Creating Farm Emergency Directories

In my short time as a Carle Rural Health and Farm Safety Intern, I have  gained a lot of knowledge and have learned a lot about what goes into agriculture in the medical field. Prior to this internship I would have never even considered that agriculture played a role in the medical field. Part of my daily tasks at Carle reminds me of this importance every day. So far the most rewearding part of my internship has been working on my special project. I am in charge of creating farm emergency directories for Edgar, Coles, Douglas, Moultrie, Piatt, and Vermilion county, along with adding the finishing touches to the Champaign directory as well. There are many steps and different tasks that go along with putting these directories together. First, I had to review all of the progress done by the previous intern on this project, learn what she did and try to pick up from there. I had to find what companies still needed to be contacted. In each county I am responsible for contacting the grain elevators, fertilizer/chemical companies, machinery companies, and fire departments. Once I call them I have to get either their email or fax so I can send out the questionare for the directory. When I recieve the completed forms I then have to enter all of the data into the computer. These forms include information on contacts and tools the companies have in the event of a farm emergency so that the fire departments can best react to each situation. I then have to keep in contact with the companies that have not returned a form yet. From there I have created the rough draft of the directories which includes compiling all of the information from each company into a nice looking format. Now I have to send the rough drafts to each county for editing/corrections. Once those come back I can then finalize the directories and send them out to the fire departments for use. While this is a huge project I have thoroughly enjoyed putting my hard work into it and the the pay off for the completion of this project will be immense. I can't wait to see what else I get to work on after this.

The Wonderful World of 4-H

Judging Cloverbud projects at the Vermilion County Fair.

         When I was younger, I was a member of 4-H. I have many fond memories of showing my pigs, creating my sewing projects with my grandma, and winning Superior awards at the IL State Fair. After being in 4-H for 10 years, I thought I knew everything there was to know about 4-H, however, when I started my internship with the Unit 13 Extension I realized I was wrong. This summer I was able to work during the fair season, which I loved. How many people can say they get paid and go to the fair? I thought I was pretty lucky!



"Splashing" Gibson City

I thought the summer time (fair time) would always be the busy part of my work at Extension, but the off season is just as busy. Throughout the past 10 weeks, I have had the chance to see what happens at the Extension office when it is not fair season. One of the projects that I am working on is the Splash Campaign. This campaign is to promote 4-H through the 4 counties Unit 13 covers (Champaign, Ford, Iroquois, and Vermilion counties). We "splash" the towns with 4-H signs and posters to attract community members. Along with the publicity we host Find Out Parties. These parties allow parents and children come and see what 4-H is all about and meet the Extension staff. Tonight is one of the Find Out Parties for Iroquois county.

I truly have enjoyed my experience at the University of Illinois Extension. It has opened my eyes to another career path that I would love to take if I do not like teaching. The work environment is always positive and my co-workers are great. I would not trade my experience for the world.

Unit 13 4-H Staff at the Federation Retreat at 4-H Memorial Camp

It's hard to believe that this semester is already halfway over. It's totally flown by, and when I sit back and look at all the things I've done so far it's really encouraging. I'm most exicted to complete my special project in which I'll get the opportunity to create lessons on grain bin safety (one of the topics we push here in the  RHFS department) that will be used in high schools across the area. I'll have to make not just the plans, but figure out activities, handouts, etc as well as create in depth instructor guides to help the teachers better implement the lesson in their classrooms. It's almost like I'll be getting a behind the scenes look at teaching and where some of the resources I'll be using in my future classroom will come from.

Overall, I'm so happy to have this opportunity and to see what hte rest of the semester holds!

Illinois Ag Leadership Interns: Illinois Ag Leadership Interns: Illinois Ag Leader...

I also added many new signs/ logos to my sign box as well as a new door. Here is examples of my new box, i repainted, redecorated, and added the new door window. On my company truck that AgriGold issued me.

Illinois Ag Leadership Interns: Illinois Ag Leadership Interns: Summer Interns Get...

I created 460 field signs. I was required to only put up 400.  I also put up 4 different plots here are an example pf a plot.

Illinois Ag Leadership Interns: Summer Interns Get to Work

I spent the summer doing many different things. from redoing my sign box, to making field signs, and grower researcher prospecting.

WBQA

I've spent the majority of my time with Wisconsin Beef Quality Assurance editing and putting together days and days of video footage that has been taken over the years from various farm visits.  I've been working on everything from current event tips and topics such as early and fence-line weaning, proper cattle handling techniques, and even virtual farm tours.

Below is an example of one I put together on the ease and importance of record keeping, and how one organic beef producer does it.