2017 has been an exciting year with many positive changes in the Kiowa County Extension Office.  Jeramy McNeely began as the new Extension Agent on January 3, 2017 and brought with him a depth of experience and lots of enthusiasm. 

            During the year the office has seen changes of all kinds, including a physical facelift as we painted and cleaned the entire office.  Additionally youth enjoyed new opportunities, and producers and community members alike were very pleased to have an Agent so willing and able to walk the fields with them and find answers to their questions.

            The information below gives a limited snapshot into some efforts and events we worked on.

Contacts

During the 2017 Extension year the Kiowa County Extension Office made more than 2195 contacts by phone or in person related to the following areas:

            Youth:              682                              Agriculture:      306

            Fair:                 582                              Livestock:         373

            Admin.:            148                              Media:             45

            CoCoRaHs:        194                              Misc.:               53

Emails

A total of ­3011 emails and text messages were sent during the 2017 year related to Youth, 4-H, CoCoRaHs, Agriculture, Livestock and County related.  In addition, approximately 6313 emails and text messages were received during this year.

Mail

A total of 594 items were mailed during the year related to 4-H/Youth, Kiowa County Fair & Rodeo, Agriculture & Labs, and Administration.

Meetings

1/10     Jeramy met with Commissioners

1/12     Jeramy met with Lindsay Todd, the Eads FFA Teacher

1/16     The courthouse was closed due to winter weather

1/19     Jeramy went to Educators In-Service in Goodwell, OK

1/23     Jeramy went to Drought Workshop in Kirk, CO

1/26     Jeramy met with Travis Taylor in Lincoln County regarding judging teams

1/27     Jeramy attended the Plainsman Research Annual Meeting

2/2       Travelled to Lamar to help with SCALE Event

2/6       Retinal scanning training in Douglas County

2/7       Fair Board Meeting

2/8       Cheyenne Leader Training

2/9       Farm & Ranch Symposium in Rocky Ford

2/13     AgFest conference call/meeting

2/14     Jeramy met with the Commissioners

2/15     Staff Meeting in Lamar

2/22     Kiowa County 4-H Leader Training 6-8 pm

2/27     Jan Carrol w/ CSU here for PTI training

3/1       Extension office hosted & facilitated the Colorado Ag Blueprint Workshop

3/1       Jeramy organized and held annual Kiowa Advisory Meeting

3/7       Jeramy attended the Fair Board meeting

3/14     Jeramy attended the Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

3/27     Karen held meeting with Open Class Committee

3/28     SEA Advisory Meeting was held in Lamar

3/29     Jeramy attended a farm bill listening session in Lamar

4/3       Jeramy attended the 4-H Council meeting

4/4       Jeramy attended the Fair Board monthly meeting

4/17     Jeramy met w/ Kaye Kasza to discuss Bent County Fair

4/23     Karen attended the Prairie Queen 4-H meeting

4/26     Karen met with Charles Thompson with USDA Rural Development

5/2       Jeramy attended Kiowa County Fair Board meeting

5/5       Karen conducted meeting of the County Fair Open Class Committee

5/8       Jeramy assisted with the Drug Awareness Assembly

5/9-11  Jeramy attended Regional Meeting in Burlington

5/16     Jeramy attended interviews for Prowers County Agent position

5/21     Karen assisted with 4-H fundraiser concession stand

5/22     Jeramy & Karen met with Fair Board members at fair grounds to assist with planning

5/29     Jeramy & Karen worked at Small Animal Weigh-In

5/31     Jeramy took 4-H members to the “Be Somebody” Camp

Jeramy participated in two Zoom meetings

6/29 - Jeramy attended the Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting on 6/29 with Bruce Fickenscher, Interim Area Director District VI.

7/11 – Jeramy attended the Bent County Fair Board meeting

7/11 – Karen attended the Kiowa County Fair Board meeting

8/10 – Attended Commissioner meeting

8/11 – Karen held meeting for Open Class Committee

8/22 – Attended interviews for Prowers 4-H position

8/22 – Held Concession Stand Committee meeting

8/23 – Held staff meeting to go over upcoming fair

9/18 Jeramy held a District 6 Shooting Sports Committee meeting in Las Animas

10/11 – Attended 4-H Agents meeting in Lamar

10/15 – Livestock Committee Meeting

10/19 – SEA Advisory meeting in Las Animas

10/24-10/26 – Extension FORUM in Fort Collins

10/31 – Interviews for SEA FCS position in Otero/Crowley counties

11/14 – Jeramy met with Commissioners for quarterly report

11/15 – Jeramy & Karen attended LEPC meeting, toured local COOP

Met with Commissioners for Quarterly Report

Youth

2/2       Zoom meeting:  District Retreat

2/6       4-H Council Meeting

2/11     Steer Weigh-In from 9-12

2/11     Cloverbud Meeting

2/13     Livestock Judging Class 6:30 pm

2/18     Judging Practice in Limon

2/19     Prairie Queen Club Meeting 3:00 pm

2/20     Sheridan Lake Club Meeting 6:30 pm

2/28     Zoom meeting:  Camp Go-West

Karen attended the Prairie Queen Club meeting

3/23 the Extension office held the MQA training at the fairgrounds with 32 kids attending.

Jeramy helped teach at AGFEST at Peterson Air Force Base

Jeramy found a speaker for a drug awareness event to be held at Eads High School.  Invited Plainview and Kit Carson to attend.

Sent letter to livestock exhibitors concerning rule changes for 2017 fair.

Checked in on the SECPA fundraiser dinner

Jeramy worked on drug awareness assembly, lined up speaker, venue, raised $1550 for event

Built raised garden boxes for assisted living

Reported on market beef weigh-ins and leader trainings for quarterly report

Updated county 4-H website

Took kids to livestock judging contest in both Hugo and Sterling

Karen attended the Prairie Queen Club meeting

Taught area kids about GPS technology for 4 days during AGFEST in Lamar, La Junta, and Trinidad

Registered kids for Be Somebody Program

Worked on finding judges for fair and exhibit day

Updated 4-H information on website

Drug Awareness Assembly aimed at youth

Completed finding judges for fair and exhibit day

Worked with kids on livestock judging in Elbert County

Ordered awards for District VI Shooting Sports event

Conducted Small Animal weigh-in

Took members to “Be Somebody” event

6/3 – Oversee Cloverbud gardening project at Prairie Pines assisted living facility

6/5 – 4-H Council Meeting

6/6 – Bent County 4-H Council Meeting

6/11 – Karen assisted DYD Clothing group in Extension Office

6/14-15 – Took 4 kids to Caballeros & Clovers Camp

6/19 – District VI Shooting Committee meeting in La Junta

6/20-22 – Took 2 kids to State 4-H Conference

6/25 – Held a Showmanship clinic at the fairgrounds

Helped set up range in La Junta for District VI Shooting Competition

Gathered goat DNA samples for Bent County 4-Her in McClave

Finished reserving judges for Bent County Fair

Set up and contacted Kiowa, Prowers and Bent Counties Fashion Revue contests

Finished tagging Member pigs for fair

7/1 – Jeramy held the inaugural District VI Shoot in La Junta

7/5-6 – Jeramy attended Go West Camp in Rye

7/12 – Extension Office co-hosted a USDA business presentation in Eads

7/13 – Jeramy and Karen held the tri-county Fashion Revue Contest

7/15 – Jeramy ran the Bent County Shoot

7/18 – Helped with summer reading program and used Americorp to do programming

7/21 – Karen assisted a 4-H leader in the office after hours

7/29 – Karen assisted/oversaw the Council concession stand at Maine Street Bash

Worked to get ready for Bent County Fair

Jeramy spent entire last week of July filling in Extension duties for Bent County Fair

Jeramy held two open scale nights

Confirmed judges for Fair

Held Exhibit Day

Farm visit to weigh 4-H pigs

Judged round robins in Cheyenne and Prowers Counties

Took State Exhibits to Pueblo

Went to Bent County to borrow panels for livestock

Set up pens under the pavilion

Assisted Fair Board members to set up Open Class building

Assisted in cleaning Community Building, ready for fair

Worked on 4-H newsletter

Worked on monthly report

Jeramy retrieved exhibits from State Fair

Kiowa County Fair

Help tear down panels after Fair and returned Bent County’s panels

Judged record books for Bent County and Kiowa County

Made a schematic and folder for pen set up for next year’s fair

Sent fair results to media for publishing

Made recruitment poster for National 4-H Week

Made Power Point slides for Bill Nobles

Sent recruitment email for county council elections

Worked on 4-H newsletter

Worked on monthly report

Attended 4-H Council Meeting and election of officers

Presented 4-H recruitment at Plainview school

Worked on script, certificates, etc for achievement banquet, took large amount of time

Drove to Burlington to retrieve livestock checks from fair

Attended Prairie Queen Club meeting

Sent emails encouraging early enrollment

Updated website and Facebook with enrollment information

Worked on 4-H newsletter

Sent 4-H email starting new animal projects

Researched grant opportunities, applied for 4-H Garden grant

Began learning animation software to enhance record book videos

Worked with Travis Taylor in Lincoln County, developing videos that will guide 4-Hers in completing their Record Books

Posted a youth profit calculator on website

Other Outreach

Jeramy submitted 5 articles to the press this month which were published, 1 for the SE Area,

            4 for his weekly “From the Extension Agent’s Desk” column

Jeramy gave a radio interview with KVAY concerning his SE Area article.

During this month Jeramy also met with the FSA and the NRCS offices.  He spent time prior to office hours meeting with local producers to better understand their needs. 

Jeramy began work on drug prevention and awareness strategies.  This involved meeting with the Kiowa County Social Services, Eads High School, Kiowa County Health, Southeast Health Group and Crossroads Rehab Center.

Jeramy submitted 5 articles to the press this month which were published:

            4 for his weekly “From the Extension Agent’s Desk” column

Jeramy submitted 3 articles to the media this month which were published

             in his weekly “From the Extension Agent’s Desk” column

Jeramy created a Kiowa County Producer Email Blast list and sent out information on the brown wheat mite

Jeramy conducted a lawn inspection for T. Witte, and also a tree inspection for L. Negley

Jeramy organized a District Shooting Sports meeting in Las Animas

Extension submitted 3 lab requests to Ward lab

Jeramy submitted 2 articles to the media this month which were published

 in his weekly “From the Extension Agent’s Desk” column, and one Southeast Area Says article

Jeramy created a Kiowa County Producer Email Blast list and sent out information on various current topics

Jeramy conducted a lawn inspection for T. Witte, and also a tree inspection for L. Negley

Jeramy organized a District Shooting Sports meeting in Las Animas

Extension submitted 4 lab requests to Ward lab and one plant diagnostic to CSU lab

Lawn and tree inspection in Haswell

Surveyed a tree stump in Kit Carson and gave recommendations

Area zoom meeting

Attended commissioners meeting

Researched lamb information for Haswell resident

Met with Bruce F. to set up retinal scanner in Ordway

Received and delivered ordered trees

Jeramy sent out 9 emails to the Producer’s Blast group on several topics:

Value Added Producer Grants

Farm Labor Housing

Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus

West Nile Virus

Crop Water use and Growth Stages

Colorado Hay Directory

Perennial Wheat

Long-term Care Planning

Beef Antibiotics

Jeramy submitted 3 articles to the media this month which were published

 in his weekly “From the Extension Agent’s Desk” column on the topics of agriculture, livestock judging and other pertinent issues.

Jeramy ran point and facilitated a Drug Awareness Assembly for youth and others that was well attended and lauded by many.

Jeramy completed a weed identification for a county resident

Updated County Extension website

Attended Prowers County interviews

Gathered goat DNA samples

Attended Kiowa County conservation meeting

Met with About F.A.C.E.

Attended Fair Board Meeting

Began tagging and weighing pigs

Facilitated Bent County weigh-in

Helped local producers

Branded calves

Completed the 2017 Fair Book

Jeramy sent out 5 emails to the Producer’s Blast group on several topics

Jeramy submitted 2 articles to the media this month which were published

 in his weekly “From the Extension Agent’s Desk” column on the topics of agriculture and other pertinent issues.

Jeramy identified a fungus for the Eads Golf Course

Researched rabbit eradication techniques

Researched ant eradication in the cropland including campus staff

Studied and completed changes to the Extension website to be ADA compliant

Set up air rifle trailer for Maine Street Bash

Contacted Americorps intern for library presentation in July

Contacted Jr. Livestock Committee for approval of livestock buyer gifts

Helped local producers

Submitted a reference letter for Life CONsequences

Wrote quarterly report article covering AgFest

Jeramy sent out 3 emails to the Producer’s Blast group on several topics

Jeramy submitted 4 articles to the media this month which were published

 in his weekly “From the Extension Agent’s Desk” column on the topics of agriculture and other pertinent issues.

Jeramy identified two weeds for residents

Identified snake for resident

Retrieved chicken cages from Bent County

Answered producer question regarding growing Triticale

Helped locate Lessor for lessee on pasture ground

Lined up milo farmer for Senator Gardner visit

Did two tree inspections involving forest service on one

Went on milo tour with Senator Gardner

Sent 3 producer emails, wrote two ‘From the Agent’ articles

Rest of the month was busy working to be ready for fair

Researched soil ph for growing blueberries

Gathered a soil sample for Delores Eikenberg in Haswell for lab testing

Talked with NRCS personnel about a weed id issue

Attended Colorado County Agent’s Association Retreat at Stagecoach Reservoir

Sent 1 producer email and wrote two newspaper articles

Created corral design for Kevin Davis

Wrote two newspaper articles

Karen worked with CoCoRaHS volunteers as October is end-of-year for data gathering

Sent producer email on ‘Protecting Financial Future’

Sent producer email on ‘Leaving Tall Stubble’

Researched culling rates on breeding goats for FSA

Researched marketing cull cows

Wrote article – Fall & Winter watering

Researched farm subsidies

Producer email on ‘Controlling Mustard in Wheat’

Met with producers at coffee shop to try to sell some trees

Producer emails on ‘Tax Loopholes & marketing local beef’

Researched Selenium toxicity for Abby Weber, utilized Extension vet team

Wrote article – Small Steps to Health and Wealth

Producer email on ‘Buying vs Raising Replacement Heifers’

Started Kiowa County Extension Blogsite