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. The logic model continues to be utilized as a program planning/ program performance indicator in all four states. North and South Dakota specifically use the logic model to guide their annual program planning process. Both states have also collaborated on the development of "core competency" projects for extension workers.

Cropping systems specialists and agents from the four Great Plains states hosted an in-service workshop designed to foster multi-staff program collaboration and subject matter training for agents. This workshop has fostered the development of on-going communications linkages, the sharing of educational resources and the exchange of programming ideas.

The four Great Plains states are also collaborating on information technology efforts that will mutually benefit all for states. Most of this work is still in the planning stages but will ultimately result in enhanced technology training for extension agents, stronger program delivery focused on rural communities and e-commerce.

North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota continue to cooperate in planning and delivering extension educational efforts on corn production and utilization. Educational efforts continue to be multi-county/multi-state workshops, field tours and mass media work that emphasizes production management practices and marketing. Corn production continues to grow in the three states due to market opportunities, excellent yields and adoption of agronomic practices that have made corn a competitive and viable crop in the three-state area.

The Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture society (NPSAS) contains members from North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Minnesota and Canada. The group’s goal is to promote sustainable food production systems in agriculture. While many of the members are organic producers, it welcomes all those interested in producing food in sustainable systems. A North Dakota Extension agent continues to chair this group, with the majority of the members coming from North and South Dakota. NDSU Extension Service staff have been active in developing educational programs for NPSAS. More than 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 is 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. Current work is focused on facilitating a dialogue on the coexistence of GMO, non-GMO and organic crop production.

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.

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).

The CVG of ND recently set up a meeting with new vegetable growers in North Dakota to meet with researchers from around the state and out of state. Researchers from Sidney, Mont., and Staples, Minn., were asked to attend. Having a sounding board to help lead research objectives has worked well in this situation. In previous years, varietal research was targeted by the CVG of North Dakota and another group called the High Value Irrigated Crops Task Force. Research plots were set up in five areas of North Dakota, Montana and Minnesota. The plots were used to select varieties that will do well in the production and marketing project. The CVG of ND has now hired a marketer from within the vegetable industry to bring contracts to new growers and start commercial production. The learning curve is steep with new crops. The meeting with researchers and new growers will lessen that learning curve and give documented data for vegetable production in North Dakota and surrounding states.

The NDSU Extension Service, Northern Crops Institute and the State Seed Department have assembled a web page listing companies that are working with specialty crops and especially identity preserved markets. The web page will be started by contacting processors and markets with a letter asking them to fill out a survey on the internet. If the survey is filled out, the company has a chance to do some advertising or detailing of services at the same time. The final web page is then assembled from the survey and will be a resource for processors and farmers that are looking for situations where they can work interdependently.

The NDSU Extension Service has worked with the manager of a local potato processing facility and an economic developer to start a processor association. There is no history of processing associations in North Dakota, and with the potential for farmers and processors to be working together, the new group brings a lot to the table. Interdependence and the information age of agriculture are new buzz words but even more than that, they mean strength in business. The Greater North Dakota Association has also been added as a catalyst to make the association work efficiently. The North Dakota Food Processors Association (NDFPA) is working to look at transportation, purchasing, marketing, partnering and other ways to operate more effectively. NDFPA is also publishing a newsletter called "PROCESS THIS."

The RRVV Task Force has been in place for several years to draw on expertise 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 U.S. 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.

Minnesota, Montana and North Dakota extension and research staff 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, Mont., coordinated efforts with an Idaho seed company to identify 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 by production cost, population expansion, and regulation. Test plots were planted in 2000 and 2001 at Sidney, Mont.; Oakes, N.D.; Carrington, N.D.; and Staples, Minn. 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.

A small grain variety plot using seed from both Montana State University and North Dakota State University 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.

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 individual’s 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.