EXTENSION TRENDS: MINIDOKA COUNTY University of Idaho Extension, Minidoka County • www.uidaho.edu/minidoka
2019 Impact UI Extension, Minidoka County nutrition, health education and community health programming included eight major UI Extension programs: Cooking Under Pressure statewide cooking school; Cooking Under Pressure workshops and train the trainer programs; Cooking Under Pressure: Freezer Meal Bootcamps; Rupert Boys and Girls Club; 4-H Cooking Club; Cooking Under Pressure for Youth; and Teen Leadership. A total of 56 presentations were held related to nutrition and health education topics, 134 articles published in five printed newspapers and 121 digital articles published in newsletters. UI Extension Educator Becky Hutchinson won an Innovation in Programming Award for Cooking Under Pressure and the Florence Hall Award for Cooking Under Pressure: Train the Trainer Webinar for Extension Professionals; 1st place in Idaho, 1st place in the Region, and 3rd place in the nation for both awards.
2019 By the Numbers • 11,911 direct contacts • 371 youth participants • 88 volunteers • 2,640 volunteer hours • $46,900 extramural funding
UI Extension Educators Becky Hutchings 208-436-7184 bhutchings@uidaho.edu
Jason Thomas 208-436-7184 jasont@uidaho.edu
Pest management, entomology and Hispanic laborer education in 2019 included 31 presentations, 15 videos and three articles published in the
Ag Proud magazine and Times News, reaching over 100,000 people. One of the main programs has continued to be sustainable vole management using barn owls. This spring UI Extension Educator Jason Thomas presented his research at the Vertebrate Pest Conference in California. Since starting this program, farmers and landowners with more than 35,000 acres in Minidoka County are moving towards sustainable rodent management. This number includes two irrigation companies and multiple farms and landowners. These numbers take into consideration over 20 boxes deployed in the county, research agreements to collect data and requests by individuals for plans to build barn owl boxes.
4-H in Minidoka County Over the last several years, the number of youth participating in food projects in the county has decreased. In 2019, several Minidoka County 4-H volunteers decided to offer a one-week youth cake decorating boot camp and a series of cooking classes, in hopes of increasing food project participation. Youth learned skills from these classes and used them to compete in the first ever county Cupcake Wars at the fair. To be involved in the wars, 4-H members were required to be enrolled in a food project. In 2017, there were 21 food projects, in 2018 there were 34 projects, in 2019 there were 46 projects and in 2020 there are 75 projects. The success of these events has brought new excitement to the food projects and a new challenge to the Cupcake Wars event on how to showcase every participant.
On the Horizon In the upcoming year, Hutchings will work with the Idaho Beef Council to produce videos to highlight Idaho’s beef industry and how to cook quick and nutritious beef related meals in an electric pressure. She is also working on a Dorm Room Chef program to teach high school juniors and seniors how to prepare quick and healthy meals away from home.
4-H Program Coordinator Jeni Bywater is collaborating with other UI Extension Central District educators and 4-H coordinators to provide an overnight tent leadership camp for teens. Teens will pitch tents, cook meals, sing songs, socialize around a campfire and provide a service project to the venue. These activities will enable the teens to gain valuable leadership skills they can utilize at other events. Thomas will continue to look for ways to serve the Hispanic community. He is currently working to publish an article about what types of factors influence Hispanic farm workers to switch jobs. This need arose from multiple farm managers expressing concern about worker turnover among this group. We hope to help farmers make better management decisions to keep workers around longer. We also continue to look at barn owl behaviors and ways to support these beneficial predators.
Our Advisory Council Special thanks to our volunteers who help shape programming and inform the work we do for UI Extension in Minidoka County: Susi McCall, Vicky Edgar, Connie Studer, Chris Joyce, Donna Harper, Dixie Tate, Kathleen Whitlock, Heather Hepworth, Nikki Kent, Staci Joyce, Lori Johnson, Wendy Beedle, Diana Wheeler, Mary Andersen, Clayton Beene, Troy Draper, Jessica Stapelman, Justin Studer, Tawnya Tracy, Russ Suchan, Brian Kossman, Lanae Nalder, Salvador Moreno and Jeff Miller.