specialty crops grown, and producers learned they can produce comparable and sometimes greater yields than on fallow. Fallow acreage in southwestern North Dakota has declined by 520,000 acres since the demonstration was initiated. Wheat and barley acreage each declined by 300,000 acres, indicating less continuous wheat and barley are being planted.
Cooperators in the demonstrations included Montana State University Extension Service, the Dickinson Research Extension Center, and the county extension offices and crop improvement associations in Adams, Golden Valley, Hettinger, Mercer, McLean, Morton, Oliver and Sioux counties.
Pesticides are classified as either general use or restricted use. General use pesticides are considered safe for use by the average person, provided label directions are followed. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the North Dakota Pesticide Act require an individual to become certified before purchasing or using a restricted-use pesticide. North Dakota also requires commercial applicators to become certified to use general-use pesticides.
The NDSU Extension Service is responsible for certification of pesticide applicators, dealers and consultants in North Dakota. Certification is intended to assure that people who use, merchandise or recommend certain types of pesticides or who make specific types of applications have a fundamental understanding of how to do so safely. The main intent of pesticide certification is to increase the awareness of pesticide safety, proper use and disposal of pesticides, and understanding of the pesticide label and its importance. There are two basic types of certification: private and commercial.
In the early years of certification, responsibility for the program was assigned to various extension specialists involved with pesticide use as part of their programs. The first full time pesticide program coordinator was Greg Dahl, followed by Andrew Thostenson.
The pesticide program develops the curricula and supporting materials for training, conducts commercial applicator training, oversees county extension agent delivery of private applicator training, designs and oversees exams for both commercial and private applicators, maintains a database of commercial applicators, supervises the record keeping of private applicators, and verifies and administers financial responsibility requirements for commercial applicators.
In 2002, 2,381 commercial applicators in 12 different use categories were certified. The pesticide program managed 6,331 active commercial certifications. A total of 4,277 private applicators in two different use categories were certified in 2002. The program managed 14,242 active private certifications. Thirty-six commercial certification training sessions and 88 private certification training sessions were held in North Dakota in 2002.
The pesticide program is one extension effort that has virtually a "captive" audience, as certification is required for users of restricted pesticides. However, a survey of all active commercial and private certificate holders conducted in the fall of 2002 returned overwhelmingly positive response. Nearly 92 percent of private applicators and 89 percent of commercial applicators who answered the survey said certification training was conducted effectively and in a professional manner. Nearly 88 percent of private applicators and over 80 percent of commercial applicators agreed that training focused on pest control problems relevant to their needs.
Foodborne illness has been a topic of increasing concern, with outbreaks sometimes getting nationwide news coverage. According to USDA data, nearly half the money spent on food is spent on eating away from home. Increasing numbers of North Dakotans are eating meals away from home, and the number of food service establishments is increasing.
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a food safety system applicable across the food industry, from production to processing to retail to foodservice. By assessing potential hazards and identifying critical control points, food handlers can take measures to prevent hazards. Nutrition Specialist Julie Garden-Robinson conducted HACCP education for food service employees from restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals, childcare centers, schools, universities and meat processing plants. Objectives were to increase the knowledge and implementation of food safety/HACCP principles among food handlers at the processing and retail levels and reduce the risk of foodborne illness at North Dakota food processing establishments.
Since 1996, more than 1,500 food service managers and employees in over 100 North Dakota communities have attended food safety workshops held throughout the state. On followup surveys, 99 percent of participants rated food safety as "very important." Nearly 66 percent reported washing their hands more often when preparing food, 57 percent reported using food thermometers more often, and 43.5 percent had changed their cooling practices. Many respondents reported telling other people about what they had learned or sharing workshop materials with others.
Using postemergence herbicides is an expensive but necessary practice for sugarbeet growers in the Red River Valley. Looking to help growers cut costs and still provide excellent weed control, Alan Dexter, sugarbeet specialist for NDSU and University of Minnesota extension, developed a micro-rate application plant of herbicides combined with a seed oil additive.
Herbicides are applied at rates 66 to 75 percent lower than standard rates. The oil additive makes the herbicide mixture adhere better to weeds and aids in penetration. Weeds are treated earlier with the low rate and fields are given one more application than the usual three or four. The micro-rate can be applied during the day while growers needed to wait until late afternoon to start applying the normal rates to avoid damage to the sugarbeet crop. Also, the lower cost of the micro-rate application means it can be broadcast by aerial spraying, which would be prohibitively expensive with normal rates.
The micro-rate was quickly adopted by growers when it was introduced in 1998. A survey showed that 64 percent of growers in eastern North Dakota and Minnesota used the micro-rate, an astounding figure for a new management practice, and 99 percent of those who used it said they planned to use it again.
Growers estimated they saved $30 to $40 per acre in weed control costs by using the micro-rate. The savings on 64 percent of the 700,000 acres of sugarbeet in 1998 would be $13 to $18 million. Also, in the wet spring of 1998 growers were able to micro-rate with aerial spraying when they would not have been able to get into the wet fields and aerial spraying with full rates would have been too expensive.
An unexpected benefit also resulted. Many growers commented that because they were able to use the micro-rate during the day instead of waiting until late afternoon or evening they were free to spend more time in activities like watching their children play sports or attending other community events.
Today's children have not always had the opportunity to make wise choices. Ethics education is a concept that has been incorporated into 4-H youth programming as well as in schools and communities throughout North Dakota. Character Counts! is an educational program developed by the Josephson Institute of Ethics and adopted by the NDSU Extension Service to teach the six character traits of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, fairness and citizenship.
State, federal, local and grant funding have enabled North Dakota to offer Character Counts! in communities and in 4-H activities throughout the state. Volunteers and county extension staff along with school administrators, teachers and community members have been part of the program in local communities.
Leaders and teachers are trained and then teach the curriculum and activities to others. Educational materials on character including extension publications and newsletters promote and explain character education. It has also been incorporated into activities at county and state fairs. Many schools have requested this character education program and have come to extension for assistance.
A survey of teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of Character Counts! indicated that most teachers in grades 1-6 believe students in the program help each other more, call each other names less, are less destructive of property, treat the teacher with more respect, play by the rules more often and have better recess behavior. In grades 7-12, where less time is spent on Character Counts!, the numbers are lower.
One teacher responded, "I think it is an excellent program but it is way too soon to be looking for permanent changes! I think those who started these activities at a younger age and continue them will gain more than most senior high students." Another said, "It takes time to make changes in our lives."
Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) programs were developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s in response to a sharp drop in consumer demand for beef. Producers are becoming involved in BQA programs because they want to improve the quality of beef they are producing, which should increase demand for beef. Also, BQA producers often receive a premium price for their cattle.
A team consisting of BQA Coordinator Lisa Lee, Beef Cattle Specialist Greg Lardy and Extension Veterinarian Charlie Stoltenow developed a quality assurance program specifically for North Dakota cow-calf producers. A North Dakota BQA committee includes representatives from the North Dakota Stockmen's Association, North Dakota Beef Commission, North Dakota Department of Agriculture, North Dakota Veterinary Medical Association, North Dakota Livestock Marketing Association and allied industry representatives.
The BQA team, with assistance from the committee, developed certification requirements that interface with those of other states and BQA national requirements, developed a "user friendly" BQA producer manual, and developed and implemented an education course for cattle producers.
Training sessions, conducted with local county extension agents and participating veterinarians, are designed to help producers implement BQA management practices to improve the quality and consistency of beef. These practices include giving all injections in the neck to avoid lesions in high value cuts of beef and keeping records of animal health and feeding production practices.
The program has certified more than 1,200 beef cattle operations that market over 162,000 cattle annually, or about 17 percent of the state's calves. An early result was heightened interest in North Dakota BQA-certified cattle by BQA-certified feedlots, bringing more buyers into the state cattle market, increasing competition and price. County agents report that producers who have a BQA guarantee of a quality product usually gain about five cents per pound for their calves.
Since 1992, the number of North Dakota dairy farms exiting the industry has been at the rate of 3 to 17 percent a year. As a result the state's milk processing plants are operating much below capacity and area service providers, from transportation to equipment dealers, are disappearing. The dairy industry has called for action to reverse current trends. The North Dakota Dairy Diagnostic Program (ND3P) was developed to help existing dairy farm families by enhancing income and improving lifestyles.
After a successful pilot program, Extension Dairy Specialist J.W. Schroeder and the North Dakota Dairy Strategic Planning Task Force launched an effort to the legislature to secure more direct funding for the program. These efforts eventually resulted in additional appropriations of $50,000 per biennium directly to the NDSU Extension Service for ND3P development. In addition, the North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission provided significant funding to help grow the program into a state-wide educational effort.
Each dairy farm family in the program forms an advisory team consisting of a combination of service providers. A state-wide coordinator and two facilitators (all part-time) initiate, implement and maintain 10 to 20 farm teams each. Advisory teams are required to help farm families prepare and record a set of attainable goals and help document the impact of new technologies implemented on the farm. The intent is to analyze dairy farm enterprises through teamwork and provide training on communication and facilitation skills for both the farm family and the supporting team members.
By the end of the 2001 planning year 51 farms had been introduced to the ND3P concept. Some significant success stories include:
Across North Dakota groups of farmers have formed marketing clubs to help them learn the fine points of selling the commodities they produce along with overall financial risk management. These clubs are a joint effort of the NDSU Extension Service and the North Dakota Farm Business Management Program.
The 1999 and 2001 state legislative sessions made funds available to assist clubs formed for marketing education purposes. The marketing club program is coordinated by Marketing Specialist George Flaskerud and Steve Zimmerman of the farm business management program.
Flaskerud provides overall educational support for the program, including in-service training for extension agents and farm business instructors. He also maintains a web site with educational material for the club curriculum. Funding from a U.S. Department of Commerce grant paid for technology for Flaskerud to serve as instructor for a group of marketing clubs using video conferencing via the Internet using a small video unit in his office and a second computer to transmit visual aids.
Some clubs specialize in livestock marketing, including an area-wide club that involves producers from three counties. This group emphasizes beef cattle marketing along with feed grains and also discusses livestock industry development in the area.
County agents who act as club facilitators observe that the club experience gives members the knowledge and confidence to use the principles they learn in their own operations.
The 2002 federal farm bill offered a one-time opportunity for landowners to adjust their acreage bases and yields used to determine decoupled farm program payments until at least 2007. The options -- complex and often confusingcan significantly impact farm profitability and land values. Education was needed to help landowners and producers evaluate all the options.
Farm management specialists Dwight Aakre and Andrew Swenson met with the state Farm Service Agency director and commodity program experts to discuss helping producers and landowners understand the farm bill to make the best sign-up decision, and to expedite sign-up at county FSA offices.
A national Web-based tool to evaluate base and yield options was being developed for FSA by Texas A&M University, but the NDSU specialists decided to develop similar software. NDSU extension had been a trusted provider of farm bill analysis software since 1985. It was very important that analysis software correctly handle the six minor oilseed crops with production concentrated in North Dakota that were new program crops under the 2002 bill, and the specialists wanted to provide an alternative that users might find easier than the national Web-based analyzer.
Software was developed to run under recent versions of the spreadsheet programs Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 and Quattro Pro. During development several issues were brought to the state FSA office and forwarded to the federal level to help clarify and expedite decisions that had to be made.
Several meetings were held to provide training for professionals who work with producers and landowners, including county extension agents, farm business management instructors and marketing club facilitators, and software demonstrations were featured at meetings attended by 200 agricultural lenders. Software was distributed at all meetings.
Information for the public started with three releases to the news media and development of a website where the software and instructions could be accessed. Farm management specialists were at the Ag Expo farm show in Fargo and at the Lake Region Roundup in Devils Lake to answer questions, and county agents demonstrated the software at county meetings. The major educational effort was that every county extension office provided assistance to individual producers and landowners.
County FSA offices in North Dakota and other states used the software to help producers evaluate their options. The software was also used by ag lenders, farm management agencies and consultants to help their clients. Individual producers and landowners used the program and often helped their neighbors. Thousands of producers and landowners used the software at county extension offices.
In times of stress, whether a death in the family, hard economic times, divorce or war, children react to the actions and moods of the adults in their lives. Young people often need reassurance and help in understanding what is going on around them.
Since the early 1990s, family science specialists have created a series of publications designed to help parents help their children deal with disturbing or frightening things in their lives by talking to them. Originally titled "Talking to Your Kids About...," later modified to "Talking to Children About...," these items have been heavily used by parents in North Dakota and, largely through access on the Word Wide Web, throughout the United States and even in other countries.
The series originated with Family Specialist Deb Gebeke along with Helen Danielson and Kim Bushaw. It was updated and added to, including "Talking to Children About Armed Conflict" by Karin Bartoszuk and Sean Brotherson in response to preparations for a second war in the Persian Gulf and deployment of several National Guard and Army Reserve units from North Dakota.
Other topics that have been covered include talking about strangers in response to news reports about child abductions, divorce, suicide, failure and alcohol. In 1992 "Talking to Kids About AIDS" was developed in response to news about the growing AIDS epidemic, and the announcement by NBA basketball player Magic Johnson that he had tested HIV positive, which made many children much more aware of the disease. Myron Johnsrud, former North Dakota extension director then administrator of the federal extension service, used this item as an example of effective, reactive programming.
Biotechnology has become a complex and sometimes controversial topic, one that extension has had to address in various ways. The topic entered the vocabulary of specialists and agents as early as 1986, when the "flavor saver" tomato was in the news and research on Roundup Ready soybeans was under way.
As Roundup Ready soybeans became available to growers about 1996, to be followed by BT corn and Roundup Ready canola, biotechnology became part of crop production. Extension has provided education about the science of biotechnology and contributed to the dialog regarding the impact and issues associated with genetically modified crops. By 2002, an estimated 25 percent of the corn, 50 percent of soybeans and 70 percent of canola grown in North Dakota was genetically modified.
During the extension spring conference in 2001, the schedule included six hours of training on the subject of biotechnology for all staff, not just those involved with production agriculture. The reason was that biotechnology was a consumer and public policy issue as much as an agricultural issue.
Crop Specialist Mike Peel authored an extension circular titled "A Basic Primer on Biotechnology" to provide information on basic genetic processes and how biotechnology can be used to modify plants. He was also involved with training extension agents as well as high school science and agriculture teachers on the subject.
Biotechnology has become part of the training for pesticide certification. Crop variety trials now deal separately with GMP and non-GMO varieties. NDSU researchers have developed dual systems for breeding, testing and handling genetically engineered and non-transgenic crops. The economic, ethical and social aspects of biotechnology are also being studied at NDSU and at other universities.
One of the best ways to share ideas and information is to have a conversation, so the National 4-H Council decided to do that in a big waya nation-wide conversation to identify the most important issues for young people. The National Conversation on Youth Development in the 21st Century was developed as part of the centennial of 4-H youth work observed in 2002, marking 100 years since the first youth "corn club" was established in Iowa, an effort that evolved into the national 4-H organization.
In North Dakota, the national conversation started out with local discussions in every county in the state, one of only a handful of states that conducted conversations in every county. The local conversations identified issues for discussion in a state-wide conversation, and ultimately one national report containing recommendations for future youth programs and policies.
Nels Peterson, extension agent in Nelson County and North Dakota's 4-H centennial coordinator, said that to him the most amazing thing about the national conversation was the commonality of the issues raised throughout the nation, from sparsely populated rural areas to the most densely populated cities.
Specific needs and solutions suggested in North Dakota included:
Five North Dakota 4-H members went to Washington, D.C. to participate in the national discussion. They were Rodney Bischof, Jr., Lisbon; Jennifer Larson, Hillsboro; Nicole Rodacker, Dickinson; Phillip Fox, Mandaree and Angela Klubberurd, Fargo. They carried the state report developed from the local discussions.
Peterson said, "The results showed that the young people of our state believe in the importance of community. They have indicated that youth and adults need to work together to continue to make our communities and state a good place to live."
An increasing number of North Dakotans have access to computers, but many live in rural areas where few opportunities for Internet and technology training programs are available. Extension initiated the Master Internet Volunteer program to help some of these residents gain a basic understanding of computer and Internet technology.
Created along the same lines as the Master Gardener program, the Internet volunteer program offers 30 hours of training designed to enable volunteers to help other people learn to use the Internet. In return for specialized training, volunteers agree to donate time in their communities. The material used in North Dakota was developed by the Minnesota Extension Service. The NDSU agriculture communication unit and extension staff in the areas of community resource and economic development and 4-H youth development were involved, along with county staff members in 44 counties trained to teach the material.
In a September 2002 report, information technology specialist Lynette Flage said the program had been completed by over 300 individuals, and over half of them had finished providing a minimum of 30 hours of volunteer time. The volunteer time was used in many ways, including web site assistance, volunteering in homes and teaching classes. Many volunteers helped train Farm Service Agency staff around the state. Others helped develop web pages for their communities or organizations.
Many county extension agents teach the lessons in the MIV curriculum broken up into individual lessons for senior citizens, youth and other community members who want to know more about a specific Internet topic. Burleigh County alone trained over 100 people on basic Internet topics during 2001-2002.
Extension to the 21st Century, June 2005
NDSU Extension Service, North Dakota State University of Agriculture
and Applied Science, and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Duane Hauck,
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