Utah Report
SARE Professional Development Program Annual Report for Utah
January 1-December 31, 2011
State SARE Coordinator:
Bob Newhall
Western SARE/Utah State University
Utah State University
Logan UT 84322
435-797-2183
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Summary of 2011 PDP Activities and Results
In 2011, Utah’s sustainable agriculture professional development encompassed many educational events which included; Sustainable Biomass Production, Sustainable Range Management, Conservation Tillage Systems, Water Efficient Landscapes, IPM and more. Mini-grants co-sponsored by the Western SARE Utah Professional Development Program and the Utah Integrated Pest Management Center went to three Extension professionals and USDA-ARS-Forage and Range Research Lab. In total, 629 participants received training as a result of these efforts. An estimate of the contacts of these participants in the next year (2012) is 22,188.
Context and Overview
Utah State University and the Western SARE Professional Development Program provide excellent opportunities for in-service training in sustainable agricultural topics to extension educator and other agricultural/natural resource professionals. In order to provide “research-based” information to the general public, our agricultural professionals must have the opportunity to learn the newest techniques and information available on a wide variety of subjects. We have spent sixteen years providing sustainable agricultural training opportunities for these professionals in different aspects of sustainability. We have also formed partnerships with many non-extension agricultural professionals: NRCS, Conservation Districts, Utah Department of Agriculture and Food and other state and federal agricultural/natural resource professionals. This allows a multitude of agricultural professionals to become trained and acquainted with sustainable agricultural systems and the Western SARE program goals. By training these agricultural professionals, it is hoped that they will utilize their new skills and knowledge within their agencies’ programs to better assist the producers to continue to achieve sustainability in their operations.
Utah State University Extension Service
Utah Association of Conservation Districts
Utah Department of Agriculture and Food
Activities and Methods
Specific Sustainable Agricultural Training
- Youth education (soils/range)
- Grant writing and reviewing
- Field days
- Professional development training conferences/workshops
Competitive mini-grant program in conjunction with USU IPM Center
- ‘Control of Buckhorn Plantain in Pastures, Forages, and Waste Areas in Wasatch County’
- ‘Involving Local FFA Members in Monitoring, Collecting, and Distributing Biological Control Agents in Leafy Spurge’
- ‘Range Restoration’
- ‘Split Applications of Potassium on Alfalfa’
PDP-funded Publications/Educational Materials and Products
Utah Integrated Pest Management Webpage
YouTube locations:
ii. Conservation Tillage Research Review, also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvrxX2XHBTg&list=UUPDWtN6nnlnfZqVICz9OUxw&index=3&feature=plcp
Unintended Outcomes
We continue to see new faces at these professional development events. However, no concerted effort is utilized to describe these types of outcomes. We will continue to strive to increase total number of completed surveys from participants. We continue to have producers attend these trainings, although not in significant numbers. It should be noted that many of the agricultural professionals do associate themselves as part-time producers (farmers/ranchers).
Involvement of others in state PDP planning and implementation
Utah’s Professional Development Program Advisory Committee:
USDA-NRCS (Utah)
USDA-ARS-Forage & Range Research Lab
Utah Association of Conservation Districts
Utah Dept. of Agriculture and Food
USU Cooperative Extension Service
Utah Conservation Commission
USU Agricultural Experiment Station
Utah Partners for Conservation & Dev
The members of the PDP Advisory Committee are contacted several times a year but not collectively as one group. The transportation and travel costs have been minimized by meeting when these groups have scheduled events, or by my visiting them in conjunction with my extension, experiment station or Western SARE duties. For the year 2011, these committee members continued to request trainings or professional development opportunities with the sustainable agriculture mini-grant program and to have funds available for special requests (such as to attend conferences, workshops and such).
Slides and Photos
1. Materials from specific IPM/SA mini-grants - Websites:
a. http://extension.usu.edu/cooperative/ipm/index.cfm/cid.648/
Look under the right box titled Grants 2011 section (Utah IPM & SA Mini-Grant Program)
b. Controlling Ground Squirrels in Beaver County Fact Sheet (2009-10) http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/NR_Wildlife_2012-01pr.pdf (this is from a previous funded IPM/SA Mini-grant)
