Goehring approves funding
for Ag in the Classroom programs
BISMARCK – Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has approved $54,350 in grants to develop and conduct Agriculture in the Classroom Council programs in the upcoming school year.
“Agriculture in the Classroom programs provide teachers with lesson materials and other tools to help them make agriculture part of everyday learning for their students,” Goehring said. “These programs help young people understand where their food comes from and how to make healthy food choices.”
The grants include:
North Dakota Farm Bureau, $32,050 to conduct teacher training seminars.
North Dakota FFA Foundation, $14,000 to conduct a mini-grant program.
North Dakota State University Agriculture Communications, $4,800 to edit and publish North Dakota Ag Mag.
North Dakota Geographic Alliance, $3,500 to conduct a teacher tour.
Funding for Agriculture in the Classroom programs was appropriated by the 2013 North Dakota Legislature.
More information about the Agriculture in the Classroom program is available at www.nd.gov/aitc/.
Farm Rescue to Help
300th Farm Family This Fall
300.
Just a number? Not in this case.
By the end of the year, Farm Rescue will have assisted more than 300 farm families in crisis. Each of these families has experienced an illness, injury or natural disaster that prevented them from planting, haying or harvesting their crop in a timely manner. Farm Rescue stepped in and helped these families when they needed it most.
No, in this case, 300 is much more than a number – 300 families in the upper Midwest are able to continue supporting their communities and feeding America. These families are friends, neighbors, and customers. They are the rural community.
This year, Farm Rescue gears up for their eighth harvest season. The non-profit organization is supported primarily by business sponsors, personal donations and grants from foundations. The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is currently matching new donations to Farm Rescue 2-for-1. RDO Equipment Company sponsors field equipment. Farm Rescue is on schedule to help more than 50 families this year.
Families. Not numbers.
Has someone you know been helped by Farm Rescue? Share your story of how Farm Rescue ‘came to the rescue’ or donate to support our mission at farmrescue.org
Expand Your Livestock KnowledgeMoos, Ewes and More, the North Dakota State University Animal Sciences Department’s annual free, family-friendly event, will be held Saturday, Sept. 6, at the NDSU Equine Center on 19th Avenue North in Fargo.
This event, which is designed to expand your knowledge of animal-related agriculture, will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
You’ll be able to experience interactive and hands-on agriculture and animal demonstrations, and enjoy dairy product treats and food by Carnivore Catering. A mix of new and old activities this year includes stick horse races for the kids, and the chance to bottle feed a calf, learn about showing livestock and sheep
shearing, Ask the Animal Scientist, and see research in action and horsemanship demonstrations.
You also can meet the animals that call NDSU home, the farm managers who care for them, and the faculty and staff who teach and do research in the Animal Sciences Department.
“We strive to provide a fun, educational event that reconnects people to where their food comes from and give the community a glimpse of what NDSU is doing to support agriculture and animal sciences in North Dakota and beyond,” says Stacey Ostby, co-director of the Veterinary Technology Program in the Animal Sciences
Department and Moos, Ewes and More co-chair.
For more information, contact Ostby at stacey.ostby@ndsu.edu or check out the Animal Sciences website at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/ansc.
NDSU Sets Extension Service
Educational Activities at Big Iron
The 2014 Big Iron Farm Show set for Sept. 9-11 in West Fargo will include exhibits, informative sessions, presentations and demonstrations by North Dakota State University Extension Service specialists and researchers.
The NDSU Big Iron field demonstrations will focus on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) agricultural applications.
The field demonstrations are scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. daily, beginning with a 30-minute educational session by NDSU Extension crop specialists discussing aspects of the UAS research that was conducted this summer at the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center.
Following the educational session, participating UAS industry representatives will discuss their equipment and do demonstrations. Each company will have five minutes to talk about their equipment and then have an opportunity to demonstrate its aircraft.
The Big Iron UAS demonstrations will be coordinated by representatives of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA). The demonstrations are being conducted as an AMA sanctioned event under the direction of an AMA contest director and in accordance with AMA’s safety program.
The NDSU Extension displays will be in the east entry of the Hartl Ag Building and will include displays staffed by NDSU Extension personnel.
Ken Hellevang, NDSU Extension agricultural engineer, will present information on alternative grain storage facilities and use a grain entrapment display to demonstrate safe grain handling practices. The demonstration reminds people of the hazards of grain handling and provides guidance on how to rescue someone engulfed in grain.
There is still a large amount of grain in storage from last year, so farmers are considering options for this year’s grain. Information will be available on these options because many factors need to be addressed for storage to be successful.
NDSU Extension Agribusiness and Applied Economics specialists Dwight Aakre and Andy Swenson and county Extension agents Willie Huot and John Kringler will be at the NDSU exhibit area to answer questions related to the new farm bill.
Esther McGinnis, NDSU Extension horticulturist, will be available at the Extension exhibit area on Tuesday, Sept. 9, to answer horticultural questions.
David Lehman, NDSU manufacturing engineer, will demonstrate 3-D printing and discuss 3-D printing applications in business and industry on Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 10 and l1.
David Ripplinger, NDSU bioproducts and bioenergy economist, will present information on bioindustry activities and options.
Several Extension Service staff will be available to answer crop production questions. Kasia Kinzer, NDSU Extension plant diagnostician, will be available on Tuesday morning, Sept. 9. Hans Kandel, NDSU Extension agronomist, will be available on Wednesday morning, Sept. 10. Other Extension Service agents also will be available during the entire show.
Big Iron is the largest farm show in the upper Midwest, with 900-plus exhibit booths, training sessions and demonstrations, and more than 70,000 visitors each year. Big Iron is held at the Red River Valley Fairgrounds in West Fargo. For more information on the show, go to http://bigironfarmshow.com/.