Van Buren County Extension
Suite A, 801 Hazen Street
Paw Paw, MI 49079-1077 / P: 269-657-7745
F: 269-657-6678 / E-mail:
http://msue.msu.edu/VanBuren
November 2005
Beginning farmers learn skills to be successful
Like other counties in Michigan, Van Buren County has experienced changes in land-use patterns over the last decade.The number of farms and farmers has decreased as the numbers of land splits and subdivisions has increased. Large farms have been sold or broken into smaller tracts of land that are still suitable for agriculture production.
New landowners have taken an interest in small-scale agricultural production and commonly call or visit the MSU Extension office looking for information about farming. Too often, however, they make this visit after making costly mistakes.
To meet the needs of these new, often part-time farmers, Farming 101, an educational workshop for beginning farmers, was designed and conducted in Winter 2005.
The program’s goals were to help landowners decide how to use their property, improve their farming skills, prevent them from making costly mistakes and introduce them to MSU Extension and its resources.
The nine-week curriculum included educational sessions covering resource identification and goal setting, marketing, soil management, farm business management, fruit and vegetable production, hay and pasture establishment, livestock and poultry production, organic certification and timber and wildlife management. / Each participant received a resource notebook containing reference material for each topic.
Forty-five people participated in the workshop. Evaluations were positive. Nearly all (95 percent) of the participants learned new information and nearly two-thirds (61 percent) said the information will help them make better decisions about how they use their land.
Three quarters (76 percent) gained a better understanding of MSU Extension and how to access its resources and 90 percent plan to use the information to make decisions in 2005. More than one-third (38 percent) said the information will make their farms more profitable.
To continue the relationship with the participants and further their success, follow-up programs based on their input are planned for Winter 2006.
Contact: Mike Staton
/ Michigan State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process that applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities. Offices in counties across the state link the research of the land-grant university, MSU, to challenges facingcommunities. Citizens serving on county Extension councils regularly help select focus areas for programming. MSU Extension is funded jointly by county boards of commissioners,the state through Michigan State University and federally through the US Department of Agriculture. /
Volunteer Money Mentors assist families in financial crisis
Household financial crises can be caused by too much debt and inadequate savings. The average family carries nearly $10,000 in credit card debt and half have accumulated less than $1,000 in net liquid assets. More than half of U.S. households live paycheck to paycheck.
Kendra Hughson, Van Buren County MSU Extension family and consumer sciences educator, has developed and tested a curriculum to train volunteers to assist families in financial crisis called Volunteer Money Mentors.
The program is designed for extension educators to recruit and train volunteers in financial literacy. These trained Money Mentors are then matched up with families or individuals and lead them through an educational process that provides experiential learning opportunities.
The financial literacy program covers such topics as creating spending plans, understanding credit, understanding consumer rights and responsibilities, preventing identity theft and avoiding consumer scams, learning about financial institutions, communicating about financial issues and teaching children about money.
Sixteen local volunteers have been recruited and trained to date. Ten employees of the county’s Work Force Development office have also received the training. These volunteers have been matched with 26 families within the county.
Contact: Kendra Hughson
Van Buren Health Coalition tackles child obesity
The number of children between ages 6 and 11 who are overweight has more than doubled during the past 20 years and the number of overweight adolescents has tripled.
These children are at risk for developing lifelong health problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease and an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, which can massively increase future health costs.
The Van Buren Health Coalition is a multi-agency taskforce including MSU Extension, Van Buren Health department, school districts and / others who have local and state funding to organize promotional programs to reduce child obesity and increase physical activity in county families.In 2005 the project list includes a bike rodeo in May and “10k a Day” in July. Both promoted physical activity to more than 1,300 youths and parents. A back to school event in August promoted healthy eating to more than 1,500 young people and parents.
Plans are underway to organize a “Girls on the Run” program for 140 third through fifth grade girls in five school districts to learn about health and physical activity in Spring 2006.
Contact: Kendra Hughson
County reduces waste sent to landfills
Total waste exported to area landfills from Van Buren County decreased by 9 percent in one year. According to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s 2004 Annual Waste Report, the county exported 313,788 cubic yards of waste. This figure is down from the 2003 report of 345,486 cubic yards.Contact: Beth Clawson
Van Buren County MSU Extension Educators
· Julie Pioch, County Extension Director· Mark Longstroth, District Horticulture
· Kendra Hughson, Family & Consumer Sciences
· Louise Ryan, Technology
· Mark Thomas, Economic Development
· Beth Clawson, Natural Resource
· Mike Staton, Agriculture
· Janice Rajzer, 4-H Youth Development
· Kelly Getman-Dissette, Community
Development
· Maria Ramirez, Program Associate I, FNP
· Elizabeth Weiss-Deboer, 4-H Mentor Americorp
· Karen Sprang, Support Staff
· Jerri Pursley, Support Staff
· Jill Casanto, Support Staff
· Michele Markus, Accounts Manager
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal opportunity institution, Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, or family status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Thomas G. Coon, Extension Director, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI 48824