MONTHLY NARRATIVES
(Program Highlights)

RICHLAND COUNTY

CROPPING SYSTEMS
Dale L. Siebert

ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Richland County Advisory Committee met on February 5. The committee is made up of 16 Richland County residents from different areas of the county. At the February meeting Marie Hvidsten, Rural Leadership Development Specialist with NDSU, described how she uses her advisory committee, how they function, and how they are advocates for her program. She also described how the committee can be useful in identifying "blind spots", possible program areas that they might see a need for that we don�t necessarily identify. The committee also discussed how they might become advocates for our programs and set a meeting for later this spring.

SOYBEAN EXPO
The North Dakota Soybean Growers held their annual Soybean Expo on February 5. The Soybean Expo is a good opportunity for soybean growers to identify issues, learn about their industry and have a chance to interact with a variety of people within the industry. Richland County has been active in the association and a large number of county growers, as well as myself, were present at the meeting. Soybeans are currently the number one crop in the county with nearly half of our tillable acreage devoted to the crop.

PESTICIDE CERTIFICATION
The 2004 Pesticide Certification season began with an evening certification program on February 17 in Wahpeton. Another workshop was held on February 24 in Mantador with a third planned for Colfax in early March. This year there are 90 private applicators that need to be re-certified in the general category by April 1. I am highlighting the soybean aphid problem as well as the management of soybean cyst nematode at these meetings. These are two of the more troublesome problems on our soybean crop and both are new to growers in the area.

QUIKBOOKS WORKSHOP
On February 23 a Quikbooks Workshop was held in Wahpeton to acquaint people with this accounting software program.16 people registered and registration had been limited to 17 as this was the number of computers available for the hands-on training. Participants learned about the computer program, and how to make entries and print reports. Instructors were Ron Haugen and Andrew Swenson with the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics with the NDSU Extension Service. Participants were very complimentary of the training they received at the program.

FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCE/4-H
Colleen M. Svingen

PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
In February we had the opportunity to meet with our Extension District Director, Margaret Tweeten, to discuss our annual performance reviews. Commissioner Don Holden sat in on our reviews and offered insight to our programming. Performance reviews help us with our blind spots and offer opportunities for us to move forward in our job performance.

ADVISORY/ADVOCACY BOARD
We have been successful in recruiting members for our Advisory/Advocacy Extension Board. This is a very impressive diverse group of people. We are thankful that they are willing to share their time and expertise with us. This group of people was assembled on two different evenings due to scheduling conflicts. We will bring the entire group together in early April and with the assistance of Marie Hvidsten, Extension Rural Development Specialist, help the group define their roles and enable them to get know each other better.

WOW RETREAT
Our Women�s Overall Wellness Retreat Committee met in Bismarck to complete the planning for September�s state-wide retreat. It was a very productive and fun meeting. The entire retreat is planned! Committee members from across the state will meet via video conference the end of April. We will have committee members at sites in Bismarck, Hettinger, Grand Forks, Fargo, and Wahpeton. This technoloy saves both time and money and the face to face interaction is great.

PARENTING LINKS
It has been fun to introduce the Parenting Links web site at the schools, libraries and daycare centers. I was at parent teacher conferences in Abercrombie, Fairmount, Lidgerwood and Wyndmere promoting the site and will continue to be out on the road with the site. We encourage all of you to register at our office and enjoy the site at www.parentinglinks.ndsu.edu.

FNP
Pamela Leino-Mills

PROGRAM
February felt like a short month. I have nearly completed my proposal for 2004-2005, and am happy to report that the in-kind contributions from agencies and schools in Richland County will cover another year of services to people with limited incomes given by the Family Nutrition Program. Thank you to those who continue to support this important education. You are helping to provide tools to strong people who use them to gain more control over their lives.

NUTRITION CLASSES
This month I was able to conduct four nutrition and food safety classes at NDSCS, and 29 classes for the afterschool programs in Richland county schools. I conducted a class for Headstart parents and for citizens who picked up their food boxes from the Senior Center this month. The food boxes are provided through the Supplemental Commodity Food Program.

CNS HEALTH CLASSES
A particularly fun day this month was spent teaching six health classes (7^th & 8^th grades) at Circle of Nations School with Melissa Hartness, a Richland County Public Health nurse. Melissa talked about diabetes prevention and control, and demonstrated blood sugar testing. I did a short PowerPoint presentation as part of a discussion about healthy eating. I gave each student a small snack of fresh vegetables. They did not even complain about not having a dip to go with the vegetables.

FOOD BUDGETING
This month I also worked with a group of individuals referred to me through Job Service. We reviewed budgeting for food and discussed safe food storage.

WIC
Unfortunately, the February 11^tsnow storm forced the cancellation of WIC in Hankinson. I will be able to work with these customers next month.

ADVISORY COUNCIL
On February 5, the Advisory Council met at the courthouse at 5:30 pm. I was able to explain the important work done by the Family Nutrition Program. What an enthusiastic group of people! I enjoyed meeting them and was impressed by their interest in the work of NDSU Extension Service in Richland County.

21^st CENTURY COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTERS
Adrian Biewer

The short month of February has leaped by with many plans in progress for the afterschool program. We started the month implementing the Junior Achievement Economic Education Program in grades K- 6. We have Lori Hubrig and Amanda Lingen from Lincoln State Bank volunteering in our Hankinson and Lidgerwood sites to teach part of the program. The classes will start in March.

SHOOTING SPORTS
The air-gun shooting sports league is holding challenge matches this month. Each school�s team will visit other schools and shoot league rounds. The school with the highest shooting average will receive a traveling trophy and bragging rights for the year. The air-gun league will wrap up this month with certificates awarded for the highest score in a shooting round, best overall, and most improved.

FISHING DERBY
Plans for the summer afterschool sessions are under way. In December, the afterschool program was awarded a Walmart Fishing Derby. Walmart supplies $1000 worth of prizes for the derby and winners can qualify for the national tournament prizes. It will be held at Dead Colt Creek near Lisbon on June 15. Lake Tewaukon Day has been scheduled for June 17. We will include more information about other events with our summer registration.

ADULT EDUCATION
This month our adult education classes include Young Children and Emotional Intelligence at Richland 44 on March 15. The parenting class counts for child-care and foster-care certification.