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January/February 2024 Issue #52
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Arizona Center for Rural Leadership
Scott Koenig, Executive Director
It’s recruitment season for the flagship program of the Arizona Center for Rural Leadership: Project CENTRL Class 33. Applications for due online at www.centrl.org/apply before Friday 3/15/24. Project CENTRL is for 16 people connected to rural Arizona, agriculture or natural resources. Participants learn first hand through tours and experiences about the issues facing rural Arizona. They build new skills like public speaking, conflict resolution, meeting facilitation and group management. They connect with other leaders and experts throughout the state during nine seminars across rural Arizona, Sonora, Mexico, Gettysburg, PA and Washington, D.C. The program is a public (UA) and private (non-profit 501-c-3) partnership that allows for a tuition-free experience for those competitively selected. There are over 700 alumni making a difference in rural Arizona including 4 serving in Arizona’s 56th Legislature. There are several events throughout the state in the coming weeks open to all with a list and complimentary registration available at www.centrl.org/events
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In December 2023, the current Class 32 of Project CENTRL travelled to Tucson to learn about the three largest parts of the state budget: Corrections, Education and Healthcare. They were welcomed by AVP and Director of Extension, Ed Martin and VP of ALVSCE Shane Burges.
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Urban Horticulture/ Master Gardener Program
Michael Chamberland, Assistant Agent, Urban Horticulture
Urban Horticulture has released new resources in the battle against the invasive stinknet weed. A new Extension webpage titled “Stinknet Invasion” has been created. It presents a summary of stinknet characteristics and control measures for urban spaces. Recommendations for stinknet control in wildlands are being compiled by the Southwest Vegetation Management Association. The Extension publication “Stinknet: A Weed Advancing in Southern Arizona” has been revised and re-published. A trifold brochure for HOAs, intended to build awareness and action against stinknet, has been produced. Heavy rains this winter are expected to stimulate abundant growth of stinknet. These resources will help Maricopa County control the weed before it sets seed in late spring.
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SNAP-Ed ProgramHeart Month: The Impact of Active Living
Ashley Miranda, SNAP-Ed Program Lead
Traci Armstrong Florian, MS, RD, Extension Agent, FCHS
SNAP-Ed is a Family, Consumer and Health Sciences Program (FCHS) at the University of Arizona
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Our hearts keep us alive—so we should do everything we can to show it some love and keep it healthy. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States according to the American Heart Association. Many behavioral risk factors can increase heart disease such as an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, poor sleep quality, and the use of alcohol and tobacco to name a few. Due to this, it is extremely important to take care of our heart health and make lifestyle changes that can significantly decrease our risk for heart disease. Increased heart health begins with us, and there are many lifestyle changes we can make. It can be as small as ensuring we get 30 minutes of physical activity into our day, quality sleep every night, and getting a yearly check-up at our next doctor’s visit.
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There are various steps to prevent heart disease and stroke. One of them is knowing our risk so that we can get ahead of heart disease if we are at risk of developing it. Eating a healthy diet and being physically active are also ways to prevent heart disease. We can opt for low-impact physical activity such as swimming, yoga, gardening, or walking. It doesn’t have to be a long session either! Any physical activity is better than no physical activity, so we should choose what suits our lifestyle best.
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The Maricopa County Cooperative Extension SNAP-Ed Program supports this initiative by offering free yoga-inspired stretching classes every Tuesday and Thursday from 8 am to 10 am at Oso Park. We first start with a 30-minute walk around Oso Park where participants can join us. Then, at 8:30 am we meet at the basketball courts and begin our stretching. These classes have brought together the community with a shared goal in mind: Becoming more physically active and making our bodies and hearts healthier. We have been able to foster community friendships, and many have found a love for yoga-inspired stretching. There are future plans to offer various types of physical activity classes to promote heart health in the community—so stay tuned!
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| 4-H Youth Development Program
Caroline Werkhoven, Assistant in Extension
National Congress, Atlanta
4-H Record Books are a tool used by members of 4-H clubs to track and document their involvement and achievements in 4-H programs. Arizona 4-H National Congress delegates are chosen based on their 4-H accomplishments as documented in their Member and Project Record Books. This year we had four 4-H senior youth from Maricopa County selected. National Congress is one of the premier national experiences for 4-H youth to come together and engage in leadership development, through workshops, seminars and participation in service-learning opportunities. https://national4-hcongress.com/.
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National Western Roundup, Denver
Western National Roundup is an annual event that brings 4-H members together for a variety of educational and competitive activities, including livestock and horse judging, hippology and horse bowl, as well as public speaking and presentations. Two of the four teams who travelled to Denver came from Maricopa County. Along with the contests, youth exchanged ideas and networked with their peers from across the country. https://co4h.colostate.edu/national-western-roundup/.
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Community Service Community service is a fundamental component of the 4-H program, promoting the development of young people into responsible and engaged citizens. Our Maricopa County 4-H Teen Association organized a fun overnight service opportunity whereby youth between the ages of 8-18 came to the office and made blankets and hats to donate to Maggie’s Place. Their artistic talents were put to good use decorating placements for Meals on Wheels and writing Cards for cancer patients. Through generous donations the teens put together care packages for military families and created Christmas stockings for foster kids. The best part of this event was sleeping overnight in the conference room!
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Urban Agriculture Production, Small-Scale, and Beginning Farmer Program
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USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small visited the Peoeple’s Demonstration Farm (PDF) at MCCE on January 11. The visit included showcasing the Urban Agriculture Program and its unique collaboration among Extension, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Deputy Secretary Torres Small was given a tour of the PDF, then sat down to visit with stakeholders who work in the urban agriculture arena, to share with the deputy secretary some of their unique challenges and concerns.
The Urban Agriculture Production, Small-Scale and Beginning farmer Program hosted five recent events with partners USDA NRCS, and USDA FSA to provide resources and technical expertise around urban, small-scale and beginning farming in Arizona. December's Urban Ag Hour featured a talk by the University of Arizona Assistant in Extension Jennifer Weber on Pesticide Safety, and USDA Rural Development's State Energy Coordinator Jessie Huff on the Rural Energy for America Program and Value-Added Producer Program. January's Urban Ag Hour featured University of Arizona Extension Specialist and Professor Ursula Schuch who spoke on different production systems, the necessary infrastructure, and the types of crops best suited for certain systems.
The Program started off the new year teaming up with USDA NRCS Assistant State Conservationist, Ralph Ware, to speak at the Maricopa County Master Gardener series about urban agriculture as a career pathway, and available resources for urban farming.
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We also launched a new bi-monthly initiative, "Service Incubators" with our USDA partners which offers in-person technical assistance and support from FSA and NRCS programs. Our first Service Incubator was held at the People's Demonstration Farm and focused on FSA Farm Loan Programs with Arizona Farm Loan Chief Fred San Nicolas.
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In February, the Urban Ag team headed to Tucson where we hosted our quarterly Urban Ag Field Day at Native Seeds Search. The field day included a tour of the urban farm and seed bank, and presentations on seed production, arid crops, open pollination, and partnerships in seed stewardship. All 164 attendees participated across events, participating in beneficial education, networking, and discussion!
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Want continual updates? Follow us on Instagram @urbanandsmallagproduction!
Program Team
Ayman Mostafa, Area Agent, Regional Specialist & Program Leader
Colleen Hanley, Assistant in Extension & Program Manager
Trixy Struck, Farm Manager
Nate Diemer, Program Coordinator
Tiffany Drake, Program Coordinator
Sara Hipperson, Program Coordinator
Alex Immendorf, Program Coordinator
Sharrona Moore, Program Coordinator
Jared Williams, Program Coordinator
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Field Crops Integrated Pest Management Program
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We concluded another Extension IPM event that entered its 13th consecutive year. On January 10, 2024, we had our “Field Crops Clinics” in Avondale in collaboration with Corteva™. The events showed record attendees and presentations from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Agriculture Team members on timely issues facing our field crops in Arizona. Attendees were engaged with discussion on issues of the various topics of crop production, economy, pest management, water, and weather with University of Arizona Cooperative Extension faculty.
We are planning stage for our annual Alfalfa and Forage Workshop that will be held on April at the Maricopa Agricultural Center (MAC)
The Alfalfa and Forage IPM Team is planning and conducting several experiments to study different approaches of pest management in alfalfa. Our research emphasizes the contributions of biological control agents and cultural practices in managing major pests of alfalfa in the arid environment. Our main goal is to provide effective and economic management for insect pests in alfalfa while reducing the impacts on environment, and health.
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Program Team
Ayman Mostafa, Area Agent, Regional Specialist & Program Leader
Kyle Harrington, Associate in Extension
Avik Mukherjee, Postdoctoral Associate
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Interim Director CutDr. Ayman Mostafa
Happy 2024!
As we embarked into the year 2024, the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension is continuing its Strategic Planning process. We started with our analysis and report, then continued with a statewide needs assessment. The third and final phase is the Strategic Positioning, which began last week with a three-day training workshop for Extension professionals from across the state who are serving on our Strategic Positioning Committee. I am a member of this committee, and one of the tasks we completed is scheduling listening sessions to talk directly with our community partners and collaborators across the state to ensure future investments in Extension programs response to the needs of our communities. One of these listening sessions will be in Maricopa County on April 29th, 2024. Details about this session will be announced soon. I encourage all of you to attend and participate and invite others to be part of the discussion about the future of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension. The results of this entire process will help serve as a road map for future investment in the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension and MCCE for many years. Our MCCE team, our amazing volunteers, community partners, sponsors and advocacy groups are intelligible in supporting community health and wellbeing, youth and their development into good citizens and producing the safest, most abundant, and most affordable food worldwide since 1914. We are aiming to ensure that the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension and MCCE will continue providing world-class, lifelong educational programs for all Arizonans in sustainable ways that help our communities thrive for generations to come.
Please stop by and see what’s new at the office. As always, thanks to everyone for their continued support of Maricopa County Cooperative Extension!
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