NCR9: Midwest Plan Service
(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)
Status: Inactive/Terminating
Date of Annual Report: 09/03/2003
Report Information
Period the Report Covers: 05/01/2002 - 05/01/2003
Participants
Brief Summary of Minutes
Accomplishments
Report on projects in 2002-2003<br /> <br><br /> <br>Completed the Conservation Tillage CD, contains MWPS-45, plus Powerpoints, movie clips, and additional publications on the history and philosophy of conservation tillage.<br /> <br> <br /> <br>Published MWPS-4SD14, Proceedings for a Four-State Dairy Conference<br /> <br> <br /> <br>Published MWPS-4SD15, Proceedings for a Four-State Dairy C0nference<br /> <br> <br /> <br>Published NCR-610F, Part VI of the series Business Management for Farmers, done with the NCFMEC.<br /> <br> <br /> <br>Published NCFMEC-233, Planning and Managing Your Farm Business Center, done with the NCFMEC. <br /> <br><br /> <br>In the past year, MWPS mailed 9,000 catalogs to customers. The MWPS catalog also is on the Conservation Tillage CD.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Bill Koenig reported that he has spent most of the past year working to complete sections of The Structures and Environment Handbook, MWPS-1. The project was to have been completed by January 2004. This project will have a lower priority in the future so Bill can focus on projects that have broader appeal or funding to support their development. There was some discussion of making MWPS-1 into a 3-5 part series so we can start getting some income from the time that has been spent already. MWPS staff will factor this into planning for the upcoming year.<br /> <br><br /> <br>MWPS staff also spent time redrawing figures for The House Planning Handbook and working on the Farmstead Planning Handbook. <br /> <br><br /> <br>MWPS continues to be a partner in efforts to secure additional funding for the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship Curriculum Project, and MWPS is a partner in an ongoing effort to develop fact sheets to explain the 2003 CAFO rules and to secure additional funding to enhance and maintain the LPES curriculum. MWPS also participated in writing a proposal to develop a National Information Outreach Model for Animal Agricultural Water Quality Issues.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Priority projects for 2003-2004<br /> <br>1. Continuation of LPES Project.<br /> <br>2. Dairy Heifer Manual. <br /> <br>3. House Planning Handbook. <br /> <br>4. Hoop Structures for Animal Housing. <br /> <br>5. Comprehensive Nutrient Management Planning Materials (CNMP). <br /> <br>6. Horse Housing Handbook. <br /> <br>7. Continued Support for NCFMEC. Publish books and bulletins to support the work of the farm management specialists. <br /> <br>8. Continued Support for Four-State Dairy Group. Publish the proceedings from Four-State Dairy Conferences.<br /> <br>9. Structures and Environment Handbook. Complete as soon as time allows or monetary support becomes available.<br /> <br>10. Farmstead Planning Handbook. Look at ways to make this available electronically.<br /> <br>11. Private Water Systems. Examine sales potential and see if resources will become available to work on this book.Publications
Conservation Tillage on CD, 2003, CD-ROM that includes MWPS-45 plus other educational materials, (MWPS-45CD)<br /> <br><br /> <br>Four-State Professional Dairy Management Seminar, 2003, 52 pages (MWPS-4SD14)<br /> <br><br /> <br>Four-State Forage Conference, 2003, 64 pages (MWPS-4SD15)<br /> <br><br /> <br>Four State Applied Nutrition and Management Conference, 2003, 182 pages (MWPS-4SD16)<br /> <br><br /> <br>Planning the Late Career, Retirement-Mode Years, 2003, 78 pages (NCR-610F)<br /> <br><br /> <br>Planning and Managing your Farm Business Center, 2003, 16 pages (NCFMEC-233)Impact Statements
- See publications
Date of Annual Report: 08/19/2004
Report Information
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2003 - 09/01/2004
Participants
Members attending:
Ted Funk-University of Illinois, Jay Harmon-Iowa State University, Bill Wilcke-University of Minnesota, Rick Stowell substituting for Rick Koelsch-University of Nebraska, Ken Hellevang and Tom Scherer-North Dakota State University, Don Jones substituting for Randall Reeder-The Ohio State University, Steve Pohl and Dick Nicolai-South Dakota State University, David Kammel and Brian Holmes substituting for Ron Schuler-University of Wisconsin
Members not attending:
Dwaine Bundy, Steve Hoff, Jeff Lorimor, Stewart Melvin and Hongwei Xin-Iowa State University, Melvin Paulsen and Yuanhui Zhang-University of Illinois, Kevin Janni-University of Minnesota, David Shelton-University of Nebraska, Dirk Maier-Purdue
Guests:
Gerald Miller(representing Catherine Woteki, Administrative Advisor-Iowa State University, William Edwards(representing the North Central Farm Management Extension Committee)-Iowa State University, Pat Murphy-Kansas State University, and Jack Moore, Bill Koenig, Judy Johnson, and Susan Lucke, MWPS Headquarters- Ames
Brief Summary of Minutes
Kansas City Airport Marriott HotelMonday, May 17 to Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Administrative Adviser, Dr. Catherine Woteki, Dean of Agriculture, Iowa State University, 138 Curtiss Hall, Ames, IA 50011-1050
Chair , Dr. Jay Harmon, Iowa State University, ABE, Davidson Hall, Ames, IA 50011-3080
Secretary and ex-officio member, Mr. Jack Moore, MidWest Plan Service, 122 Davidson Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3080
Executive Committee Meeting
The MWPS executive committee meeting was held from 1:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 17, 2004. The executive committee members present were Jay Harmon, chair; Steve Pohl, past chair; Bill Wilcke, member; Rick Stowell, member; and Jack Moore, ex-officio. Also present were Gerald Miller, Bill Koenig, Judy Johnson, and Susan Lucke.
Major topics of discussion were the MWPS budget, cooperation between ASAE, MWPS, and NRAES, the relationship between MWPS and NCR-9, and plans for the full committee meeting.
Jack Moore reported on the budget outlook for 2003-2004 and the plans for 2004-2005. The main points of the report were that MWPS has increased income but not enough to compensate for the loss of the member state contributions. As a result, MWPS has cut staff and plans to reduce staff work time more for the upcoming year.
Suggestions for improving the financial condition included charging more for services provided on contract. Gerald Miller pointed out that the new budget does not reflect the 2.5% tax on revolving accounts that ISU will be taking in the coming year.
Jay Harmon, Bill Koenig, and Jack Moore gave an overview of the meeting with ASAE and NRAES that was held in St. Joseph, Michigan in April 2004. A full summary of that meeting is attached. The major conclusion from the meeting is that all groups want to cooperate if possible, and ASAE is very concerned about the loss of a national resource if MWPS is unable to continue operating.
Susan Lucke was introduced as the marketing person for MWPS. She gave a summary of her activities over the last six months.
Approximately 10,000 copies of a new catalog have been distributed.;
Flyers advertising specific books have been distributed.;
New mailing lists have been compiled.;
Susan suggested we try to get a search engine on the MWPS web site to make publications easier to find. She will have MWPS members send her the names of people for her to contact to publicize MWPS more widely.
Gerald Miller suggested sending news items to ANR programs leaders to add to their newsletters.
Jay Harmon addressed the issue of NCR-9/MWPS relationship. His suggestion was that the full committee should elect an executive committee for NCR-9 and from that committee draw members for an Advisory Committee to MWPS.
The executive committee agreed that the main goals for the full committee meeting were the following:
Have each member provide marketing contacts to MWPS.;
Establish work groups to develop materials for the upcoming year.;
Have the full committee clarify the NCR-9/MWPS relationship, including developing new ways of developing publications and getting materials ready for publication.;
Full Committee Meeting
Jay Harmon, chair, called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m., Tuesday , May 18, 2004.
Financial overview
Through the efforts of ISU's College of Agriculture, Jay Harmon, Bill Koenig, and Jack Moore were able to meet with a staff member from ISU's Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship to talk about developing a business plan for MWPS. Based on the results of that meeting, MWPS worked to develop marketing expertise and a marketing plan before developing a business plan. The business plan will be the next step in the transition to being self supporting.
MWPS used salary savings from a vacant designer position to hire Susan Lucke as a part-time marketing person. This arrangement will last until the end of June 2004. Through Susan's efforts, sales at headquarters have increased but not enough to overcome the loss of Member State contributions. Gerald Miller noted that ISU's College of Agriculture may be able to provide funding to support the marketing position through the end of 2004. Jay Harmon will discuss this with Gerald and other ISU administrators.
MWPS is actively seeking additional contracts to generate income and will be getting direct income from work done for the Wisconsin Dept. of Ag, the Hoop Housing Conference in September, and contracts with the NCFMEC and Four-State Dairy Group,
The budget for 2004-2005 assumes a 15% increase in sales income and some reduction in staff salary, which will be accomplished by reducing hours and workloads. The budget allows for printing two major publications for 2004-2005: The Horse handbook and The House Planning Handbook. Other large publications may not be printed if resources are not available. If MWPS is unable to increase cash flow, some projects may need to be delayed until sufficient money is available to complete them.
MWPS is a participant in three proposals: two with groups led by Rick Koelsch that plan to develop a national resource center for water quality issues, and one with a group led by Jay Harmon that plans to host a conference on air quality and publish educational materials resulting from the conference.
Accomplishments: Projects Completed in 2003-2004:
MWPS Concrete Conference, June 2003;
MWPS-4SD16, Proceedings for a Four-State Dairy Conference, June 2003;
Raising Dairy Replacements, book and CD, new publication completed October 2003;
CAFO Fact Sheets, text for web-based distribution, completed November 2003;
CNMP materials, text and PowerPoints on CD, completed January 2004;
MWPS catalog, completed February 2004;
Managing and Designing Bunker and Trench Silos, revised publication March 2004;
Manure Characteristics, MWPS-18 Section 1, revised publication April 2004;
Current Projects:
Revise hoop housing AEDs for conference in September 2004;
Develop beef, dairy, and other species AEDs for hoop conference in September;
Complete the revision of the Horse Facilities Handbook, December 2004;
Complete the revision of the House Planning Handbook, April 2005;
Developing pesticide and fertilizer handling materials for Wisconsin Dept. of Ag;
Publish CNMP modules, possibly as a CD or on the web;
Market Farmstead Planning CD developed by Jones, Holmes, and Funk;
Complete 4SD-17, Dairy Conference proceedings for June;
Complete Farm Management Triennial Conference CD for June;
Compile a CD of all past 4 State Dairy proceedings;
Resume work on MWPS-1
Approximately 3/4 of the chapters of MWPS-1 are complete. Reviews of the structure and load chapters are needed.
Overview of meeting between MWPS, ASAE, and NRAES
Jack Moore gave an overview of the meeting that he, Jay Harmon, and Bill Koenig had with representatives from ASAE and NRAES. The meeting took place in St. Joseph, Michigan in April 2004. Jack noted that all parties were interested in cooperation, and both ASAE and NRAES expressed interest in publicizing MWPS materials where possible and using MWPS materials when appropriate.
MWPS members discussed the idea of a merger with NRAES, which was one suggestion that came from the April meeting. Moore noted that NRAES is not very interested in merging. MWPS members felt that a merger would not enhance either program and agreed that remaining separate would be a better option for now. Committee members urged MWPS staff to maintain good contacts with ASAE and NRAES and to work with them when appropriate. Moore will report the group's discussion and decision to the ASAE committee that initiated the April meeting.
As part of the discussion about working with ASAE, Bill Wilcke proposed that MWPS suggest a cooperative program with ASAE in which MWPS would develop materials that discussed and explained ASAE standards by using examples and practical applications of the standards. Bill agreed to lead a work group to discuss the feasibility of this project.
NCR-9/MWPS relationship
Committee members expressed a variety of opinions about how NCR-9 and MWPS should interact in the coming years. After much discussion, Rick Stowell, Don Jones, and Ken Hellevang agreed to work as a committee to address this issue.
Gerald Miller gave an update of NCR-9 administrative issues. The new proposal starts October 1, 2004 and goes for 5 years; the mid-term review is 2007. At this time, Michigan and Missouri do not have members on the new NCR-9 committee. Jerry indicated that NCR-9 is expected to continue to have a link to MWPS.
Ken Hellevang moved that we elect officers to fill traditional roles even though we are working through a transitional time. Ken proposed we elect a chair, past chair, vice chair, and secretary. Don Jones seconded, Motion passed.
The nominating committee proposed the following as officers for the NCR-9 Committee for 2004-2005 (1-year appointments):
Chair-Ted Funk;
Vice Chair-Brian Holmes;
At-Large - Pat Murphy and Rick Stowell;
Past chair-Jay Harmon;
This slate was elected unanimously. Jay Harmon will continue to serve as the liaison to the MWPS office at ISU. Temporarily, MWPS staff will provide secretarial support.
Marketing report:
Susan Lucke described the marketing plan that she has been working on. She would like to have the committee provide her with additional mailing lists. She suggested putting a search feature on web site to help customers find publications. Susan passed out two sheets to the committee. The first explained the marketing plan, and the second was a sheet that committee members could fill out and give to headquarters with information about how to reach additional contacts.
Susan stressed that additional NCR contacts would be helpful. As part of the marketing strategy, we will make news releases for all publications available for download from the MWPS web site. Committee members should try to add people to the e-mail news release list from outside the multi-state group. Try to think of companies that would buy large quantities to use as gifts or incentives to their customers.
Publishing priorities:
Hoop publications;
Dairy conference proceedings;
House publication;
Horse publication;
CD-Farmstead planning;
Dairy conference proceedings on CD;
CNMP CD;
Wisconsin fertilizer and pesticide handling materials;
MWPS-1;
Ventilation publication;
LPES materials;
Example template that committee members can use to write MWPS into proposals
Other activities and responsibilities:
Monthly updates will continue to come from the chair of the NCR-9 committee.
The full committee will meet by conference call on November 1, 2004, at 10:00am CST to remind members what they committed to at the annual meeting and to discuss what is being done to complete these issues.
The following agreed to head up author committees for ongoing and proposed projects:
House Planning Handbook - Ken Hellevang, David Kammel, Ted Funk;
Pond Management and Small Farms - Don Jones;
Ventilation - Steve Pohl;
Composting - Steve Pohl;
Biofilter - Dick Nicolai & Rick Stowell;
Dairy Housing - Brian Holmes and David Kammel;
ASAE Standards and MWPS materials - Bill Wilcke;
MWPS-1 - Bill Koenig
Schedule of news releases for the next year:
June -Pat Murphy-Beef Bunker
Brian Holmes-MWPS-2;
July -Ken Hellevang-Grain;
August -Dick Nicolai-Farm Safety;
September -Steve Pohl-Ventilation;
October -Bill Koenig/Jay Harmon-Horse;
November -House Planning - To be determined;
December -William Edwards-Farm Management;
January -Tom Scherer-Irrigation;
February -Jack Moore/Rick Koelsch/Diane Huntrods-LPES;
March -Steve Pohl-Concrete;
April -Don Jones-Outdoor Air
Rick Stowell's committee will report on the relationship between NCR-9 and MWPS.
The annual meeting for 2005 will be May 24-26 at the Kansas City Airport Marriott.
Meeting Adjourned at 12:00 Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Approved:
Signed Jay Harmon
Jay Harmon
NCR-9 Chair, 2004
Signed Catherine E. Woteki
Catherine E. Woteki
NCR-9 Administrative Advisor 2004