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| LEARN ABOUT US |
| IDAHO County Extension Programs |
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| Person: |
Jim Church |
| Program Thrust: |
Animal Science and Youth |
| Major Programs: |
Individual Cattle I.D., Cooperative Cattle Marketing, Fall Livestock Feeding, Youth Quality Assurance Program |
| Successes and Current Activities: |
Mr. Church is the only county faculty member in Extension District 1 with livestock subject matter expertise. Mr. Church has been ahead of the curve with his efforts to educate producers about quality assurance issues, and he is evaluating technology that has potential for tracking meat animals from farm to table. In 2002, Mr. Church started a demonstration project to trace individual cattle through electronic tagging. His local advisory committee has continued to support this work, and Mr. Church’s expertise has been requested by the Washington and Idaho Cattlemen’s Associations. He also has worked with cattle producers with small herds to market via the Internet, increasing the amount they receive for their cattle. He conducts applied research on topics that have significant value to producers such as fall creep feeding and intensive grazing. Mr. Church has worked with individual producers in four counties on developing compliance plans for TMDL’s. He also has taken the lead to develop a youth quality assurance program. Mr. Church works closely with on-campus faculty, Extension specialists, area producers, federal agencies, and producers to address issues within the industry. He conducts workshops, tours, and writes numerous news articles to keep stakeholders informed. |
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| Person: |
Mary Schmidt |
| Program Thrust: |
Community Capacity Building |
| Major Programs: |
Non-profit Board Sustainability, Horizon’s Leadership Project |
| Successes and Current Activities: |
Ms. Schmidt’s position is 0.5 FTE. She has just completed a three-year commitment to administer a 21st Century grant to develop Centers for Discovery (after-school programs) in six communities in Idaho and Lewis Counties. Ms. Schmidt recognized early in the project that sustainability of the Centers was critical, and that it would be difficult in rural, isolated communities. She worked to form non-profit boards to oversee the centers, and gave extensive training to these boards on strategic planning, successful fund raising, and engaging community members in supporting the center activities. She also conducted in-depth evaluations of the after-school programs to make sure the programs were positively impacting youth behavior and learning. Because of Ms. Schmidt’s work most of the centers are stable and moving toward sustainability. She also worked with the Clearwater County Extension Educator to secure $43,000 of Craig-Wyden funds for natural resources youth programming as a part of the after-school programs. She is a trainer on the UI Extension Horizon’s Leadership project that focuses on training leaders in rural communities. Ms. Schmidt works with community organizations, businesses, school districts, universities, county commissions, and policy makers to address community capacity issues. She is recognized by peers and stakeholders throughout the state for her expertise in rural community board organization and sustainability. |
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| Person: |
Julia Welch |
| Program Thrust: |
Family Resource Management, Food Safety, & Nutrition |
| Major Programs: |
Financial Resource Management |
| Successes and Current Activities: |
Ms. Welch’s programming has focused on family financial management issues, particularly in the areas of identify theft, long-term care, and generational transfer of non-titled assets. Ms. Welch has partnered with the Nez Perce County Extension Educator and AARP, as well as UI faculty in other colleges, and community organizations to offer these workshops. She is part of a statewide Extension team that is implementing education for seniors about Medicare-approved prescription drug discount cards. |
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