Agriculture & Extension Education Committee

Members present: Borleske, Cassity, Lehman, Wiese, Zowin

UWEX Staff present: Dietmann, Olson

Advisory members present: Leopold, Neuwirth

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 9:05 AM by Chair Wiese.

Certification of the Open Meeting Notice

Requirements of the open meeting law were met.

Approval of Agenda

Motion by Borleske, second by Zowin to approve the agenda. Motion approved.

Approval of Minutes from the Last Meeting

Motion by Zowin, second by Borleske to approve the minutes from the August 25, 2005, regular meeting of the Ag & Extension Committee. Motion approved.

Correspondence

A copy of the newspaper article and photo of Bob Cassity and Kathy Zowin receiving their WACEC plaques for 5 years of service on the Ag & Extension Committee were given to the committee.

Bills and Financial Report

Motion by Borleske, second by Zowin to approve the August bills in the amount of $1500.80. Motion approved.

The financial report shows that the department has received 99.3% of anticipated non-property tax revenues and has spent approximately 61.2% of budgeted expenditures.

Report on the Dean's Trust and Transformation Workshop

Dean Arlen Leholm's three-day Trust & Transformation Workshop was held at the Monona Terrace Convention Center with all Sauk County agents and educators in attendance. The Dean's "Responsibility-Based Culture" management theory was stressed during the statewide Extension workshop. Expenses were paid by the Dean's office.

Update on 2006 Budget Process

Paul reported that he appeared before the Finance Committee on September 15th to present the UWEX department line item budget, which shows an overall decrease from the previous year. There were no questions asked by the committee. Paul stated that this year was by far the easiest budget process that he has gone through since he started with Sauk County.

Agent Presentation

Paul presented the Sauk County Marketing Club's 2005 marketing plan for corn and soybeans, and explained it to the committee. The Club's plan resulted in a 10-1/2% better price for corn compared to the cash market. Discussion ensued regarding grain prices and production costs in Sauk County and the importance of farmers understanding the grain markets.

Advisory Committee and Citizen Comments

Bob Leopold:

• The Annual 4-H Sr. Leaders Banquet is October 1st in Spring Green.
• 4-H Committee Night will be coming up in October.
• A lot of young kids are coming into 4-H this last year. We are losing some of the older kids to graduation, but more new kids joined than we are losing.
• The 4-H kids did very well at the Wisconsin State Fair again this year, taking the First Blue in Dairy. The plaque is on display in the ETN Room. Bob stated that he is disappointed in the reduction in the number of entries that each county is allowed to send down to Milwaukee and he reported that he had heard that in five years that there may not be any 4-H exhibits at the State Fair at all, that the fair can make more money featuring commercial exhibits.

Donna Neuwirth:

• There will be a reception featuring the artwork of some of the artists that have been staying with Jay and Donna this summer on September 30th.
• She reported that the Sauk County Food Security Coalition applied for a USDA grant and almost got it. They will reapply next year.

Department Update

• Jenny finished the Labor Skills brochure which was a direct response to the survey that she worked on with the Baraboo School District. Jenny will present all of the results at the October Ag & Extension meeting.
• Sue is working on the "Sauk County and the National Meth Crisis" workshop in conjunction with the Sauk County Council of Collaborative Initiatives on October 12th. Personnel from the Sauk County Sheriff's Department will be the presenters.
• Jessica had foot surgery and will be out on an extended leave.
• Melissa has given her notice that she is leaving. Her husband got a job as a school principal in Hazel Green and they will be moving down there. We will be looking for another WNEP Coordinator to replace her.
• The office will be going through a Civil Rights Review on October 24th.
• Phyllis started the Master Gardener class with 25 class members.

Date for Next Regular Meeting

The next regular meeting of the Ag & Extension Committee will be held Thursday, October 27, 2005, in the ETN Classroom at 9:00 AM.

Adjournment

Motion by Lehman, second by Borleske to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 10:50 AM.

Respectfully submitted: Paul Dietmann