The Fulton/Montgomery County 4-H program is hosting a 4-H Dairy Day workshop for 4-H youth on July 16th from 8:45am-4:00pm at the Fonda Fairgrounds. There is no fee for this workshop but you must bring your own bagged lunch and drink. Topics include:

• Healthy  Feed Rations (Ed Varnam)
• Feed Storage: (Ed Varnam)
• Calf Housing & Management (Gary Moore)
• Hoof Care & Management: (Charles Biche)
• Calving (Jill Greisman)
• Showmanship/Judging

Sign-up by July 9th by calling Cornell Cooperative Extension of Fulton and Montgomery Counties. Contact Jake Pamkowski at jakepamkowski@yahoo.com or call 518-673-5525.

Vegetable and flower growers alike will find quality-stock plants provided by Gray’s Greenhouse of St. Johnsville, New York at the upcoming Master Gardener Plant Sale sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties. The sale will be held in the parking lot of Udderly Delicious, North Comrie Avenue (State Highway 30A) in Johnstown on Saturday, May 17, 8:30 – 11:30 a.m.  There will be all kinds of annuals, more vegetable plants than previous sales and perennial flower plants grown by volunteer Extension Master Gardeners at discounted prices. 

Volunteer Extension Master Gardeners will be on site to answer questions about preparing space and containers as well as growing plants to help individuals be successful with the plants that are purchased at the sale.

Questions about the sale may be directed to Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties at 518-673-5525 x 101. Proceeds from the sale will support learning opportunities for the Fulton/Montgomery Master Gardener Program.

Parasites in the Horse---How to Minimize Parasites in Your Horse and in  Your Pastures

 Sunday, April 13, 2014

 10:15 am

 Linda Mittel, MSPH, DVM from theAnimal Health Diagnostic Center, at Cornell University, will talk about the deworming products, fecal examinations, resistance in parasites ,and parasites in the horse.  She will discuss these items  and how we can use these to  help make the decision on when to deworm your horse, if necessary, and prevent parasite resistance.  Guidelines will be discussed on pasture management to aide in parasite control also.

 *Equine fecal examinations will be done on a limited number of attendee’s horses for a $5.00 fee.  ( as time permits).  Please bring a fresh fecal sample ( 1-2 fecal balls) in a sealed plastic bag and keep cool/chilled prior to submission for testing.

Results from the fecal examination will be provided to the owner for discussion with their own veterinarians to help guide in using the correct de-wormer for their horse.

Location: 4-H Training Center, 556 Middle Line Road, Ballston Spa, NY 12020

Discussion and testing as part of the Saratoga Horse Symposium

Please call 518-885-8995 to register or go to www.cceequine.org

Admission, $20.00 for adults, $5.00 for youth 18 and under

Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Mary Ann Charon will be teaching a workshop about vegetable container gardening on Wednesday, April 30, 2014 from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Shirley J. Luck Senior Citizen Center at 109 East Main Street in Johnstown, New York.  The cost is $10.00 per person.  To register, interested individuals must call Cornell Cooperative Extension at 518-673-5525 by Thursday, April 24.  Class space is limited.

Are you interested in gardening but have limited space? Join Master Gardener Mary Ann Charon as she shares how to grow vegetables for your table through container gardening. Participants will learn how to select containers and plants, design containers and maintain a mini-garden throughout the season. Each workshop participant will plant a container garden of his/her own to take home. All materials will be supplied.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Fulton and Montgomery Counties will be hosting an American Red Cross Babysitting program for youth ages 11-15 years old on Wednesday, April 16th from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm. The class will be held at the Shirley J. Luck Senior Citizen Center, 109 East Main Street in Johnstown, New York. The American Red Cross Babysitter's Training program will teach youth critical skills including how to supervise children and infants; basic child-care skills such as diapering, feeding and dressing; selecting safe age-apropriate toys and games; identifying safety hazards and preventing injuries; caring for common injuries and performing rescue breathing.

Youth will increase their skills and confidence by becoming competent babysitters through participating in this hands-on educational training. The class is limited to the first 20 youth who register by the April 10th deadline. The cost of the class is $50 for 4-H youth and $60 for non-4-H youth.

Individuals interested in registering for this program must contact Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties at 673-5525 ext. 122 or email smd69@cornell.edu. The registration form is available below.

"Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right" is the theme for National Nutrition Month® 2014. Consumer research confirms that taste tops nutrition as the main reason why one food is purchased over another. While social, emotional and health factors also play a role, the foods people enjoy are likely the ones they eat most. This year's key messages for NNM focus on how to combine taste and nutrition to create healthy meals that follow the Dietary Guidelines recommendations.

As part of this public education campaign, the Academy’s National Nutrition Month website includes a variety of helpful tips, games, promotional tools and nutrition education resources, all designed to spread the message of good nutrition based on the "Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right" theme.

4-Her Dianelit Vasquez Ortiz is Designated a 2014 Rising Latino Star

The Hispanic Coalition NY, Inc. recently announced the 2014 NY’s 40 Under 40 Rising Stars.  Miss Dianelit Vasquez Ortiz of Amsterdam, New York is one of the individuals who will be honored at the 2014 Rising Stars Recognition Program and Reception that will take place on Saturday, March 22 at the NYS Museum in Albany.  Miss Ortiz is the youngest award winner designated for 2014.  The program recognizes members of the Hispanic/Latino community under the age of 40 who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments and achievements in the areas of business, educations, politics, non-profit sector, community service, and more.  The Rising Stars have demonstrated a quality of performance that indicates they are leaders among their peers and will continue to develop into distinguished members in their community.

National 4-H Council in partnership with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) hosted the first Health Rocks! Youth Ambassador Summit on January 30. The event, which was part of NIDA’s 4th annual National Drug Facts Week, brought together youth and adult leaders from several states and industry leaders to discuss solutions to fight substance use and abuse in their communities.

The event was opened by Lisa Lauxman, division director of Youth and 4-H at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, and Council's Chief Strategy Officer Andy Ferrin. After opening remarks and introductions, keynote speaker David Mineta, White House Deputy Director of Demand Reduction for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, took the podium.

After providing insight on what the department does and how they are working to control the availability of drugs in communities, Mineta’s speech was followed by state presentations. During this time, youth had an opportunity to share their thoughts on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco use in their communities among their peers, NIDA scientists and 4-H professionals.

Join us for the 23rd Annual Saratoga Horse Symposium on Saturday, April 12^th and Sunday, April 13^th. The Horse Symposium willbeheld at the Saratoga County 4-H Training Center, 556 Middle Line Road, Ballston Spa, NY.  This is event is open to the public, all are welcome!

The Horse Symposium will feature well known equine experts and veterinarians with live horse demonstrations, riding clinics and educational presentations.  Horse enthusiasts from across New York State and New England look forward to this popular annual event. 

Record Number of Countries
Join the Great Backyard Bird Count

 Bird watchers on pace to shatter records

New York, N.Y., Ithaca, N.Y., and Port Rowan, ON– By mid-afternoon on Tuesday, February 18, participants from a record 127 countries had submitted bird checklists for the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, eclipsing last year’s 110 countries. The four-day count ended Monday, but data are continuing to roll in from around the globe, on pace to surpass last year’s record-breaking count.

The information gathered by tens of thousands of volunteers helps track the health of bird populations at a scale that would not otherwise be possible. The GBBC is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society with partner Bird Studies Canada.