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PAGE 4C — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. MARCH 19. 2009
The ABC’s of Agriculture
Celebrating ag education in Madison County— National Ag Week, March 15-21
Young Farmers
...conkdfrom, 3C
is also available.
An equally important part of the MCYF is the pro
motion of agricultural awareness. Although Madison
County boasts 763 farms, do you live and work on an
operating farm? Or did your parents or grandparents earn
their livelihood from farming?
In order to keep the connection between our commu
nity, particularly the youth, and the farming community
vibrant, MCYF partners with Madison County Farm
Bureau to host three innovative, educational field days
directed toward our youth.
At third grade Farm Day, all county third graders are
bussed to the Comer Fairgrounds and treated to educa
tional exhibits featuring livestock, natural resource con
servation, farm safety and much more.
The inaugural fifth grade Ag Awareness campaign at Ila
Elementary School was a finalist in Governor Perdue’s
Ag Awareness Campaign in 2008. The seventh grade
Farm Tour is truly a community-wide event - three local
farms opening their farm gates to nine buses of seventh
graders and a host of community volunteers!
MCYF is determined to tell the good story of agricul
ture to all who will listen.
Another integral part of the MCYF program begins
each morning at 8:10 a.m. in a high school classroom
full of teenagers! What a great way to start the day, sur
rounded by youthful energy and ideas and enthusiasm for
those things that interest them!
As the Young Farmer advisor, I teach an animal science
biotechnology class in the agricultural education depart
ment at Madison County Fligh School and serve as a
FFA Advisor to the students in my class. The opportunity
to interact with our youth, watching as they gain new
knowledge, leadership skills, and begin to look forward
to future career success, is a treasured and unique aspect
of the Young Farmer program.
As we face economic uncertainty on every front,
agriculture continues to be the strong and certain back
bone of the economy in Madison County. MCYF and
its membership will continue to strive to support and
bolster our farming sector - teaching and mentoring our
youth, providing support to beginning farmers, helping
established farmers stay abreast of the latest technology
and regulations, promoting Ag Awareness and providing
technical assistance.
Madison County Young Farmers is truly a unique and
comprehensive organization, with membership ranging
from the very young to old timers who have seen it all,
and covering every size and type of farming interest.
We invite you to come out to a Young Farmer event and
share in our excitement about the future of agriculture in
Madison County.
“There is no end in sight. It is great to watch the children. They get really
EXCITED INTERVIEWING THESE OLDER PEOPLE. IT IS INTERESTING FOR BOTH PARTIES.”
— Madison County Extension Coordinator Carl Varnadoe on the Madison County 4-H Heritage Seekers
UGA Extension: a valuable resource
Get Involved:
4-H is not just for kids. Adult volunteers can offer children
guidance in a learning environment.
“We can’t have too many 4-H volunteers,” said Madison
County Extension Coordinator Carl Varnadoe.
There are many ways to get involved with UGA
Extension.
For those who really want to learn the ins and outs of
home gardening, UGA Extension offers Master Gardener
classes. The Master Gardeners lead community programs
and help extend the resources of the local UGA Extension
office. Call your local office to find out when the next class
is available.
The Extension Leadership System gives citizens an
opportunity to be involved in planning and decision making
in their area.
“The people of the county truly know what the county
needs and can offer a valuable voice to the planning pro
cess,” Varnadoe said.
By April Sorrow
University of Georgia
From water quality and
pesticide safety to cattle for
ages and crop recommenda
tions, University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension has
the information. Citizens all
across the state look to UGA
Extension agents in their
county for answers to ques
tions about everything from
caterpillars to conservation,
finances and food safety.
Students also have access to
a variety of programs through
their local Georgia 4-H club.
“Our mission is to take the
educational information gen
erated through research at the
university and deliver it to the
people of Georgia who need
it most,” said Tony Tyson,
director of county operations
for UGA Extension. “We aim
to help Georgians live healthi
er, wealthier, more productive
lives.”
UGA Extension is the out
reach division of the UGA
College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences in
partnership with the UGA
College of Family and
Consumer Sciences. They
offer educational programs
and materials related to agri
culture, horticulture, fami
lies and consumer-related
issues. They also offer educa
tion on youth development
through 4-H programs. UGA
Extension has offices in 157
of Georgia's 159 counties.
Services and advice are free
for everyone.
“All Georgians have access
to free information on home
landscape management, lawn
care and better management of
household funds through their
local University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension
office,” Tyson said.
Information is available
on-line at www.ugaexten-
sion.com. Information on
local programs and events
are located on the Madison
County Extension Web page.
By calling 1-800-ASK-
UGA1, Georgians can reach
the UGA Extension agent in
their county for advice, work
shops offered, soil testing,
water testing and a variety of
other services.
“One of the most valuable
tools most counties have is
our digital distance diag
nostics service,” Tyson said.
“You can take in a bug or a
diseased plant sample and in
short order the county agent
can send digital images of it
to specialists who can help
diagnose the problem and
suggest ways to treat it.”
In 10 years, agents have
submitted more than 23,000
samples through the sys
tem. Almost every county in
Georgia is equipped with a
DDDI system, which includes
a dissecting scope, a com
pound microscope, a camera
that mounts on either micro
scope, a digital camera for
use in the field, a computer,
software and a printer.
Close to 100 UGA diagnos
ticians log in to the system to
help solve problems across
the state in aquaculture, bio
logical and agricultural engi
neering, crop and soil sci
ence, entomology, forestry,
horticulture and plant pathol
ogy.
4-H
Financial literacy and tar
get sports are among the
programs available through
4-H. UGA Extension agents
deliver hands-on learning
through Agriscience and
Healthy Lifestyles curricu
lum, Garden Earth Naturalist
training, public speaking and
language arts mastery and
citizenship and service-learn
ing opportunities.
Programs are available for
students in grades five through
12 and incorporate Georgia
Performance Standards.
Madison County 4-H
is home to the Heritage
Seekers, a group of students
committed to recording the
oral histories of the county’s
citizens. It began as a 4-H
history project but has since
blossomed into an ongoing
project that recently received
funding to purchase video
cameras, said Carl Varnadoe,
the UGA Extension coordi
nator in Madison County.
“There is no end in sight,”
Varnadoe said. “It is great to
watch the children. They get
really excited interviewing
these older people. It is inter
esting for both parties.”
Madison County’s oral
histories will be available
at the public library and on
the county’s UGA Extension
Web site.
National Agriculture
Week is
March 15-21,2009.
Many thanks for your loyal patronage!
Billy Leachman • Rickey Cain
Clem Patrick* Sammie Meeler
Tony Smith • Larry Hanley
Randy Smith • Donna Smith
Benita Sims
m ■ iifl
LP Gas Sales & Service
Home Owned & Operated
Gas, Inc.
COUNTRY BOYS GAS, INC.
335-3499
P.0. Box 517 • 1407 Fort Lamar Rd. • Commerce, Georgia 30529
CONGRATULATIONS
to all the Madison County
farmers on their
2nd Annual Agriculture Day!
FIRST
MADISON
BANK 8c TRUST
Athens Branch
780 US Highway 29
Athens, GA 30601
706-389-7979
Fax 706-369-1259
www.firstmadisonbank.com
Danielsville Branch
200 General Daniel Ave., N.
Danielsville, GA 30633
706-795-5000
Fax 706-795-0263
Colbert Branch
5536 GA Highway 72 W.
Colbert, GA 30628
706-788-0039
Fax 706-788-0059
MEMBER
FDIC
NO FARMS - NO FOOD!
we would like to thank the Madison County
Agriculture Teachers and Leaders for all your
good work. Madison County is blessed with
beautiful and productive agriculture land and
resources.
ALBERT L. STONE, JR.
Attorney At Law
P. O. Box 321 • 426 Courthouse Square
Danielsville, GA 30633
a Southern States
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