The workshop will use the acclaimed Project Learning Tree curriculum to give participants access to hundreds of simple activities for integrating environmental education in a classroom, club, or after-school program. These activities address the four Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs) for science, with an emphasis on experiential learning and getting kids outside to learn about science and nature.

Registration for the training is $35 before May 1, $50 May 1 or later, and includes the Project Learning Tree Environmental Education Activity Guide, lunch, and 6 clock hours. Additional information is available at http://bit.ly/156vXpW or by calling 425-357-6023.

The training is offered through a partnership between Washington State University Extension and the Stillaguamish Tribe.

Participants interested in cider production or growing apples, pears, cherries and other tree fruit will learn about rootstock and cultivar selection, orchard layout development, soil fertility management and integrated pest management. Moulton, who has decades of experience in fruit horticulture and management, will also cover irrigation system setup, thinning and pruning techniques and harvest methods.

Registration costs $70 and includes the workshop, morning refreshments and lunch. Register online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/357848.

The workshop is open to all but geared toward individuals looking to establish commercial tree fruit operations and fruit processors wishing to learn more about the needs and challenges of tree fruit growers in western Washington, said Lucas Patzek, director of WSU Thurston County Extension.

“The workshop was organized, in part, to respond to a growing interest in apple and pear hard ciders,” Patzek said. “There are 10 commercial cideries in Washington state, six of which are located west of the Cascades.”

Moulton will take participants through a tasting of cider varietals to demonstrate how variety can impact flavor and mouthfeel, among other sensory qualities.

WSU Thurston County Extension, Thurston Conservation District and the South Sound Fruit Society are workshop sponsors. Learn more about WSU’s tree fruit research and extension at http://www.tfrec.wsu.edu/.

Up close and personal: Thrips are typically 1 mm long (about the width of a sharpened pencil lead!) and have fringed wings.

PROSSER, Wash.– Thrips may be tiny, but the insects cause billions of dollars in damage to crops each year, which is why Washington State University is part of a five-year, $3.75 million project to study the insects’ role in virus transmission and strategies for pest management.

Specifically, the multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary research team is generating new knowledge on thrips-transmitted tospoviruses— infectious agents that spread and cause damage to a variety of crops, to wilt and eventually die. Tospoviruses also damage quality of fruits and vegetables produced by their infected plants, said Naidu Rayapati, a researcher at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser and a co-principal investigator on the USDA grant. Before joining WSU in 2004, Rayapati worked with tospoviruses at the University of Georgia and at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.

“One part of the project is to look at the epidemiology of diseases caused by tospoviruses, especially the role of vectors (carriers) in the spread of these viruses at the fundamental level,” Rayapati said. “We’d like to study how these viruses spread and contribute to the evolution of new strains. For example, can a single insect acquire and transmit two viruses to the same plant simultaneously?”

Naidu Rayapati, plant pathologist and co-PI on the USDA grant, will help train future scientists about thrips-damage to agricultural crops.

The project will focus on areas in California and the southeastern U.S. where thrips damage is most severe and causes major crop-loss. The collaboration includes entomologists, plant pathologists, molecular breeders, and extension faculty from UC Davis, Kansas State University, North Carolina State University, Cornell University, University of Georgia and the USDA-ARS U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory. Rayapati said the team is also interested in understanding how management techniques applied in one region might work in another.

“As a team we are bringing different expertise to bear on a common problem,” Rayapati said. “We hope to generate appropriate knowledge of thrips and tospoviruses and come up with improved strategies that can really help provide management of thrips-transmitted tospoviruses to multiple crops in different regions.”

Rayapati said he is also actively recruiting graduate students and undergraduate students, with an emphasis on students from minority communities in the Yakima valley, to begin work on the project for summer and fall 2013.

“This project has an extension component in terms of working with the stakeholders to convey science-based information for practical applications, but what we are also focusing on is training the next generation of scientists,” he said.

The grant is funded through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture with $670,000 allotted to WSU.

The afternoon’s program will consist of a tour of the WSU Roza Experimental Orchards. Topics of discussion will include: Washington-Oregon cherry breeding program updates; UFO plantings and training systems; observations from the Michigan State University rootstock trial; a demonstration of shake-and-catch harvest technology; a solid-set-canopy delivery system demonstration; and a demonstration of a labor monitoring system.

The afternoon will conclude with visit to two or three local orchards.

A detailed agenda is available at http://bit.ly/cherryfd2012.

Danielle Derum demonstrates how to estimate the weight of a pig during the 2011 Livestock Handling and Care workshop. Photo: Kate Halstead/WSU Extension.

Hands-on workshops with live animals will include topics such as hoof trimming, injections, halter training, nutrition, fencing, and more. Taught by award-winning seniors from the WSU Snohomish County 4-H Livestock Program, workshop instructors have the experience and expertise needed to raise and show prize-winning livestock. In addition, all attendees will receive a CD-ROM loaded with resources for livestock owners.

• Poultry. Apr 21, 9 – 11 a.m.: Learn the basics of proper care and handling for all types of poultry. Egg & meat breeds, housing, nutrition, & more. Demonstration and hands-on.
• Beef. Apr. 21, 12 – 3 p.m.: Learn proper leading, handling, dehorning, and injection techniques along with fencing, nutrition, and more. Demonstration and hands-on.
• Swine. Apr 22, 9 – 12 p.m.: Learn how to raise great pork with safety as a focus. Handling, housing, fencing, nutrition, and more. Demonstration and hands-on.
• Goats. Apr 22, 1 – 3 p.m.: Dairy or meat, you’ll learn the basics of handling, nutrition, fencing, housing, dehorning, and more. Demonstration and hands-on.

Class size is limited and pre-registration is required. Sign up now to save your spot. $25 per person for any workshop; $45 per person for any two; $65 per person for any three, or save and take all four for $75 per person. To register, download the form at http://bit.ly/GErZx6, and mail with your check to the address on the form or contact Karie Christensen: 425-357-6039, christensen4@wsu.edu. For more information on the workshops, contact Marilyn Segle, mander@wsu.edu, 425-357-6044.

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Riparian conditions on West Muddy Creek, Wyoming, in 1954 following season-long grazing. Click image for larger version.

Non-compliance with environmental regulations, especially non-point-source water quality regulations, represents a financial and legal risk to range- and pasture-based livestock operations in the Pacific Northwest. Grazing that degrades riparian health diminishes the economic sustainability of this land-dependent business.

Riparian conditions on West Muddy Creek, Wyoming, in 1998 following a change to short-term grazing with a longer recovery period. Click image for larger version.

The workshops include both classroom and field instruction. They discuss key riparian area attributes, processes and the design of management plans that work for ranchers and protect water quality.

Workshop dates and locations:

• May 20-21 in Mount Vernon at the WSU Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center, West Auditorium, 16650 State Rt. 536, Mount Vernon, WA 98273-4768.
• May 23-24 in White Salmon at the Pioneer Center, 501 NE Washington St., White Salmon, WA 98605.

Workshops run 8 a.m.-5 p.m. both days at each location. Registration is $50 to cover food and transportation. Space is limited; add your name to the list by contacting the WSU Kittitas County Extension office at 509-962-7507 or email amorse@wsu.edu. For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/ripariangrazing.

WSU Extension partnered with the National Riparian Service Team and local conservation districts to produce these workshops. Funding for this project was provided by the WSU Western Center for Risk Management Education, the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Riparian Service Team.

The training is open to natural resource professionals at no cost. However, participants must be forestry technical service providers (TSPs) or intend to become forestry TSPs after completing the class. The workshop does not qualify participants as TSPs, but it does introduce them to the steps required to become TSPs. The workshop is open to the first 30 people on a first?come, first?served basis.

The course includes the WSU Extension “Forest Stewardship Planning Handbook,” valued at $75. It contains a wealth of information on forest planning, laws and taxes, forest management, forest health, products and marketing, harvesting, soil and water, wildlife, range and grazing. Participants will learn how to improve their ability to write plans and avoid common errors and omissions that thwart plan success.

Natural resource professionals are in demand to assist landowners with forest management planning. Plans are required by the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) for landowners to get funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Other federal and state management plan requirements further complicate the plan writing process.

Forest Management Plan Writing Competency Training workshops will be 10 a.m.?3 p.m. on these dates at these locations:

• March 15: WSU Chelan County Extension, 400 Washington St., Wenatchee
• March 29: WSU Stevens County Extension, 986 S. Main, Suite D, Colville
• April 5: Cowlitz County Training Center, 1942 First Ave., Longview
• May 18: Asotin, location to be determined
• May 24: USDA Service Center, 2021 E. College Way, Suite 214, Mt. Vernon
• May 31: WSU Lewis County Extension, 351 NW North St., Chehalis

Participants should bring their own lunch.

To register, complete the form on the WSU Extension forestry website at http://bit.ly/forestplanwriting and mail to WSU Extension, c/o Forestry Extension, 400 Washington St., Wenatchee, WA 98801. WSU Extension developed the curriculum for this workshop in cooperation with the Washington Department of Natural Resources, the NRCS and other partners. Training is made possible by a Conservation Innovations Grant from the NRCS.

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The workshop is a mix of presentation and practical exercises to help families address key challenges, such as the legal and economic aspects of transferring a farm, forest or ranch from one generation to the next. Participants receive a “Ties to the Land” workbook and DVD, tools designed to help families continue to improve and direct communication and planning at home.

Registration costs $45 per family or ownership; it includes the workbook, DVD and refreshments. Lunch may be purchased at least one week in advance for $10 per person. Disability assistance is available on request.

For more information, contact Andy Perleberg, 509-667-6540 or andyp@wsu.edu. To view upcoming events, please visit http://bit.ly/extforestry.

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Bottles of freshly filled and corked Frost Cider line up for labels during a late fall visit to Tieton Cider Works near Yakima. Photo by Kate Halstead/WSU. Click image to download hi-res version.

Participants will learn how to grow and maintain a cider orchard as well as learn the steps necessary to create a quality hard cider. Included is an in-depth overview of the topic covering varietal selection, growing and harvest information, as well as an informal look at the production steps from raw fruit to finished bottle.

Cost for the workshop is $70 per person and includes a catered box lunch and copy of the WSU hard cider publication. To register, visit Brown Paper Tickets at http://bit.ly/cider201203 or download the form at http://bit.ly/cider201203pdf and mail with your check. For registration information contact Karie Christensen at 425.357.6039 or e-mail christensen4@wsu.edu.

Instructor Gary Moulton started with the Small Fruit Horticulture Department at the WSU Research Station in Mount Vernon in 1980. In 1991, he took over management of the program. He currently is a consultant for the Western Washington fruit industry and co-authored the WSU publication Hard Cider Production and Orchard Management in the Pacific Northwest.

For more information on the workshop, contact Andrew Corbin, corbina@wsu.edu or 425-357-6012.

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Up to 17 inches of snow fell in western Washington in the Centralia area in less than 24 hours, while heavy snow also fell in much of eastern Washington on Jan. 18. The following day brought significant ice accumulations to some locations; freezing rain fell for much of the day in the Tri-Cities, while up to an inch of ice coated the east Puget Sound lowlands. Strong northeast winds and cold temperatures caused bitter wind chills in the Bellingham area.

Warmer temperatures and heavy rain then led to flooding by Jan. 20 in parts of western Washington. In some areas east of the Cascades snow fell for several days, leaving places from Yakima to Wenatchee with a foot or more of snow on the ground by Jan. 22. Some areas in the Cascades received up to eight feet of snow during the active weather period of Jan. 14 – 23, which is good news for the water supply and for Washington farmers.

“Heavy mountain snowfall during the third week of January caused a dramatic improvement in what had been a dangerously low snowpack earlier in the month,” said AgWeatherNet director Gerrit Hoogenboom. January ended with a return of milder and relatively tranquil conditions. Overall, only seven to ten days featured active weather in Washington during the month of January.

For more information on the January winter storms, please see the January Weather Review on the AgWeatherNet website, www.weather.wsu.edu, located under the News link. A Web-based, publicly available system, AgWeatherNet provides access to near real-time weather data and value-added products from WSU’s statewide weather network, along with decision aids for agricultural producers and other users.

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