University of Wyoming Extension News

Monthly Archives: March 2012

State FFA members compete on UW campus Monday

More than 180 high school FFA’ers are expected to be on the University of Wyoming campus Monday as part of the 2012 Wyoming FFA Convention next week.

The convention is in Cheyenne, but FFA’ers will travel to Laramie to compete in agricultural mechanics, meats evaluation and agronomy.

UW Collegiate FFA’ers and members of Alpha Tau Alpha will assist, said Kris Brewer, UW Collegiate FFA adviser on campus.

“We have 30 teams of four members each competing in just the ag mechanics alone, so we will probably have upwards of 180+ total for all the events here,” said Brewer. “There are about 15 Collegiate FFA’ers and members of the Alpha Tau Alpha chapter here who worked to put the contests together and run them.”

There are more than 2,200 high school FFA members in 50 chapters in Wyoming, said state FFA adviser Ron Pulse of Cheyenne.

The ag mechanics competition is in the College of Education Building, the meats evaluation at the Animal Science/Molecular Biology Building, and the agronomy competition is at the Laramie Research and Extension Center’s Research Greenhouse complex at the intersection of North 30th Street and East Harney Street.

More about the convention is at www.wyomingffa.org. Click on the link under Convention 2012.

Wyoming State 4-H Foundation awards $28,000 in first-time scholarships

More than $28,000 in scholarships has been awarded to first-time recipients by the Wyoming State 4-H Foundation, according to foundation director Steve Mack.

The first-time awards are in addition to more than $36,000 in continuing scholarships being used by previous recipients, he said. Scholarship amounts can increase dependent upon scholarship progress and grade point average.

First-time recipients by scholarship and county are:

Ella E. Schloredt ($1,750)

Taylor Hammer, Eagle, Colo.; Hannah Gorman, Campbell; Alexandra Howell, Taylor Wollert, Goshen; Jordan Largent, Johnson; Rebel Rauterkus, Lincoln; Landan Doyle, Washakie.

Wyoming 4-H Foundation ($1,250)

Caitlin Harris, Platte; Ty Malone, Uinta

Lael Harrison ($1,000)

Jaimie Lee, Fremont; Aleighica Keeran, Goshen;

Janie Smith (Laramie County – $1,000)

Kelley Fisher, Laramie

Farmhouse Foundation ($1,000)

Lane Robinson, Johnson

Edna Mae and Wallace McClaflin ($1,000)

Tawny Bugas, Uinta

Wallace Scholarship (Park or Big Horn – $750)

Morgan Flitner, Big Horn

Wilbur Brettell (Laramie County – $500)

Kelley Fisher, Laramie

W.D. Whitmire Leadership Scholarship ($500)

Maddy Morgan, Colter Otwell, Campbell; Rebel Rauterkus, Lincoln; Jace Musfelt, Niobrara; Shaylee Little, Sheridan; Landan Doyle, Washakie.

Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply ($500)

Colby Hales, Albany; Dylan Freeman, Laramie; Sarah Peterson, Uinta.

Peterson Scholarship (Crook County – $500)

Kyle Wood, Crook

F.A.I.R. Posse ($500)

Blake Ochsner, Goshen

J.M. Nicholls ($300)

Nicole Goddard, Natrona

Butterfield Scholarship (Washakie County – $300)

Landan Doyle, Washakie

Wyoming Veterinary Sciences ($250)

Carolyn Smylie, Converse

Wyoming agriculture fashioned state’s national, international image

 

UW student Ethan Oberst, front, of Findlay, Ohio, halters a horse.

That famous bucking horse symbol without Wyoming would be like the Eiffel Tower without Paris.

The prairies, plains and mountains and the people who labored here not only grew food and fiber but a Cowboy State image that became internationally known.

Only about 7 percent – or 34,000 out of about 500,000 people – now live on Wyoming farms and ranches, but the symbol and state phrase endures. The famous symbol is branded on coffee cups, football helmets, T-shirts, bumper stickers, billboards and countless other items.

Continue reading →

Almost 70 entities collaborate to write sustainable rangeland management publication

John Tanaka

A monumental project by the University of Wyoming and nearly 70 collaborating entities across the nation will help public and private groups better manage rangelands and understand their importance to the well-being of communities and economies, according to a UW professor.

“This is the first time the rangeland profession and interest groups have come together to define the important components of social, ecological and economic aspects of sustainable rangeland management,” said professor John Tanaka, head of the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Tanaka helped direct the Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable (SRR), a national effort aimed at developing detailed guidelines to gauge whether rangelands are managed sustainably.

Continue reading →

UW Extension hosts artificial insemination school in Laramie

A three-day beef artificial insemination school sponsored by the University of Wyoming Extension is in Laramie this month.

Sessions are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, March 22-24, at the multipurpose building at the Laramie Research and Extension Center Livestock Farm, said Kellie Chichester, UW Extension educator in Albany County.

Cost is $75 for adults and $60 for high school students and covers the cost of the school, resource notebooks and supplies. Participants are responsible for their own lunches.

Instructors include Chichester, extension beef specialist Scott Lake in the Department of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and other UW Extension personnel.

For more information or to register, contact Chichester at (307) 721-2571.