Agriculture, Horticulture & Natural Resources

Illinois Dairy Day has been an annual event in Arthur since 1999. This is a partnership with the University of Illinois Department of Animal Sciences, U of I Extension, U of I College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Illinois Department of Public Health, Alternative Drug Residue Penalty Fund. 115 participants and vendors attended this annual event.

On a local level, Extension partnered with the Moultrie County Dairy Herd Improvement Association and Prairie State Select Sires to sponsor Arthur Dairy Day which had 40 participants.

Other examples in which Extension partnered with federal, state and local agencies were:

• Pesticide Safety Education Program which is co-sponsored with US Dept. of Agriculture, trained and tested 67 participants on safe applications of pesticide.
• The Illinois Forage Institute, which is co-sponsored with the Illinois Forage and Grassland Council, the USDA Risk Management Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and University of Illinois Extension, was held in February and was attended by 50 forage producers and exhibitors.
• The Variety Plot, which continued this past year with co-operators Mark and Melissa Yoder, Duane Hopkins of Kitchen Seed and 14 additional corn and soybean companies.

The Master Gardener program volunteers continued to serve county residents by presenting programs, diagnosing problems, and assisting with community gardens and landscape projects. The Volunteer Coordinator, Maxi Fitzjarrald, was awarded the State Outstanding Master Gardener award for all her efforts in the program. Master Gardener Coordinator was one of Lori Ashley-Anderson's new roles as an office member. She kept busy learning the ropes and becoming familiar with the ongoing projects and planning new ones.