Agriculture and Natural Resources s12

January 5, 2012

AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

The importance of practicing safety on the farm

FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES

4-H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Expand your world with rocketry

The importance of practicing safety on the farm

Source: Larissa Tucker, extension associate for dairy

Children can learn many valuable life lessons while working with livestock, and everyone loves to see children and animals working together. However, it’s important to remember livestock can be dangerous. Injuries from livestock-related accidents are a major source of injuries to children in agricultural settings.

According to the National Safety Council 17 percent of all farm injuries involve animals. It is important to think about how those injuries could be prevented and make changes on your farm to prevent additional accidents, particularly if there are children around.

Animals and humans sense their surroundings very differently, so it is important to recognize those differences and use that information to help handle animals with greater safety.

Animals do not see color the way humans do. They also do not have good depth perception.

They have a fear of stepping over grid patterns. These are the reasons cattle guards are good ways to keep cattle in and allow vehicles to cross. Livestock have extremely sensitive hearing, which is why loud noises frighten animals and high frequency sounds hurt their ears. Finally, animals are very protective of their young and could become dangerous if they perceive harm to their young. These issues help explain why animals can balk or become skittish in unfamiliar surroundings. It is important to teach children safety measures for interacting with livestock, whether they will be working with them on a daily basis or visiting for the first time. Here are a few important tips:

 Avoid loud noises and sudden movements

 Wear closed toed shoes, preferably steel toed boots

 Stay away from the rear legs

 Approach large animals at the shoulder

 Stay away from animals with newborns

 Stay away from bulls, boars, or rams

 Have an escape route when working with animals in close quarters

Following these safety measures can reduce the risk of injury while working with livestock.

Remember, be alert and always respect animals. They may look friendly, but they can be dangerous and unpredictable in certain situations.

For more information, please contact the (YOUR COUNTY) Cooperative Extension Service.

Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin.

-30- Starting a successful savings plan

Source: Jennifer Hunter, UK extension specialist

Many people start the New Year with a financial resolution: to reduce debt, save money, spend money more wisely, increase their retirement savings or something similar. But despite good intentions, New Year’s resolutions often get abandoned. To stay on track, consider the following tips, which are designed to help you achieve your financial goals.

Write down the goals and post them in a visible place to serve as a daily reminder. The fridge, bedroom mirror or your computer are good places to keep your goals in sight.

Plan out step by step what you have to do to achieve your goals. This kind of planning forces you to visualize and then to realize the steps. For instance, if you want to save $2,000, you might open a savings account and have a set amount moved into the account each time you get a paycheck. That way, the money is “gone” before you can spend it and will accumulate in small increments, usually 26 or 12 “payments.” So you aren’t tempted to use the money for another reason, think of it as literally paying a debt to yourself.

Track your progress. Putting pen to paper, creating a spreadsheet, or filling in a ledger— these regular reminders help you remember your goals and how important they are.

Take pride in your accomplishments, even the small ones, because they add up quickly.

Eating breakfast at home every morning could save you $3 to $5 dollars a day which, over a year’s time, adds up to a savings of $750 to $1250. Even forgoing just one breakfast out a week could put an extra $150 to $250 in your wallet.

Don’t get discouraged if you need to rethink your goals. Economic uncertainty is the new reality, so it’s important not to underestimate how things can change quickly. Unforeseen circumstances, such as a reduction in working hours or a large medical expense, could force you to change your savings plan. The best way to cope with these kinds of situations is to be fiscally fit, and if you are already following a plan, then you working to achieve fiscal fitness.

For more information, please contact the (YOUR COUNTY) Cooperative Extension Service.

-30- Expand your world with rocketry

Source: Jann Burks, extension specialist for 4-H youth development

Science projects can be mysterious, hard to understand, and even intimidating, but it helps to look at a few major achievements for inspiration, such as the United States space program, which in 1969 put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, or physics great Stephen

Hawking, who has contributed to our understanding of the universe despite having motor neuron disease.

These tremendous accomplishments started with a mastery of basic math and science concepts, and led to important achievements. While rocket contest participants are unlikely to go on to similar achievements, through this unique experience they may learn and develop skills that otherwise would remain unknown to them.

The annual rocket contest, sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the National Association of Rocketry (NAR), encourages 4-H groups to enter. Through the rocket building process, contestants’ abilities are tested and they are forced to work as a team.

The contest also can spark greater interest in math and science, and that can lead to youth learning more about related topics, such as aerospace, propulsion and mechanics.

Here are more details from Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC):

 Now in its tenth year, the world's largest rocket competition accepts 1,000 student

teams in grades 7 through12 from any U.S. school, home school or non-profit youth

organization. Registration forms can be found at

http://www.rocketcontest.org/pdf/application_2012.pdf .

 The annual rocket contest challenges teams of three to 10 students to design and

build a rocket that will climb to 800 feet with two raw eggs as the payload and stay

aloft for 43 to 47 seconds. The eggs must then return to earth unbroken. The complete 2012 contest rules and information are available at

http://www.rocketcontest.org.

 TARC is a vital part of the aerospace industry's outreach to young people. NAR is

the organization of rocket enthusiasts who can assist you and your students on

rocket projects, answer rocket questions and support launches so youth can have

fun and fly safely and successfully. Find and connect to the rocketeer network

through your nearest NAR section at http://www.nar.org/NARseclist.php.

 The top 100 TARC teams will be invited to compete at the National Finals

competition on May 12 just outside of Washington, D.C. Student participants

compete for $60,000 in prizes, scholarships and a trip to the 2012 international air

show in Farnborough for an international fly-off.

 Last year nine 4-H teams attended the finals and the Bond County 4-H team from

Mulberry Grove, IL finished fifth in the nation.

For more information on the rocket contest, please visit http://www.rocketcontest.org or contact the (YOUR COUNTY) Cooperative Extension Service.