2014 Annual Report for FNC13-897
Kansas Ranch and Range Management Internship Phase II
Summary
Progress Report Year: 2014 (Year 2)
WORK ACTIVITIES 2014
This is a continuation of our previous grant (FNC10-798)
1. We were able to successfully recruit and place two interns with highly qualified mentors. They were:
Ranch Mentors:
Z Bar Ranch – Lake City, KS
Keith & Eva Yearout
Intern: Colin Chalk - Washington, MO; Kansas State University
Ranch Mentor:
Ferrell Ranch – Beaumont, KS
Pete Ferrell
Intern: Morgan Shorter – Junction City, KS; Allen County Community College
All interns were paid an hourly wage and provided housing on the ranch. The internships started in late May following the end of the spring semester and ended just prior to the beginning of the fall semester.
As with all previous years, all of the interns and mentors completed a learning contract form outlining their desired goals at the beginning, middle, and end of the internship (results are described later).
Morgan Shorter, who interned with Ferrell Ranch, was offered a full-time position on the ranch at the conclusion on the summer internship program. He accepted the offer and continues to serve in a management role. He has been given the charge of supervising the ranch interns this summer.
2. Enrichment Activities
Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition Range School -- Both interns attended the 3-day range school presented by the Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Additionally, Morgan attended a Jim Garrish 3-day workshop in Topeka and the Nebraska Grazing Conference in Carney, NE.
3. Recruitment Activities
At the invitation and support of Dr. Bill Walton, Biology Professor, I gave a recruitment presentation to 35 students at the Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas on April 3, 2014.
4. Additional Activities
a) We added a new mentor, Pete Farrell, 4L Ranch, Beaumont, KS.
b) We use the tri-fold, color pamphlet describing our program as a handout to interested students on our campus recruiting trips and presentation events.
c) We have entered into discussion with Russell Stevens and Chad Ellis of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Ardmore, OK concerning possible cooperation between our program and a similar summer internship program they are starting. We anticipate these discussions will develop into a relationship that will greatly strengthen and extend our program.
d) The High School mini-internship program has made progress. We now have a working relationship with 3 local FFA Chapter Instructors. One of the programs is brand new and will take time to develop. The other two are established programs and have invited us to make presentations and develop internship possibilities.
RESULTS
We continue to build on the successful activities we developed over the last four years under our previous grant. Our mentor list continues to expand in number and region. We now have mentors in Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri. Our area of recruitment continues to grow with applications this year from Kansas, Wyoming, Texas, and Virginia and inquiries from Africa.
WORK PLAN FOR 2015
We have started exploring possibilities for continuing our program beyond the current funding cycle. The first is an expansion of our present program into a multi-state “High Plains” internship program using state Grazing Lands Coalitions as the in-state coordinator mechanism. To this end, we recently presented the idea to the Central Plains Grazing Lands Coalition state coordinators and board members. The Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition even provided the lead-in by having Lynn Meyer of their organization provide a description of their mentoring activities. The National Grazing Lands Coalition Headquarters offered help and urged us to present the idea at the upcoming 6th National Conference on Grazing Lands in Fort Worth, Texas, December 13, 2015. We plan to co-author a presentation with Lynn. The Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition will provide us with travel support.
We are pursuing funding possibilities from various sources as suggested by our SARE supervisor, Joan Benjamin.
We will continue to recruit and develop mentors, specifically, through our new contacts opportunities in Nebraska.
OUTREACH
Poster Presentations
We didn’t present a poster this year.
College Recruitment
Haskell Indian Nations University – April 3, 2014, Lawrence, Kansas
Fort Hays State University – April 4, 2015, Hays, Kansas