Crawford County University of Missouri

Extension

2011 Annual Report

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Mission The mission of University of Missouri Extension is to improve Missourians’ lives by addressing their highest priorities

through the application of research-based knowledge and resources.

Dear Members of the County Commission and Crawford County Citizens,

Thank you! Highlights and outcomes of local program efforts in 2011 are included in this annual report. Your support has made it possible for University of Missouri Extension to provide educational programs for the citizens of Crawford County. University of Missouri Extension provides research based resources and programs to address high priority issues, and is a direct link to the four campuses of the University of Missouri System. In 2011, more than one million Missourians statewide turned to University of Missouri Extension for help in improving their farms, businesses, families and communities. For more than 90 years, the University of Missouri has provided cooperative extension services to Missouri residents. Missouri’s extension effort has its roots in federal acts (The Morrill Act of 1862, The Hatch Act of 1887 and the Smith-Lever Act of 1914) that enabled the university to create and sustain an Extension service. The success of University of Missouri Extension in Crawford County depends upon the dedication and support of members of the County Extension Council, the Crawford County Commission and all the volunteers who assist with our programs. The council as-sists staff with planning and implementing programs by communicating the interests and concerns of local citizens. We partner in the state to maximize and apply our resources where the greatest impact can be made. The Crawford County Extension faculty, staff, and county extension council members look forward to a continued team effort in 2012 to better our communities and our lives. Mike Bottom Nicky Baker Pat Snodgrass Chair, 2011 Secretary County Program Crawford County Extension Council Crawford County Extension Council Director

2011 Crawford County Council

The county council is the link between University of Missouri Extension and the people of the state. Established and directed by Missouri state law, the council assists the staff in educational program development and implementation, person-nel and fiscal management and member-ship. County councils are comprised of elected and appointed members who serve two-year terms. The Crawford County council members and the districts they represent are:

Elected:

• Mike Bottom, Chair • Barry West, Vice-Chair • Nicky Baker, Secretary • Dana Richter, Treasurer • Bill Boever • Leonard Armstrong • James Smith • Randy Baker • Bob Baker • Joyce Vaughn • Brett Bailey • James Vaughn • Tina Paris

Appointed:

• Ed Wallis, Farm Bureau • Leo Sanders, Board of Commission • Norma Bretz, City of Cuba

2011 Crawford County Budget Revenues: County Commission 49,140.00 Fund-raising/Short Course 2,845.00 University Postage reimbursement 2,115.00 $54,100.00 Expenditures: Salaries/Wages/Benefits 41,149.00 Postage 1,210.00 Supplies 1,500.00 Telephone 2,350.00 Repair / Maintenance 354.00 Travel 6,400.00 Other(Council Election, Bonds, P.O. Box Rent, etc.) 700.00 $53,663.00 Federal and State Revenues to Support Crawford County Program $340,000.00

Crawford County Staff

Secretarial Staff: Judy Poncet

Presha Earney Susan Smail

Family Nutrition Program Secretary for SC Region

Pat Snodgrass County Program Director

Housing & Environmental Design Specialist Coordinator—FNEP South Central

Karen Branstetter 4-H Youth Specialist

William McClain Agronomy Specialist

Christa Spindler Food Nutrition Education Program Associate

Also serving Crawford County: Ted Cunningham

Livestock Specialist

Sarah Hultine-Massengale Community Development Specialist

Mick Gilliam/Ray Walden Business Development Specialist

Vacancy Ag Business Specialist

Chantae Alfred Family Financial Education Specialist

Tony Bratsch Horticulture Specialist

State Fair Farm Family

Tony & Laura Martin

Leaders Honor Roll

Terri Rowden Faye Howard

Crawford County Extension 302 Water Street, P.O. Box 190, Steelville, MO 65565

573-775-2135 573-775-5363 FAX http://extension.missouri.edu/crawford

“Equal opportunity is and shall be provided to all participants in Extension programs and activities, and for all employees and applicants for employment on the basis of their demonstrated ability and competence without discrimination on the basis of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or status as a Vietnam-era veteran. This policy shall not be interpreted in such a manner as to violate the legal rights of religious organizations or military organization associated with the armed forces of the United States of America.”

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CRAWFORD COUNTY ANNUAL EXTENSION COUNCIL BANQUET

Ed Harmon received the MO Century Farm designation from Leo Sanders, Presiding Commissioner and Rick Sparks, Regional Director

Mardy Leathers, County Clerk, administers the Oath of Office to the Crawford County Extension Council officers.

University of Missouri Extension Banquet Held The University of MO Extension Council of Crawford County held the 31st Annual Banquet on Tuesday, April 19. It was held at Country Kitchen Restaurant in Cuba.

Ed Harmon, received the Century Farm recognition. The Harman family acquired this farm in 1910. This is the thirty-third farm in Crawford County to receive this distinction.

Faye Howard and Terri Rowden were honored with the Extension Leaders Honor Roll. Faye was noted for her work as a former 4-H parent, leader, volunteer, assisting with Farm and Home Safety Day, a member of the Crawford County Extension Council. She has served many times on the Crawford County Fair Board and is a partner in starting a Farmer’s Market in the Cuba area. “She has been an advocate for Extension programming and partnerships as long as I have known her,” commented Pat Snodgrass, County Extension Program Director.

In noting Terri Rowden’s contributions, Karen Branstetter, 4-H Youth Specialist, said “Terri has provided much leadership with the 4-H program in Crawford County. She was instrumental in starting the Forest Hill 4-H Club. Terri has served as Chairman of the 4-H Swine Department at the Crawford County Fair for many years.” It was noted that she has been instrumental in fund-raising for improvements to the fair-grounds. She is a team player and her 4-H members are involved in all the county-wide activities.

Retiring council members received certificates of recognition for their volunteer service from Rick Sparks. Those included: Jerry Bryan, Becky Simpson, Greg Kimberlin, Sandy Stewart, Faye Howard, Amy Eng-land, John Hewkin, Myra Harmon and Sue Brown.

Mardy Leathers, Crawford County Clerk, was present to administer the Oath of Office to the 2011 Crawford County Extension Council officers. These are Chairman, Mike Bottom; Vice-Chairman, Barry West; Secre-tary, Nicky Baker; and Treasurer, Dana Richter.

Banquet sponsors were thanked for their support of Extension programs. These include: Crawford County Cattlemen’s Association, Cuba Banking Center, Cuba Vet Clinic, Fanning Feed, First Community National Bank, Hayes Shoe Store, Jim’s Motors, Mace’s Town and Country, Mobil on the Run, Mullally Distributing, Peoples Bank, Shelter Insurance (Dana Richter), Steelville Drug, Steelville MFA Agri Services, Steelville Telephone Exchange, Town and Country Bank and Towne Pharmacy.

The floral centerpiece was donated by Elaine’s Flowers of Steelville.

Scott Brown from MU’s Food and Agricultural Policy and Research Institute served as guest speaker. His agricultural policy analysis is that feeder calf prices are poised to go higher as the economy continues to re-cover. The good news for Missouri is that we should see record farm income for 2011.

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IN MEMORY OF OUR EXTENSION FRIENDS

Extension Honors Earney Presha Earney, a nineteen year secretary with the Crawford County Extension Center has earned the 2011 Extension Senior Secretarial Award. She was nominated for this honor by the local Extension faculty and was chosen as the first place honoree by her peers from across the state extension offices.

She manages all communications with the 300 4-H members and 106 leaders in Crawford County. She makes sure all the paperwork is in order for the Crawford County 4-Her’s to participate in their projects, events, activities and leadership/citizenship efforts. Each year, she puts together the Livestock Sale catalog for the Crawford County Fair.

In addition, Presha took on additional responsibilities in 2010/2011 to assist with the county council election, two county annual reports, budget, county webpage and Quickbooks recordkeeping.

“She is a true asset to our program and the people she serves”, commented Pat Snodgrass, Extension County Program Director. “She handles her many responsibilities with organization, grace, efficiency and a smile on her face. She is most deserving of this award”, said Snodgrass.

Ava Viehman

February 16, 1931-April 9,2011

Extension Office Secretary—5 years 4-H Club Leader—61 years

Epsilon Sigma Phi—Friend of Extension Award Extension Leader Honor Roll

Richard Oran “Dick” Stewart October 13, 1940-March 1, 2011

Charter Member—Prairie 4-H Club

Bernice Bast May 23, 1915—November 8, 2011

Charter Member and Past President—Riverside Extension Homemakers Club 1984 Homemaker of the Year

Crawford County Fair Volunteer—4-H and Home Economics Departments

HONORS AND AWARDS

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One of every 4 Missouri youth between the ages of 5 and 18 participated in a Missouri 4-H program in 2011. 4-H project work and related educational experiences help youth explore interests in citizen-ship, communications and leadership. 4-H Youth report 3 times more opportunities than their non-4-H peers to engage in meaningfully community leadership roles. This interest in leadership and community service is growing leaders for today and tomorrow.

Compared to non 4-H Youth, 4-H Youth are…

70% more likely to participate in science, engineer-ing, or computer technology programs.

300% more likely to be helping and contributing to their families and communities

76% more likely to make better grades

70% more likely to go to college

4-H Clubs 236 youth were enrolled in ten Crawford County 4-H clubs and Clover Kids Clubs in 2011. 4-H clubs offer long-term educational experiences in which members learn life skills such as decision making, public speaking and working with others. Mem-bers learn by doing under the guidance of adult volunteers, who teach projects ranging from aero-space and arts to horsemanship and photography. Clubs also involve children and teens in commu-nity service, camping and other educational events and trips. The Crawford County 4-H Council pro-vides leadership in planning and coordinating county 4-H events.

4-H Special-Interest Program Crawford County 4-H special-interest programs include conferences, distance learning programs, camps and other educational activities. 94 youth participated in the school enrichment program “Hatching Chicks”. 4-H members participated in a variety of leadership and educational experiences including 4-H Congress, State Fashion Revue, Aerospace Camp, Clover Kid Camp, Horse Judg-ing, Livestock Judging, Robotics, Public Speaking, MO Youth Livestock Grading & Judging Work-shop and Contest, Beef Grooming, Fitting, & Showmanship Clinics, “In the Show Ring” Swine

Day, 4-H Day with the Cardinals, Youth Horse Shows, 4-H Officer Workshops, and Livestock Workshops and Shows. One hundred fifteen youth had exhibits at the annual 4-H Achievement Day. This is the 4-H member’s day to shine and show their best. Here they display the skills they have learned in their projects. Sixty-three exhibits were selected from the best of the best to represent Crawford County at the Missouri State Fair. Craw-ford County youth also did a nice job of represent-ing their county by being very competitive in the livestock shows at the MO State Fair.

Crawford County Fair The fair provides a showcase for youth to exhibit their work. 4-H members exhibited more than 1,200 items in addition to the livestock and ham entries. The Crawford County Fair 4-H/FFA Live-stock Auction was very successful again this year as buyers spent $173,783.63 on market animals and country cured hams.

4-H Livestock Projects Important to Crawford County Youth In 2011, 245 4-H members are enrolled in the 4-H livestock and horsemanship projects. The learning adventure starts with each young person setting goals for the year. They are taught how to care for and manage their projects to ensure a safe, high quality product for the consumer through a variety of clinics and workshops throughout the year. One hundred eighteen youth attended Show Me Quality Livestock Assurance sessions on safe animal han-dling, good health and nutritional practices and record keeping. Many youth also chose to exhibit their animals at various shows throughout the state. Not only are the youth learning to feed and produce a quality product for the consumer, but they are learning responsibility and how to work with oth-ers.

Livestock is a vital part of the agriculture in Craw-ford County, and it is important that our young people are provided opportunities to learn about this industry. 4-H Livestock programs offer a wide variety of unique “hands on” learning experiences that will benefit youth as they prepare for their fu-ture not only in the livestock industry, but for life in general.

4-H IN CRAWFORD COUNTY 2011

A community of young people learning leadership, citizenship and life skills.

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4-H members supported by 193 youth and adult volunteers Volunteers are essential to the 4-H Program. Vol-unteers create, support and are part of the 4-H com-munity. Throughout their service, volunteers re-ceive training and guidance through workshops and conferences. In Crawford County, the Extension Homemakers Association sponsors an annual Leaders Banquet to show appreciation and honor the volunteers who give so much of their time to help youth. Many of these volunteers spent count-less hours organizing and leading 4-H projects. Volunteers create, support and are also part of the 4-H community. Missouri statistics suggest that the average volunteer contributes 100 hours per year. Valuing their time at $18.70 per hour, based on average Missouri incomes, the contribution of Crawford County 4-H volunteers was worth more than $360,000.00 in 2011!

Farm & Home Safety Day Safety skills are important at any age, however; as youth get older, they take on additional responsi-bilities and find themselves in charge where there are more safety factors to consider. 300 Freshman students from Bourbon, Cuba and Steelville High Schools took advantage of the opportunity to learn about safety hazards they encounter on a daily ba-sis, and how to prevent accidents by attending Farm and Home Safety Day, April 21, 2011 at Hood Park in Cuba. The safety workshops were: Household Hazardous Waste, Firearm Safety, Wa-ter Safety, ATV Safety, Lawn Mower Safety, Power Line Safety, Horse Safety, Water Safety, Chainsaw Safety, Tractor/PTO Safety, Fire Safety and Emergency 911 Services.

This successful youth event was a result of the col-laboration of the University of Missouri Extension, the Crawford County Soil & Water Conservation District along with over 40 volunteers and area professionals. The Crawford County Cattlemen grilled hamburgers, which they donated, as part of the lunch provided for the youth. Equipment was provided by Cowtown USA and Huzzah Valley Resort.

4-H Camp Develops Life Skills This year 51 youth from Crawford County had a great 4-H camping experience at Camp Clover Point, Lake of the Ozarks. They joined 4-H mem-bers from Dent, Phelps, Audrain, and Callaway

counties for the week of “The Energy of 4-H” 4-H Camp. Teens selected to be camp counselors were Bethany Bast, Abby Colbert, Jordan Brown, Teri Seals, Devan Brewer, Bryce and Kelli Romine.

4-H has a long tradition of providing quality camp-ing experiences for youth. At camp, youth experi-ence life and develop skills in a safe, protective, well-structured environment. Youth learned about conserving energy and recycling while studying wind, water and air in addition to outdoor skills, wildlife education, electrical safety challenge and waterfront activities. Young people learn valuable skills like teamwork, leadership and positive com-petition while acquiring friends and self-confidence.

4-H Recognition Recognition is an essential part of quality youth development. It motivates young people and gives them opportunities for self appraisal. Many Craw-ford County youth were recognized for their ac-complishments during the 2011 4-H year. The Outstanding 4-H Club Secretary award was given to Gabriella House-Lee of Crossroads 4-H Club. Brittany Brown of Ozark Trails 4-H Club received the Outstanding 4-H Club Treasurer award. Cross-roads 4-H won the Outstanding Club Scrapbook award. Youth who served as officers of the Craw-ford County 4-H Council were also recognized for their outstanding leadership during the past year. They planned and carried out the 4-H Officer workshops and presided at the 4-H Leaders Ban-quet. They are Bethany Bast, Joshua Staples, Shayla Mitchell, and Marisol Marquez.

Local 4-H Member Selected as State Delegate to National 4-H Congress Bethany Bast, Lone Star 4-H Club member, and State 4-H Council member was selected as one of only 20 4-H members from throughout the state to attend the National 4-H Congress in Atlanta, GA. This is quite an honor and a highlight of all 4-H events. National 4-H Congress provides a great opportunity for 4-H members from across the United States to come together to learn more about cultural diversity, community involvement and ser-vice to others. The selection process involves an application and series of interviews with criteria based on leadership, citizenship and project excel-lence.

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The Crawford County 4-H Horse Judging Team of Devan Brewer, Josh Staples, Samantha Mitchell and Shayla Mitchell placed second in the 2011 State 4-H Horse Judging Contest March 19 in Columbia.

Alison Carey won the Wool Award in the Intermediate Division (age 11-13) of Clothes you make at the 2011 State 4-H Fashion Revue.

Jonathan Davis, John Booker and Tristan Woods competed in the Onsite Lego Robotics Challenge at Mizzou and won a Certificate of Excellence Award for their robot finishing 1st in Design and 6th Overall

The Crawford County 4-H Livestock Judging Team recently participated in the State 4-H Contest and placed 10th overall. Pictured are Adam Staples, Cameron Williams, Shayla Mitchell, Joshua Staples and alternate, Brandon Plank.

State 4-H Scholarship recipients—Kelly Herrman, Phelps County and Marisol Marquez, Crawford County.

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2011 Crawford County 4-H Campers—Camp Clover Point

Clover Kid Camp was held in Cuba in April for youth 5-7 years of age.

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AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES $9.5 million dollars in cattle, calf receipts, over 17.9 million dollars of

annual economic impact in Crawford County

South Central Missouri Cattlemen’s Tour The 2011 South Central Missouri Cattlemen’s Tour was held July 25-28. The tour, sponsored by Uni-versity of Missouri Extension, included 36 partici-pants from 6 counties in south central Missouri and made tour stops in 3 states.

Tour stops included Addison Biological Laboratories in Fayette, MO; The American Angus Association in St. Joseph, MO; Ohlde Cattle Company in Palmer, KS; The USDA Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, NE; North Platte Feeders in North Platte, NE; University of Nebraska West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte, NE; Profit Maker Bulls in Paxton, NE; Heartland Cattle Company in McCook, NE; and Bill Hoertel and Ernie Schlatter Farms in Smith Center, KS.

Soil Testing The Crawford County Extension Center serves to assist landowners with understanding the nutrient needs of their soils. 2244 soil test reports were re-viewed by the Crawford County Extension Center in 2011, with 246 soil test reports belonging to Craw-ford County residents. Soil testing helps producers determine the best course of action for fertilizing pasture and crop ground. While soil testing is unlikely to save producers money it does enable them to determine how best to spend their money in order to get the most bang for their fertilizer dollar.

Understanding Soil Fertility and Fertilizers This program provides producers with a wide array of information including Soil Fertility Management, Evaluation of Farm Resources, Understanding of Soil Testing, How to Get a Useful Sample, Interpret-

ing Soil Test Results and Basic Fertilizer Math. This program provides landowners with the tools to make better decisions on the timing and use of fertilizer based on their production goals. Fifty attended the program, held with Farm Bureau.

Hay Testing The Crawford County Extension Center serves to assist landowners with understanding the quality of their hay to insure that it meets the nutrient needs of their livestock. 21 hay tests reports were reviewed in 2011 belonging to Crawford County residents.

Equine Education Workshop This program held at Flint’s Country Store was im-plemented to address equine management and pro-vide owners with the knowledge and skills necessary to improve their farm management practices for horses. The curriculum focused on pasture manage-ment for the horse and includes the following topics: Soil Fertility Management, Weed Control, Equine Nutrition Management and Training and upkeep of horses.

Private Pesticide Applicator Training (PPAT) Private Pesticide Applicator Training is a program which trains Missouri farmers and landowners proper safety and use of different chemicals, and enables them to purchase and use on their operations restricted use pesticides and herbicides. In 2011, 7 Crawford County residents received PPAT and ei-ther were newly certified or received re-certification for their enterprises.

Grazing Wedge-SARE Grant Project The Grazing Wedge is a forage management tool that has been utilized primarily by Dairy Graziers to better manage, utilize and understand forage growth and quality. In 2011, MU Extension/MU Commer-cial Agriculture Program was awarded a SARE Grant to help implement Grazing Wedge strategies on Missouri beef operations. This was done by se-lecting “pilot” farms to take weekly forage measure-ments and forage quality samples of their grazing system and apply that data to the Grazing Wedge management system. As part of this pilot project two field days were held highlighting the benefits and improved pasture productivity of two farms par-

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ticipating in this project. These included the Univer-sity of Missouri Wurdack Farm in Crawford County and the Denny and Mary Beth Pogue Farm in Phelps County.

Forage and Beef Conference This conference, held annually in Cuba, MO in Feb-ruary, provides education on current management practices and techniques regarding forage/grazing/livestock production for the north central Ozarks. In 2011, this event attracted over 200 participants from more than 15 counties, and featured numerous speak-ers, as well as a trade show. The Forage and Beef Conference is made possible through partnerships with not only University of Missouri Extension, but also area Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and numer-ous other local businesses and organizations that fi-nancially sponsor the event.

MU Wurdack Farm Nearly 800 agriculture students from around Mis-souri took part in an extensive farm field day and approximately 125 producers attended the annual Fall Field day. Additionally, the farm hosted a Dung Beetle Field Day, featuring speakers on the benefits and managements strategies related to improved dung beetle populations on grazing operations. The farm also hosted several educational programs/tours including the Advanced and Basic Grazing Schools, as well as programs for local schools, organizations, clubs, and organizations, highlighting the ongoing projects, demonstrations and programs at the farm.

Management Intensive Grazing School This series of workshops teach livestock producers how to improve management of their forage re-sources for improved profits of their farming opera-tion. Concepts regarding soil fertility, plant health, forage species and suitability, animal requirements, water resources, fencing, system design, and grazing economics are included in this course. Four Grazing Schools were held locally in 2011, at MU Wurdack Farm, Houston, Rolla, and Vienna.

Additional Technical Services The Agronomy Specialist serves in a number of addi-tional capacities. These include Soil and Water Dis-trict Secretary, executive board member of area county cattleman’s associations, member of the Ad-vanced Grazier Group, and a member of numerous other agricultural organizations and sub-committees. Additionally, on-farm and office consultations, pres-entations and radio interviews on current issues are

technical services provided to citizens of Crawford County.

Grazing Study at MU Wurdack Farm In recent years, increases in feed costs and improved markets for heavier weight feeder cattle has spawned increased producer interest in finding methods of adding weight to farm raised feeder cattle. This study, completed during the summer of 2011, evalu-ated four different grazing systems for optimal ani-mal performance, cost of gains and returns per acre. To see a summary of this research please visit http://aes.missouri.edu/wurdack/

Winter Grazing Workshop This program is designed to provide education and training for livestock producers to extend their graz-ing season by utilizing stockpiled tall fescue as their primary winter feed. Topics covered included how to properly grow stockpiled tall fescue, nutrient require-ments of differing classes of livestock during winter, fertilization options for growing stockpile, and allo-cation and strip-grazing of stockpile. Additionally, participants toured two farms where beef cattle were currently being managed on stockpiled tall fescue as the primary winter feed.

Quality Systems Assessment (QSA): This program, developed by the Missouri Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agricul-ture, gives beef producers the opportunity to access domestic and foreign export markets that specify cat-tle must be source and age verified by a third party. The role of MU extension in this program is to serve as the supply evaluator, whereby, on-farm audits are conducted and producers are qualified allowing feeder cattle to be eligible to be sold as “source and age verified”.

South Ozarks Premier Beef Marketing Program (SOPBM): SOPBM allows producers to cooperatively market beef calves in 50,000 lb semi-truck loads, and receive performance and carcass data which allows them to make management decisions about their cowherds. To date, fifty-two producers have back-grounded twenty-four groups and 10,895 head of cattle in the program. In 2011, producers enrolled a total of 321 head of steers and heifers for the spring and fall com-mingling groups. Producers involved in SOPBM learn advanced marketing and management tech-niques for their beef operations, and improve profits from their beef enterprise.

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Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program The Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program improves herd reproductive efficiencies and farm profitability through increased added value for Mis-souri-raised heifers. In 2011 a total of 1,129 heifers in Missouri were sold through the Show-Me-Select program grossing over $1.9 million in revenue and averaging over $1,700 per head. In 2011, seven pro-ducers from this region enrolled one hundred fifty-four heifers in the SMS program. Two farms from the South Central Region consigned thirty-four heif-ers in either the Spring or Fall Southwest Sales with

the heifers averaging $1,412. A growing number of producers have been utilizing the program to raise quality replacement females for retention on the farm to improve the productivity of their herd.

Missouri Show Me Quality Assurance This program is designed to teach young livestock producers the importance of quality assurance, con-sumer acceptability and demand for meat products. Topics covered include food safety, proper animal handling, and good management practices for their livestock enterprise.

Attendees at the MU Wurdack Research Center had the opportunity to examine a wide range of forest products. In a 2006 study, it was estimated that the Missouri Forest Product Industries an-nually contribute $4.32 billion to Missouri’s economy. “In addition to wood products, trees also produce foods we enjoy eating and help clean the air-they are one of our nation’s great renewable resources,” said Dusty Walter, MU Agroforestry Research Specialist.

Crawford County FFA students had a tour stop at the FFA Field Day at Wurdack Farms on Electrical and Power Line Safety. If only one life is saved because of these educational efforts, it was all worth it. Other stops edu-cated youth on Safe Driving, Protecting our Watersheds, Preparing for College, Careers in Agriculture, Technology on the Farm, Us-ing dogs to manage and move livestock, En-tomology, Forages and Grasses, Forestry and Silvopasture, Livestock and many others.

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Family Nutrition Education Program University of Missouri Extension (UME) Family Nutrition Education Programs (FNEP) reached 3,255 low-income partici-pants with nutrition education in Crawford

County in 2011. FNEP provides information on nu-trition, food safety, and physical activity for lifelong health and fitness. Christa Spindler is the Nutrition Program Associate in Crawford County.

Nutrition education for youths provides information in kid-friendly terms and lessons with hands-on ac-tivities. Activities include opportunities for taste-testing healthy foods and practicing skills that lead to good health. Education for adults includes nutrition, food safety, physical activity, and food resource man-agement. Interactive programs and exhibits like the Food Power exhibit and back-to-school health fairs were also featured this year.

During 2011, both youth and adults were served through schools, community groups and agencies. The following is a list of the locations where partici-pants were served:

Schools: Bourbon Elementary, Middle and High Schools, Cuba Primary, Middle and High Schools, Steelville Elementary, Middle and High Schools, and Crawford R1 SOAR Educational Center.

Agencies: Bourbon Food Pantry, Cuba Food Pantry, Cuba Head Start, MOCA, Steelville Food Pantry, and the Wurdack Farm Field Days.

In summary, it has been a successful year in Craw-ford County for FNEP.

Pat Snodgrass serves as the coordinator of the South Central Family Nutrition Program managing a 1.3 million dollar grant. The unit office is housed in the Crawford County Extension Center. Susan Smail, Support Staff-Secretary, manages all the paperwork for the thirty-two faculty and staff in the region. Fed-eral dollars pay for the entire program due to poverty and nutritional needs in Missouri and the South Cen-tral Region.

Non-Profit Assistance Crawford County Extension is a partner in the Craw-ford County Coalition, an informal networking group to support and educate social service providers. Building partnerships among community organiza-tions and volunteers strengthens relationships and improves opportunities for working together to reach common goals to improve the community’s quality of life.

Promoting Healthy Lifestyles in Crawford County In 2011, Crawford County was selected to participate in the University of Missouri Extension Healthy Life-style Initiative (HLI) which helps communities de-velop and implement action plans focused on increas-ing the availability of healthy, affordable, locally pro-duced food and safe, accessible physical activity. Each community develops plans that focus on policy and environmental changes to support healthy life-styles within their community. In partnership with this project, the Cuba Community Garden started in May 2011 to provide healthy produce to local food pantries. Funding from the HLI project provided garden tools and supplies. Additionally, Extension provided information and support for the develop-ment of the Cuba Farmers’ Market in 2011.

HUMAN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Housing, Nutrition, Building Human Capital, Financial Management

Families are the heart and soul of our communities.

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Creating a Healthier Home More than 160 citizens received information on in-door air quality, mold issues and control measures in the home in the South Central Region. Many re-quests and questions are from homeowners whose homes have crawl spaces and subsequent moisture issues. Asthma and allergy rates are among the high-est in South Central for the state.

Missouri State Fair and Crawford County Fair Thousands of people attend the State Fair and Craw-ford County Fair each year. These fairs have a posi-tive impact on the economy in the state. Extension efforts provide assistance at both fairs in the educa-tional booths, judging and in the Home Economics Department throughout the fair. Pat Snodgrass serves with Rosemary Campbell, Mickie Treece and Melba Swope for the Home Ec Department at the Fair. In addition, Pat Snodgrass assisted with 4-H at the county fair.

4-H and FFA, Wurdack Advisory, Crawford County Cattlemens Crawford County Extension continues to serve and support 4-H Achievement Day, judging of various events and contests, participates in the Wurdack Re-search Farm Advisory meetings and Crawford County Cattlemen’s Association meetings.

Media Work Extension continues to get great reports on all the media efforts including radio interviews and newspa-per articles. This is an invaluable marketing tool for Extension as well as getting educational information to the citizens of Missouri. We partner with KTUI in Sullivan and conduct phone radio interviews with KKOZ in Ava, MO.

SCOPE Crawford County is a partner with the School and Community offering Prevention Education Coalition. In addition to the various events targeting youth in Crawford County, a successful drug take-back event was held.

Home Ownership Made Easier H.O.M.E. (Home Ownership Made Easier) is a first- time Home Buyers Seminar offered by the Crawford County and Missouri Extension Program. This semi-nar educates new homeowners in the home buying process and managing and maintaining a home. This seminar is an approved course with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Mortgage Bankers Association and Consumer Credit Counsel-

ing Services. This allows new homeowners to meet education requirements to obtain funding. In addi-tion, programs were conducted for Habitat for Hu-manity. This has helped homeowners meet the edu-cation requirements for first-time homebuyer loans.

Housing and Design The home is a family’s largest single investment. Most families today are spending more than 35% of their income on housing or rent payments, utility bills, insurance and taxes to support that family unit. University of Missouri Extension provides valuable information on several area of housing and design for 80 community structures and individual homes on space planning and design, materials selection, septic systems, well-house design, use and care, home equipment and furnishing selections, use and care. Planning for ADA accessibility was also an issue. Unfortunately, due to increased meth production in homes Crawford County Extension has provided in-formation in 14 cases regarding cleanup of housing affected by meth production.

Home Weatherization Workshop Families spend more of their income on housing and energy costs than anything else. Programs were con-ducted in four counties including Crawford reaching of 82 families. Families, homeowners and renters learn the most cost effective ways to weatherize and save energy dollars. The programs were done in co-operation with MOCA, a community action agency.

Crawford County Extension Homemakers The Crawford County Extension Homemakers Asso-ciation is an exemplary organization of leadership development, volunteerism, and community spirit. The Crawford County Association is the largest and most active of all associations in the region with four clubs.

In addition to the clubs monthly meetings and com-munity project , the association participated in the following: 4-H Leaders Banquet—sponsor the An-nual Appreciation Banquet for 4-H leaders; legisla-tive Day; International Day; International Programs and Study; Cultural Arts Tour; County Achievement Day; 3 Council Meetings; 4 Leader Training Les-sons.

Program emphasis of the extension homemakers association has been on family and individual well-being and health and nutrition. Nancy Jeffers serves as council president.

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Environmental Quality/Household Hazardous Waste Programs reached families and students in five counties including Crawford County on Water Quality, environmental quality and household haz-ardous waste. All high school freshmen in Crawford County received information such as water contami-nation from vehicle oil changes. An Environmental

Quality Jeopardy Game reached over 300 at Farm and Home Safety Day. Home safety was also part of a pro-gram for teens and young parents. In addition, 900 FFA students learned about Household Hazardous Waste

and protecting our abundant and safe water in the Ozarks. The students learned why they should not dump used motor oil on the ground. This is one of the most critical programs Extension can offer to our youth.

Crawford County Experiences Disasters Within the same week, Crawford County citizens experienced a tornado and an earthquake. Extension continues to be a partner and information source on disaster preparedness and recovery. Information was provided to those affected. Media efforts reach lots of people and this information is part of many pro-grams. Crawford County Extension was a participant and promoter of the Central U.S. Shakeout Earth-quake Drill involving more than 2.4 million partici-pants in nine states. Finally, evaluation efforts report that 80% of those attending programs where this in-formation is presented have added earthquake cover-age insurance to their homeowners policy. This is further insurance for families in or area, likely to be affected by future earthquakes.

Flooding in South Central Missouri and Struc-tures Crawford County Extension has provided assistance to many families affected by flooding in 2011. In addition, technical assistance has been provided to the Oregon County Extension Council and Commis-sioners with flood/structural assessments and reme-diation of mold. This has resulted in an improved air quality and healthy environment in the County Court-house.

Adult Day Care/Grandparents Raising Grand-children There is an interest in Crawford County on Adult Day Care and this information continues to be pro-vided to those exploring this option for elderly Craw-ford County residents. In addition, an information packet and referrals continue to be provided to those grandparents who find themselves raising their grandchildren. This number continues to grow in Crawford County.

Technology Programs Charlie Pace, Extension Associate with the TCRC in Salem has taught two programs in Crawford County on Digital Camera Basics and Internet Basics and Searches. New users to technology have learned about technology and its uses.

Building Strong Families Pat Snodgrass has presented the Building Strong Families curriculum to three agencies including MOCA and Friends of the Handicap. Sessions on Communication, Stress Management, Self-Esteem, Healthy House, Positive Discipline, Balancing Re-sponsibilities has been taught. Evaluations were most positive as a result of theses programs reaching vulnerable youth and families.

Podcast puts MU Extension in the palm of your hand Access to University of Missouri Extension is now mobile. A new weekly podcast called “Extension on the Go” brings self improvement advice, resources, tips and interviews with MU Extension Specialists from around the state.

The five-to-10 minute podcasts offer expertise in a user-friendly, mobile format that is available on iTunes. MU Extension specialists, program directors and regional directors will share advice on families and relationships, nutrition and health, home and consumer life as well as lawn and garden tips.

Aim High Extension Club Members

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For more than 85 years, MU Extension has used sci-ence-based knowledge to help people gain practical knowledge, adapt to change and make informed deci-

sions. “Extension on the Go” com-plements those efforts by providing information that you can take with you wherever you go. Listeners and subscribers are encouraged to submit

questions, comments and suggestions. Through this interaction, Show-Me State residents will craft the future tone and direction of “Extension on the Go.”

Check out “Extension on the Go” at http://www.radiodeege.com/Podcasts. Listen, subscribe, share and participate in making this podcast your own.

Pictured is Mike Doyen, President of the Ozark Rivers Chapter of the National Audubon Soci-ety. He presented an interesting slide show and programs on Birds and Wildlife Habitat.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

As entrepreneurs and innovators, Missouri’s small businesses are becoming a more diverse group that continues to make the state’s economy productive. There are approximately 500,000 small businesses in Missouri. Nearly 98 percent of all businesses with employees are categorized as small busi-nesses. In assisting the owners and managers of those businesses, MU Extension contributes to a county’s economic development through growth in jobs, sales, innovation, technology development and commercialization. In Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries & Phelps Counties, during 2011, business counselors served 316 people and their companies with business start-up and management counseling, training, and other assistance. In addition, entrepreneurs and business owners in those counties reported the following economic impact and activity as a result of the ser-vices provided by the MU Extension Business De-velopment Program: • New jobs: 47 • Sales increases: $1,136,158 • Government contracts: $5,803,619 • New businesses: 6 • Jobs Retained: 3 • Loans and investments in business: $806,000 • Acquired assets: $218,000

• Clients/companies receiving business counseling: 103 • Business training attendees and conference participants: 213 Overall, the University of Missouri’s Business De-velopment Programs (BDP) served 17,207 people and their businesses state-wide. The total impact for all businesses assisted by the BDP was: • New jobs: 5,765 • Sales increases: $235,430,804 • Government contracts: $191,500,000 • New businesses: 249 • Jobs retained: 1,708 • Loans and investments in business: $199,474,000 • Acquired assets: $77,573,861 • Investment in commercialization:

SBIR/STTR proposals submitted $151,567,881 SBIR/STTR awards received $4,337,056

• Clients/companies receiving business counseling: 3,095 • Business training attendees and conference participants: 14,111

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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONTINUING EDUCATION

Working to improve our communities

MU Extension Trains Volunteer Firefighters and Law Enforcement

University of Missouri Extension pro-vides comprehensive continuing pro-fessional educational and training to Missouri’s fire service and emergency response personnel. Eighty-seven

Crawford County Firefighters received training from MU Extension. In addition, three Crawford County Law Enforcement officers received profes-sional training from the MU Extension Law En-forcement Training Institute.

Crawford County Citizens Increase Education One hundred twenty-five Crawford County citi-zens increased their education by enrolling in MU High School and Continuing Education courses for credit and non-credit programs. MU Direct contin-ues to meet the needs of adult learners by providing high quality courses students can take on-line. Lo-cal resident, Rachel Martin received her pharmacy degree from Creighton University, on-line, in the Crawford County Extension office.

Crawford County Office Over 10,000 citizens received information via phone, office visits, satellite conferences, educa-tional classes or the internet. Your county office serves as a resource for home and landowners for soil testing, home horticulture needs, positive youth programming, consumer and family pro-grams, business development and meeting your agriculture needs. The social and economic value that extension programs return to the community is priceless. Improved lifestyles and skill-building result in reduced crime, reduced welfare depend-ency, fewer returns of juveniles to detention cen-ters, lower unemployment and overall healthier communities provide a significant return on invest-ment.

Enhancing Communities Extension has partnered with several groups to en-hance our communities through interagency and board participation. Some of these projects in-clude: • Crawford County Fair Board • Crawford County Soil & Water Conservation Dis-

trict • Crawford County Cattlemen’s Association

• Wurdack Research Farm Center Advisory Board • Missouri Community Betterment Association • Crawford County Livestock Committee • Crawford County 4-H Council • Crawford County Homemakers Council • Steelville Schools Community Substance Abuse

Coalition • Steelville R-3 Vo Ag Department Advisory Board • Steelville R-3 Vocational Business and Consumer

Sciences Advisory Board • Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Task Force • MO Youth Livestock Committee • Judging Opportunities! - Livestock Shows, County

Fairs, 4-H Achievement Day, FFA Officer Selec-tions, and FFA Public Speaking and Events, FBLA District Meeting Events, etc.

• South Central Camping Association • Crawford County School Wellness Committees • Crawford County Human Services Council • Chamber of Commerce • Steelville Arts Council

Community Development The MU Extension Community Development pro-gram works collaboratively with communities to foster economic development, leadership develop-ment, community decision making, community emergency preparedness, and inclusive communi-ties.

Non-Profit Assistance The Crawford County Coalition, an informal net-working organization composed of local social ser-vice organizations, churches, volunteers and health agencies, began meeting monthly in 2010 to share resources, build new partnerships and address gaps in health and wellness services in the county. MU Extension meets regularly as a partner in this or-ganization, and shared statistics from the Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis about annual measures of the health and wellness of Crawford County residents. This data assists the organiza-tion in assessing progress and needs in improving the health and quality of life for Crawford County residents.