The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced that continuous sign-up for the Highly Erodible Land (HEL) Initiative under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) started on July 23, 2012. Kentucky received a total allocation of 39,400 acres to enroll in the HEL CRP program. Offers will be accepted until either the state acreage allocation limit is reached or September 30, 2012 whichever occurs first.

The Pendleton County 4-H Teen Club is doing a service project for Operation Christmas Child. The Operation Christmas Child is an organization that sends shoes boxes filled with toys, tooth brushes and tooth paste, bars of soap, hard candy and more, to give to children as Christmas presents. These boxes are sent to children in third world counties, who typically have nothing; some may have to share a tooth brush with 20+ other people, some may live in a small area with multiple people, some do not have anything to drink out of on a regular basis, and they probably have nothing to call their own. These children generally do not know what Christmas is or who Jesus Christ is. With your help, we can potentially give these children their first interaction with Jesus and their Christmas present.

The Pendleton County Teen Club will be collecting:

Empty shoe boxes

Boys and girls toys for children ages 2-14 (include batteries)

Bars of soap (no liquid items)

Tooth brush and tooth paste

Hard candy (No chocolate or dated food)

Socks

Underwear

Shoes

Hair brush

Empty water bottles

Any other item that could be given as a present

Each box costs $7 to send across seas, so we are also asking for monetary donations; I know we are asking for a lot, but we are asking for whatever you are willing to give. After the collections are taken up, The Pendleton County Teen Club will also be having a Packing Party to pack boxes on October 10th at 10 am at the Pendleton County Extension Office.  If you would also like to donate your time, we would appreciate that.

Please consider helping us with the great cause.  We would love to see a lot of items donated and have a lot of people come out to pack.  We thank you in advance for any donations you are willing to give. If you have any questions you can contact me at kkelseykknight@aol.com or 8594457254.  You could also contact the 4-H Agent, Shelley Meyer at shelley.meyer@uky.edu or 859-654-3395.

__PUBLIC__

The 2012 LABO/4-H International Exchange Program brought 15 Japanese exchange students to Kentucky.  Pendleton County had two families volunteer to host two of those 15 Japanese exchange students. Theresa, Clark, Audrey, Dallas, and Marshall Emery hosted Hiroshi Takeuchi while Kenna, Tim, Moriah, Kelsey, and Clay Knight hosted Masahiro Fukata. The duration for this program lasted from July 22– August 18. These Pendleton families were able to present an excellent opportunity to their host Japanese youth, allowing them to experience cultural differences and partake in numerous, fun American and Kentucky adventures.

You have probably heard that the cost of food is expected to rise next year. You can do several things to reduce your current grocery expenses and hopefully prepare yourself for the expected price increase.

One of the easiest things to do is to plan ahead. That includes making a meal plan for the week and making a shopping list based on the ingredients you need to fulfill your plan. Check weekly store sale ads and product coupons in the newspaper and online to find the best prices for the items you need. However, don’t buy something you don’t have plans for just because it’s on sale. Make sure sale items ring up with the correct price at checkout.

Lindie Huffman, County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources

The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board approved eleven model programs for the Pendleton County CAIP Programs. There will be three informational meetings held for the general public in reference to the programs available and the application process.  Please RSVP for one of the following meetings so that we can ensure enough copies will be available for all attendees.  Reservations can be made by calling 859-654-3395.  The first two meetings will be held at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Tuesday, September 4 and the third meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 5.

All meetings will be held in the Pendleton County Extension Office Meeting Room. Regardless if you have participated in these programs in the past, it is recommended that everyone interested in participating to attend one of these information meetings as some processes may have changed.  Please call 859-654-3395 for more information.

__PUBLIC__

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)  announced the availability of up to $5 million in grants to evaluate and demonstrate agricultural practices that help farmers and ranchers adapt to drought. NRCS is taking applications for Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) to help producers build resiliency into their production systems so they can adapt to climatic extremes, such as the historic drought impacting the nation.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced last week $26 million in Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) awarded to 59 entities across the nation for projects that test and prove innovative approaches to conserving America’s private lands.
Awardees for Kentucky include:

·    American Farmland Trust (IL, IN, KY, OH) $221,364 – Coupling precision agriculture with water quality credit trading

·    Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (OH, KY, IN) $1,000,000 – A credit trading registry for the Ohio River Basin Water Quality Trading Project

·    North Carolina State University (AR, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX) $472,962 - Refine and regionalize southern phosphorous assessment tools based on validation and State priorities

·    University of Arkansas (DE, MD, NY, PA, VA, WV, IA, KS, MO, NE, AR, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX) $57,924  - Identify methods to refine phosphorus indices and synthesize and extend lessons and outcomes from three regional indexing efforts

New this year was a special emphasis on water quality trading markets to demonstrate how farmers and ranchers can help municipalities and other point sources overcome high pollution control costs. Twelve entities received grant funds for this purpose.

Lindie Huffman, County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources

The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board approved eleven model programs for the Pendleton County CAIP Programs. There will be three informational meetings held for the general public in reference to the programs available and the application process.

Everyone knows how stress feels. Stress makes it difficult to meet the challenges associated with everyday life. Daily, people deal with stress from meeting deadlines, appointments and balancing home and work schedules. Coupled with everyday issues, life changing events such as a death in the family, moving, career change or family problems can cause additional stress.

The human body can take a certain amount of stress, but the level varies with each individual. It’s important for you to be in tune with your body and realize when the stresses in your life are reaching uncontrollable levels and leading to distress. Distress can cause you to become ill, injured or depressed.