University of Wyoming Extension News

Monthly Archives: December 2011

Wyoming 4-H Program seeks youth applicants for cultural exchange trip to Mongolia

Kim Reaman presents a 4-H pin to a first-year 4-H member in Mongolia.

Applications from youth in 13 Western states are being accepted for a trip to Mongolia next June as part of the Enhancing Global Perspectives in Youth exchange led by specialists in the Wyoming State 4-H Office.

Twenty-eight youth and five adults will be selected for the month-long trip designed to enhance global scholarship. A similar group visited Mongolia last year led by youth development specialist Warren Crawford and volunteer development specialist Kim Reaman, who are again leading the group.

Information about the exchange and an application form are at the Enhancing Global Perspectives – Mongolia link at http://www.uwyo.edu/4-h/. The application deadline is Sunday, Jan. 15.

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UW pesticide applicator recertification part of weed association meeting in Casper

Mark Ferrell

Pesticide issues, rangeland and crop pests are among topics for weed management professionals at the Wyoming Weed Management Association (WWMA) meeting Jan. 17-19 in Casper.

The meeting at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel is in conjunction with the University of Wyoming Pesticide Applicator Recertification program. The WWMA promotes and facilitates collaboration and education on weed management in Wyoming, said Mark Ferrell, University of Wyoming Extension pesticide specialist.

“This conference is a great opportunity for people involved in pest control to interact with each other in finding solutions to pest management problems in Wyoming,” said Ferrell, who is in the Department of Plant Sciences in the UW College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

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4-H educator joins Weston County extension office

Stacy Madden

Stacy Madden will begin as the 4-H educator in Weston County Wednesday, Jan. 4.

Madden will join the University of Wyoming Extension office in Newcastle. Madden received a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies and criminal justice from UW in December 2007 and is working toward a master’s degree in public administration through UW.

Madden has been an office associate for experiential education with the UW School of Pharmacy the past three years. A 10-year 4-H member, she first became involved with 4-H in Sidney, Neb., as a Pee Wee member when she was 5 years old, said Susan James, UW Extension federal relations and staff development coordinator.

“Stacy recognized after receiving her degree in criminal justice she wanted to work with youth providing positive experiences, which is her motivation to work as a 4-H educator,” said James.

Powell man helps those with disabilities

Corey McGregor

Paralysis seems to have hardly slowed this Powell man who ranched after his accident and now assists others and organizes hunts for those with disabilities.

Corey McGregor was 21 when a 2001 Memorial Day Weekend accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. He spent about six weeks at St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings and was released from rehabilitation by mid-July that year.

“I was angry for a week or two,” said McGregor, who works at Wyoming Services for Independent Living (WSIL) in Powell, then he showed chutzpah. “I made the decision that this is what I got dealt – now move forward. That was from my upbringing. You can’t dwell on the past. Roll with the future.”

A St. Vincent staff member unknowingly put McGregor’s outlook into overdrive.

“A male nurse asked me what I used to like to do,” said McGregor, an avid outdoorsman. “He said you better get used to tying flies. I wanted to smack the guy. It made me mad. At the time, I didn’t think the guy should have said that. But, it made me so mad I was going to show him.”

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Wyoming hay entries win four championships at world forage superbowl

Wyoming hay entries win four championships at world forage superbowl

Wyoming producers claimed the World Champion Forage Producer prize and championships in three other hay categories in the World Forage Analysis Superbowl at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis., in October.

Winners were:

World Champion Forage Producer – Kelli Hinman, Wheatland

Commercial Hay Champion – Hardrock Farms, Wheatland

Grass Hay Champion – Danko Farms, Powell

Champion First Time Entrant – Bethany Bappe, Riverton

Entries in the 2011 superbowl were the winners in the open hay show at the Wyoming State Fair and Rodeo in August.

Five other Wyoming entries placed in the top 10 in various categories. An entry from Powell last year won the commercial hay division and five others had placed in the top 10.

Anowar Islam, assistant professor and forage agroecologist at the University of Wyoming, selected the winners at the Wyoming fair.

“I am very pleased seeing these results for the second consecutive year,” said Islam, in the Department of Plant Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“Wyoming hay producers were encouraged seeing last year’s results, and we are expected to receive more quality hay in the coming years’ hay shows. This will ultimately encourage Wyoming producers to produce high-quality and international-standard hay.”