There will be eight contests open to youth members with cash prizes awarded. Participants will pick one of three offered tours.

There is no registration cost. Pre-registration is required for an accurate meal count and for tour divisions by August 1. Registration is preferred on the Kansas 4-H web site registration system, www.kansas4-h.org . Click on "Register for 4-H Events, and Kansas State 4-H & FFA Wheat Show." For those with no computer connections, contact Berny Unruh for food count by August 1, at 620-793-1910. For more information contact Deryl Waldren at 785-462-6281 or e-mail him at: dwaldren@ksu.edu .

For full details visit: http://4-h.k-state.edu/Events/WheatShow/Default.htm . --Deryl Waldren

GROWING GROWERS MARKET GARDENING WORKSHOP:
Pests, Disease and Weeds
Sunday, August 17th
10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. - Including a farm tour of Natures Choice Biodynamic Farm, St. Joseph, MO

For more information go to Pests, Disease and Weeds Workshop , or call Laura Christensen at 816-805-0362. --Laura Christensen

SIGNS AVAILABLE TO POST NEAR SENSITIVE CROPS
Growers of organic or sensitive crops can reduce the risk of pesticide damage by posting signs and using the Kansas Department of Agriculture registry.

The K-State distribution center is now offering the signs (previously available through KDA) to mark sites of sensitive crops. Item S-151 is a 12- x 18-inch sign with a "Project Good Neighbor" logo and text: "Sensitive Crop Grown Here. Don’t let your pesticides drift. To learn more, visit www.ksda.gov ."

See a PDF of the sign at www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/ . Enter S151 in the search window, and press "Go."

Send orders or refer growers to orderpub@lists.oznet.ksu.edu ; phone 785-532-5830; or fax 785-532-7938. Please include customer number, complete billing and shipping information (including physical delivery address – no PO Boxes), contact e-mail and phone number.

The KDA registry lists locations that pesticide applicators can use to identify sensitive areas before spraying. Registry use is voluntary. For a site to be listed, producers must submit a request to KDA. For more information, visit www.ksda.gov/pesticides_fertilizer/?cid=517  or contact Sharon Dobesh, Pesticide and IPM Coordinator, at sdobesh@ksu.edu  or 785-532-4748. --Nancy Zimmerli-Cates nancyz@ksu.edu

For more information or to find collaborating faculty in your watershed, contact Christa Smith, 785-532-5127, christas@ksu.edu  , or visit http://www.k-state.edu/waterlink/index.html . Applications should be submitted by the first of August or within an agreed time arrangement with the project coordinator. --Dan Kahl dankahl@ksu.edu

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS - ARCHIVED
Last week all proposals in the Professional Development system that did not have dates were archived. If you were a contact person on one of these proposals you received a message with the title of the proposal that was archived.

To update and re-submit a proposal, you may click on the Archive button at the top on the page. Find the proposal you want to update and re-submit and click on "copy". An editable version of the proposal will appear. Make changes to update, then click on save at the bottom of the form. This will send it on its way back to the catalog. Don't expect it to appear immediately. It will be cataloged by one of the Assistant Directors.

This will be an annual process to ensure that proposals are reviewed and are current with the work of the PFTeams. --Margaret Phillips margaret@ksu.edu

MARKETING MINUTE: METRO RESIDENTS' PREFERRED SOURCES FOR INFORMATION

In Fall, 2007, K-State Research and Extension’s communications staff interviewed approximately 250 residents in five metro Kansas counties to learn more about how they prefer to get information, among other marketing questions.

The focus groups – held in Sedgwick, Shawnee, Douglas, Wyandotte and Johnson counties – indicated three sources of information important to metro residents:

1)      Web sites;

2)      Friends and family;

3)      Local businesses, professionals, or community resources.

The results are similar to those found in a summer, 2007 telephone survey conducted for K-State Research and Extension in which metro residents said they prefer the Internet, radio, direct phone access with experts, and displays in public places for receiving information.

Taken together, the responses indicate the importance of face-to-face contact; trust in someone you know; and placing information in areas where metro residents live, work and play.