Thanksgiving Tips

Wishing you all a happy and safe Thanksgiving! 

Ag Career Expo 2012

The Ag Career Expo is a day devoted to agricultural education. Its purpose is to give high school juniors and seniors insight on the opportunities within the agricultural industry. Students from Meadow and Brownfield got the chance to learn about agricultural programs in local universities, as well as career opportunities in the ag field.

Going on its second year, ACE is hosted by the Terry County Extension office in collaboration with ag organizations around the county. With a line up of eight universities and eight career break out sessions, students received a well-rounded look into the agricultural industry.

The colleges and universities in attendance were Texas Tech University, West Texas A&M University, Angelo State University, South Plains College, Sul Ross State University, Clarendon College, New Mexico Junior College and WorkForce, which is a job placement program for high school graduates.

Speakers and sessions included:
Minority opportunities- Henry Castillo, Ag Texas
Ag Education- Dr. Lance Keith, West Texas A&M
Ag Technology- Michael Clawson, Texas A&M Agrilife Extension
Resource Management- Kegan Crouch & Greg Lindsey, USDA-NRCS
Science and Research- Brent Besler, Syngenta
Ag Communications- Samantha Borgstedt, Texas Alliance for Water Conservation
Trade Skills/Trade School- Raymond Elizondo & Pete Stracener, SPC Industrial Manufacturing and Industrial Technology Departments
Ag Business- Jason Swan, Capital Farm Credit

A portion of the program also covered scholarship opportunities, both locally and statewide. The key take away with scholarships is they are out there and very attainable for applicants who put forth the effort.

Overall, the day was productive and important for the agricultural industry. Students learned about opportunities some never knew existed, while others learned more about their current interests. Thank you to  Brownfield High School for being a great host and for making this event as successful as it was! We all look forward to the program next year.

Permian Basin UWCD 2013 calendar artwork winners

The winners for the PBUWCD 2013 water conservation calendar contest have been selected! Fourth and fifth graders from Elbow, Grady, Sands and Stanton competed to earn a spot on the calendar. With approximately 300 students competing, it was tough competition this year, but the judges chose the top 13. Below is the video slideshow of this year's winners. Calendars will be ready before Christmas break. Thank you to all of those who won and to those who participated.

Elbow Elementary Winners

 Grady Elementary Winners

Sands Elementary Winners

 Stanton Elementary Winners

Llano Estacado UWCD 2013 calendar artwork winners

The 2013 LEUWCD water conservation calendar winners have been selected! Throughout the month of September, the education coordinator gave presentations to the school districts in the Llano Estacado UWCD, which includes Loop, Seagraves and Seminole. Fourth and fifth graders from each school competed with a goal of being featured on the calendar. Out of approximately 450 entries, the top 13 illustrations were selected by the judges. Below is a video slideshow of the winners. Congratulations to all of those who won and to all of those who participated in the 2013 water conservation calendar contest.

Seminole Elementary Winners

Loop Elementary Winners

Kids, Kows & More 2012 (Brownfield)

Kids, Kows & More went very well this year. The purpose of K,K & M is to provide awareness on many different entities and get students thinking about where their food, fiber and water comes from. Fourth graders from Terry County, came to Brownfield to learn about agricultural products and natural resources of the area. The topics on deck included lean beef, cotton, dairy products, vegetables, insects, water, soil and viticulture. Students observed demonstrations and learned information about each of the topics presented throughout the day.

Our water presentation was based around how much water the world possesses. The lesson to be learned was that only one percent of total water on Earth is fresh water. Students were amazed to learn this fact and asked some great questions regarding salt and fresh water. I'm so glad they ask great questions because they really keep me on my toes! We also addressed the topic of groundwater and the Ogallala Aquifer by relating the percent of fresh water to our own way of living in Terry Count.

Overall, the day was full of activities that got Terry County fourth graders thinking and wondering about the agriculture and natural resources we rely on in our daily lives. I can't wait until next year!

The 2012 Yoakum County Conservation Jamboree

The Conservation Jamboree is a day devoted to awareness about the industries that keep this region thriving. Its' purpose is to encourage students to think about and appreciate the resources we have here. 

This year's Conservation Jamboree was a great success! Approximately 155 students, from Plains and Denver City, explored the many industries of this area during the one day event. Students received first-hand information on rain percolation, farm equipment, electricity, branding, cotton gins, bugs, bees, water conservation, spices, soil types and peanuts. Each station gave ten presentations throughout the day.

The water conservation activity revolved around water use. White boards were provided with dry erase markers and students had to guess how many gallons it took to produce things like an apple, a car, one pound of chicken, etc. The kids really enjoyed the activity and took away the concept that we do use a lot of water in items we utilize daily.

In addition to receiving great information, students also had the chance to win door prizes by simply guessing how many items were in a certain container. Items ranged from bubble gum to cheese puff balls. Each station provided a different item for students to guess. If a student guessed the correct amount, they were awarded the full container of goodies at the end of the day.

Overall, the day was full of knowledge and fun for the students of Yoakum County. I can't wait until next year when it comes around again!

Calendar Contest Presentations, Ag & Oil Day and the Terry County Outdoor Classroom

It has been awhile since I've been able to catch you all up on what's been happening around here. We have been so busy! I'll give you a recap of the past two weeks.

Calendar Contest, Seminole & Stanton

Firstly, the Llano Estacado UWCD and the Permian Basin UWCD have their water conservation calendar contests in the fall. The other two districts, Sandy Land UWCD and South Plains UWCD, have theirs in the spring. With that being said, I had the privilege of visiting seven school districts in the time frame of two weeks. The schools in the LEUWCD consist of Loop, Seagraves and Seminole. Seminole is the largest school in this district having approximately 418 students between fourth and fifth grade! The kids were great and always paid very close attention to the water conservation message. If the kids win the contest with their artwork, they receive a cash prize, so that is always another way to maintain their attention. :)

The PBUWCD schools consist of  Elbow (Forsan's Elementary), Grady, Sands and Stanton. Stanton is the largest school in this district having roughly 135 students between fourth and fifth grade. Once again, the students in these schools were great listeners. The best part about the water conservation calendar contest is spreading awareness and getting students to really think about their water use.

Ag & Oil Day in Seminole

Ag & Oil Day was a great event this year. For those of you who haven't attended, you are missing out on some great information about the agricultural and oil industries! Anyway, the event is open to the public, but schools from surrounding areas also attend. Student presentations take place in the park. This year students went to several stations ranging from homemade peanut butter to chuck wagon history lessons.

The presentation I did was a game called "How much water does it take?" Students got into groups surrounding a small white lap board that they could write on with dry erase markers. I held up pictures of an apple, a pair of jeans and several other objects. Then I asked them to write down how many gallons of water it would take to make that certain object. The best answer of the day was 2,000,000,000 gallons of water. We do use a lot of water daily, but not quite that much!

Here are some pictures from that day:

Terry County Outdoor Classroom, Brownfield

This wrapped up the crazy past two weeks really well. The Outdoor Classroom is hosted by the County Extension office each year. Students get a look into the world of natural resources, wildlife and water. Approximately 150 kids attended this year's festivities at Oak Grove Elementary, where the event takes place. It is normally a two day event, but due to weather, tomorrow's portion will be cancelled. Tomorrow would normally be the field trip day where students would get to go to a buffalo ranch and see springs.

For today's presentation, I decided to have a hands on activity talking about the Ogallala Aquifer conditions in Terry County. The main purpose of this activity was to help the kids understand our water supply and how we utilize groundwater daily. Students were given a small-scale aquifer model with a plastic pipe, acting as a well. With a syringe, students extracted as much water as they could from the "aquifer" and then we discussed the technicalities and repercussions of taking more water up than is replenished in the aquifer. Overall, it was a great success.

Here are some pictures from today: