D. EVALUATION OF THE SUCCESS OF MULTI AND JOINT ACTIVITIES

The issues addressed in most "multi and joint" activities were identified by county and multicounty program unit advisory councils along with specific boards and groups like the Sugar Beet Research Education Board and SBARE. The targeted audiences for these programs were inclusive of all clientele with a vested interest in the issue. Many programs are on-going or multiple year in length; however, specific impacts were noted where applicable. Most of these activities resulted in time efficiencies for the extension educator, and they provided a complete educational experience for the end user. The following is a partial listing of multi-state and multi-institution activities undertaken.

Extension program leaders from North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas continually interact on programming and staff development issues that address needs in all four states. During May 2000, this group planned and delivered a three-day train-the trainer workshop on utilizing the "logic model" as a program improvement process for planning and delivering extension programs. Extension specialists from the University of Wisconsin facilitated the training for over 75 extension agents, specialists and administrators from all four states. The North Dakota team conducted a series of training programs on the "logic model" at district conferences during October 2000. This model is currently being utilized in the program planning and development process in North Dakota.

Tri-state Corn Symposium

North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota co-operated in planning and conducting a Tri- State Corn Symposium in January 2000. This symposium was attended by 180 corn producers from the three state area and emphasized management practices to assist them in producing a quality crop. Corn production continues to grow in the three states due to market opportunities, excellent yields for several years and adoption of agronomic practices that have made corn a competitive and viable crop in the three state area.

Alfalfa Management Workshop

Richland (North Dakota) and Wilkin (Minnesota) counties co-operated in planning and hosting an area alfalfa management workshop in January of 2000. Production of a quality product was the program theme and specialists in alfalfa production from both North Dakota and Minnesota were utilized in the event. Quality production is a concern as the local alfalfa market continues to grow with opportunities for markets both locally and in the midwest area. Producers indicated that producing a quality product was their major concern in order to capture premiums paid for quality.

The Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture society (NPSAS) contains members from North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Minnesota and Canada. It is a group whose goal is to promote the use of sustainable food production systems in agriculture. While many of the members are organic producers, it welcomes all those interested in producing food sustainably. A North Dakota Extension agent has been the chair of this group for the past five years, with the majority of the members coming from North and South Dakota. The NDSU Extension Service staff have been active in developing educational programs for NPSAS. Over five years ago NDSU Extension was instrumental in developing the beginning organic farming program for NPSAS. It started out with 10 new producers and now annually draws a crowd of 60 producers from surrounding states. The NDSU Extension Service has also developed an organic crop budget and a bulletin on switching to organic production that gets widely used in both North and South Dakota. New organic farmers have used the beginning organic farming tract and the bulletin on switching to organic production to help successful transition into organic production. Organic producers from North and South Dakota have used the crop budgets for financial planning and getting loans for their operation from lenders who are not familiar with organic farming. The North Dakota Extension agent who chairs this group continues to receive an increasing number of contacts from organic farmers, consumers, university personnel and federal agencies looking for advice on organic farming and the organic industry

EWEASK Regional Sheep CD ROM

EWEASK is a CD on basic sheep nutrition developed by the Northern Mountain Plains Regional Sheep Extension Service Consortium: Sheep Production in the Northern Plains (# 93-ESPN -1-5197). The consortium includes sheep specialists from North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. The EWASK CDs have been distributed to county and area offices in all four states (~200 copies). The CD also contains sheep research reports from the four states.

Advanced Crop Advisers Workshop

This is an annual two-day event organized and conducted by the NDSU and Minnesota Extension Service. Participants include crop consultants, agronomists, extension agents, and agri-business representatives primarily from North Dakota and Minnesota, but also South Dakota, Montana, and Manitoba. Instructors include university and agri-business personnel. The objective of the event is to provide new and practical information for crop advisers to update and enhance recommendations provided to farmers. A typical agenda consists of five to six, two-hour concurrent sessions. About 130-150 people attend the workshop each year. Scope of impact is multi-state. Written evaluations from the 2000 workshop indicated favorable ratings: presentations = 3.2-4.5, content = 3.0-4.5, and value = 3.2-4.5 (scale: 1 = poor and 5=excellent).

Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association

In 1998, vegetable growers and an extension specialist from North Dakota met with the Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association board. The meeting focused on forming a two state organization for growers from both North Dakota and Minnesota. North Dakota growers needed a place to unify and learn from each other, and the Minnesota group needed more members to build their program. The MFVGA had just over 100 members, yet their annual educational meeting drew over three times that in attendance. Consequently, it was obvious that there was more interest. The MFVGA agreed that it could be synergistic to have the states join but asked that North Dakota provide members and program people to work with the association and the annual meeting. Since that time many North Dakota specialists and county Extension agents have been involved in the programming and membership. In 2001, the North Dakota membership has increased, and work toward a two state organization continues.

Red River Valley Vegetable Task Force

The RRVV Task Force has been in place for several years to draw synergies from both North Dakota and Minnesota working through the Northern Great Plains Inc. Extension Service employees from both states are represented on the Task Force. The group continues to work with French companies that have advanced food processing capabilities. The advanced capabilities are not being used in the United States, which represents an opportunity to do business with farmer-based cooperatives and joint venture with existing US companies. Contacts have been made and feasibility studies have been done to help implement the new process. A pre-processed vegetable project continues to show promise. This pre-processed system would use farmers and outsourcing companies to provide bacteria free farm inputs to the final food processor. This gives the processor the ability to market processed foods without preservatives and still maintain high quality and long shelf life. This is being made possible by having two states working together and sharing inputs for the analysis and launching of a new industry.

Multi State Onion Research Project

Minnesota, Montana and North Dakota Extension and Research people worked together in 2000 to extend the capacity for vegetable production and marketing in the region. A North Dakota specialist and a Minnesota Extension agent along with a researcher from Sidney, Montana, coordinated efforts with a seed company out of Idaho to look at onion varieties that will do well in the region. The company is interested in the region because vegetable production is being driven out of the existing production areas because of production cost, population expansion, and regulation. Test plots were initiated in 2000 at Sidney, Montana; Oakes, North Dakota; Carrington, North Dakota; and Staples, Minnesota. The test plot results were compiled and assembled for the seed company to further select varieties. The project has meant sharing of labor, talent and information to move toward a new production of a high-value crop to replace low valued commodities.

North Dakota/Montana County Program Collaboration

A small grain variety plot using seed from both Montana State and North Dakota State was planted, maintained and harvested as a cooperative venture. A joint small grains tour of this plot and other sites of current interest was planned and conducted. Educational speakers from both states, usually Extension specialists, were utilized. The Mon-Dak Wool Pool, a joint 4-H camp, and educational programming in specialty areas are other collaborative efforts where extension agents from both states work together.

4-H Cooperative Curriculum System

A North Dakota 4-H curriculum Extension specialist chairs the staff development work team for this system. This involves two monthly phone calls, reviewing proposals and preparing materials which amounts to about 20 percent of this individuals' time. Several North Dakota extension agents are serving on curriculum design teams for leadership and geospatial literacy. Each design team includes members from at least six states. This work involves attending workshops on writing curriculum and leading efforts to write, revise, review, and pilot curriculum pieces.