Iowa Section of NACAA

Room 230, Scheman Building

October 11, 2007

 

The fall meeting of the Iowa Section of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents was called to order at 11:18 a.m. by President Perry (Bud) Beedle.  Fifty-seven active members were in attendance; including College of Agriculture Dean Wendy Wintersteen and Agriculture and Natural Resources Program Assistant Director, Paul Brown.  Also present were guests, Chuck Schwartau, NACAA North Central Region Director, and Gerald Miller, Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) Program Director.

John Holmes asked to add “Gratitude to Jean McGuire” to the agenda.  Moved by Chris Nelson, seconded by Kapil Arora, to approve the agenda.  Motion carried.

Minutes of the March 14, 2007 Iowa Section of NACAA meeting were reviewed.  A change was made concerning the dollars raised from the raffle.  The minutes should read “A total of $530 was raised; $280 for the meal in Grand Rapids, Michigan and $250 for the scholarship fund.”  Moved by Pat Derdzinski, seconded by Bruce Bearinger, to approve the amended minutes.  Motion carried.

President Beedle shared the Treasurer’s Report provided by ISUCEP Treasurer Jeannie Tibbits. The big item was the $9,450 meal cost in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the NACAA Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference in July.  The ending balance for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, was $4,799.30.  Glen Easter moved to approve the Treasurer’s Report.  The motion was seconded by Dale Thoreson.  Motion carried.

Area membership reports were given.  New members introduced were Kelsey Bailey, Guthrie CEED; David Baker, Farm Transition Specialist (Campus); and Aaron Saeugling, Central Iowa Field Agronomist.

Gerald Miller, ANR Program Director, presented the “Excellence in Agricultural Extension Programs Award – Livestock” to Joe Sellers.

Dr. Miller also shared the following comments:

  • Mike White now has a 100% viticulture assignment.
  • the NE Area Extension Engineer position is still vacant, but a search is being done.
  • thank you for budget efforts in revenue generation and shift to grants and contracts.  There was an increase of $4,000 (up to $107,000) in revenue generation and $24,000 (up to $240,000) in shift to grants and contracts when comparing FY’07 to FY’06.

ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean, Wendy Wintersteen, shared the following comments with the group:   

  • working to build an increase in the base budget of the College.
  • student numbers in the College; 2,697 undergraduates and 700 graduate students.  A goal of 3,000 undergraduate students to meet the needs of Iowa was shared.
  • Jon Tollefson has stepped down as Chair of Entomology.
  • Kendall Lampe has been named Chair of Agronomy.
  • down 45 faculty lines over the last six years.  We are short on dairy faculty.
  • Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Hawkeye Renewables, made a $1.75 million gift to the College; $1.25 for an endowed chair for the entrepreneurship program and $500,000 for the Curtiss Hall renovation.
  • there is a good relationship with IDALs and Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey.
  • there will be a revolution in agriculture and it will make a difference in rural Iowa.  There is a need for more livestock in Iowa, not less.
  • this is the best opportunity we have ever had to move the oil industry to renewable energy and we need to embrace it.

John Holmes moved to pay Jean McGuire $50 for the table tents used at the meal function in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the NACAA Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference in July.   Motion seconded by Bruce Bearinger.  Motion carried.

Chuck Schwartau, NACAA North Central Region Director from Minnesota, gave a PowerPoint presentation about the NACAA organization.  The webpage is nacaa.com

President Beedle presented the proposed budget with the dollar amount to attend the Joint Council of Extension Professionals (JCEP) meeting increased.  Moved by Neil Wubben, seconded by Glen Easter to approve the budget.  Motion carried.

President Beedle passed the gavel to incoming President Jerry Chizek.  Jerry Chizek presented outgoing President Beedle with a plaque thanking him for his work the past year as Iowa NACAA Section Chair.

Motion by Kapil Arora, seconded by Steve Johnson, to wait until our Spring meeting to discuss a name change for our organization.  Motion carried.

An auction of an autographed Iowa State University football secured by Dale Miller was conducted with the winning bid of $110 being received from Carl Neifert.

Moved by Jim Jensen, seconded by Chris Nelson, to adjourn the meeting.  Motion carried and meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Jerry Chizek
Iowa Section of NACAA Secretary