EXTENSION TRENDS: MADISON COUNTY University of Idaho Extension, Madison County • www.uidaho.edu/madison
2019 Impact
2019 By the Numbers • 6,597 direct contacts • 3,228 youth participants • 30 volunteers • 420 volunteer hours • $31,508 extramural funding
Our Advisory Council Special thanks to our volunteers who help shape programming and inform the work we do for UI Extension in Madison County: Todd Smith, Brent Mendenhall, Robin Easton, Kim Hansen, Daniel Torres, Catherine Stanton, Terry Wilcox, Carla Hjelm, Ben Christensen, Sam Mickelson, Mike Ricks, Scott Campbell and Dallin Wilcox.
UI Extension Educators Lance Hansen 208-359-6297 lancehansen@uidaho.edu
Jon Hogge 208-745-6685 jhogge@uidaho.edu
Several UI Extension, Madison County programs had a significant impact in the community in 2019, including Cooking Under Pressure for Youth, Farm Management, Retirement Planning, and Farm Succession Planning. Over 150 youth in Madison County participated in the Cooking Under Pressure for Youth program in 2019. These youth learned that using an electric pressure cooker offers health, financial, and time-saving benefits. Members of the agriculture community learned best business practices by participating in the farm management classes. These best practices, if implemented, can help improve farmers’ current operations. Retirement planning and savings programs have been offered and presented several times as part of a workshop in the county. Retirement programming has been vital to help residents plan and prepare for retirement. Farm Succession Planning classes have been in high demand to help local farmers and ranchers make plans to sell or pass their operations to the next generation. This program helps provide the groundwork they need in order to take the proper steps that ensure that the family farm is taken care of and passed to the next generation. The UI Extension, Madison County office seeks guidance from local community members to develop and bring programs that will benefit residents.
4-H in Madison County The UI Extension 4-H Youth Development program in Madison County continues to grow each year. In 2019 a dog 4-H group was formed and participated in a tri-county dog 4-H show. Four participants from Madison County went on to the state fair and two youth took best in show in their divisions. The Madison County Fair and 4-H camp are always a highlight each year. The fair was well attended, the livestock shows were very competitive, and all the youth participants did an admirable job with their animals. Youth demonstrations were thought out and well presented. The 4-H projects that were on display covered several topics: sewing, photography, hiking, drones, cooking, and photography. Youth did a great job on their project folders and several were submitted to the state fair. All the hard work these young people put into their projects is evident and appreciated. A lot of work and preparation goes into planning the 4-H camp each year and 2019 was no exception. Youth had the opportunity to learn new things and explore nature. A few of the highlights included archery, rifle shooting, and gold panning. The Madison County 4-H program is always looking to include and expand new programs in order to reach a diverse audience in the county.
On the Horizon Several new programs are being offered by UI Extension, Madison County in 2020. A new 4-H program is designed to teach participants how to build their own drones, which teaches the technical and mechanical aspects of drones.