Curious minds never stop growing—discover something new today and check out this month's Extension in Action Newsletter!

Regional Dairy - Manuel Peña

In labor-intensive environments like farms and other agricultural operations, conflict between employees can happen. Conflict is friction—disagreement between two or more people. Our brains often perceive conflict as a threat, which makes it uncomfortable and leads many people to avoid it. But in high-stress, physical environments like farms, where long hours and high expectations are common, conflict is almost inevitable. 

FoodWIse - Kimberly Lafler

Food Safety is everyone’s responsibility. Science is at the heart of food safety. Everyone has a role to play in keeping food safe! When preparing food at home, remember the core four handling steps: clean, separate, cook and chill. Check your habits below. Let’s protect our families - one meal at a time! 

Clean: Wash your hands with soap and water to reduce the risk of food poisoning in the home.

Separate: Keep raw meats, poultry, seafood and eggs separate from other foods to reduce cross contamination. 

Cook: Cook raw meats, poultry, seafood, and eggs until they reach a safe internal temperature on a food thermometer. 

Chill: Keep a constant refrigerator temperature of 40 degrees F or below. Put leftovers in the fridge or freezer right away.

Looking for more information and tips: 

Positive Youth Development - Marie Witzel

Wisconsin 4-H has received an AmeriCorps grant to help us expand our impact statewide! Thanks to funding from Serve Wisconsin, AmeriCorps members will be serving throughout Wisconsin, strengthening our 4-H community and growing our programs. 

Dodge County Extension was fortunate to have funding for two AmeriCorps members who will be serving in Dodge County starting on June 15th.   Wisconsin 4-H AmeriCorps programs aims to increase capacity of youth serving organizations in counties throughout Wisconsin. The members will work directly with community partnership in youth serving organizations to discover opportunities to grow capacity and reach new young people or develop new youth programming.  Member will be located primarily in the County Extension Office, but may travel to community partners locations (schools, libraries, youth organizations, non profits, etc.) throughout Dodge County. 

If your organization is interested in learning more about the programs that are available please contact Marie Witzel at marie.witzel@wisc.edu

Also, please watch our Dodge County Extension Website at https://dodge.extension.wisc.edu/4-h-youth-development/ to learn more about the programs we have scheduled.

Regional Crops – Will Fulwider

Explore these helpful crop disease and pest management tools from the Crop Protection Network—designed to help you make smarter, data-driven decisions in the field. Whether you're estimating yield loss, calculating fungicide ROI, or forecasting disease risk, tools like the Yield Loss Calculator, Severity Estimation Tool, Fungicide Efficacy Tool, and Crop Disease Forecasting have you covered. Plus, check out innovative resources like Bean Binoculars and 3D Tools for a closer look at crop health. Start using these free, science-based tools today to protect your crops and maximize returns!

Community Development – Patricia Malone

People want to live in positive communities. We want an affordable home, a job, and a place to raise a family. We want to feel safe and welcome. The challenge for people who work in community development is measuring community well-being. The response of practioners has been to measure what’s easy – jobs, growth, and income. This focus does not adequately reflect what makes a community prosperous.

A number of researchers are developing alternatives to jobs, growth, and income. These tools are generally referred to as pathways to prosperity. One of these tools is called a “Prosperity Index.” This measures poverty, unemployment, high school dropouts, and substandard housing. Communities are unique and there is not a one size fits all solution. The research also reminds us that prosperity changes over time. It varies by region; and there are unique patterns between urban and rural communities.

Human Development & Relationships - Pattie Carroll

Summer is full of outdoor fun—but it also brings unique safety challenges for young children. This Head Start guide offers essential tips to help parents and caregivers protect kids from sunburn, dehydration, and heat-related risks while encouraging healthy outdoor play. Learn how to choose shaded play areas, apply sunscreen the right way, and keep little ones hydrated and happy all summer long. A must-read for families with toddlers and preschoolers!

Have Questions?

Extension is here to help.

UW Extension Office:
920-386-3790

Find these topics and more on our website: http://dodge.extension.wisc.edu