TUESDAY MORNING NOTES - November 15, 2011

[Kirk Astroth]

TMN submittal:
http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/tuesday/form/submittal_form.html 

Tuesday Morning Notes 

November 15, 2011

 

 

FY2012 AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS BILL:

 

House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on the FY 2012
Agriculture Appropriations bill, including funding for the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).  The conference report was filed
in the House today and is expected to be approved in both chambers within
the next few days and then sent to the President for his signature.  While
it is not yet enacted, the bill is close to being signed into law.  For a
complete look at the final budget, please visit my Director
<http://uacedirectorsblog.wordpress.com/> 's blog.  As you will see, FY2012
funding is roughly at the same level as FY2011, but there are some specific
changes in several areas such as:  Food Safety is zeroed out, CYFAR funding
has again been reduced to $7.6 million, Special Research Grants were
increased, eXtension was not funded (again),  Farm Safety & Youth Farm
Safety was reduced, and Regional Pest Management Centers were increased.  In
sum, about the best that I can say is that it could have been a lot worse.
In the current Congressional atmosphere, we emerged better than many of us
anticipated and some core funding was protected.  We still have challenges
with flat funding given the increasing demand for Extension and Research
programs.  Again, check my blog for complete details.

 

TECH TIP OF THE WEEK:

 

Another maintenance item, which should be done every month, is defragmenting
the hard drive. Windows has a built-in defragmenter located at [Start -
[All] Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Defragmenter].  Be sure
to run the Windows Disk Cleanup or ccleaner before defragging the drive.
Windows 7 Disk Defragmenter runs a scheduled defrag every Wednesday at
3:00pm by default.  Windows XP Disk Defragmenter needs to be run manually.
A good replacement for the Windows XP Disk Defragmenter is Defraggler (from
the same company that produces ccleaner) and the free version can be
downloaded from http://www.piriform.com/defraggler.  Defraggler has the
ability to do scheduled defragmentation.  The Defraggler scheduler is found
under the Settings menu item.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

 

The Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) is hosting a one-day
workshop, "Hydroponics and Organics:  Nutrients for the Plant & Planet" THIS
Saturday, November 19 from 9:00am-4:00pm at CEAC.  The $60 registration fee
includes lunch.  You can learn about hydroponics, organics, composting and
vermicomposting (using worms).   For more information, contact Liz MacLellan
<mailto:lizmac at email.arizona.edu>  (520.626.9566). 

 

 

Kirk A. Astroth
Interim Associate Dean and Director
Arizona Cooperative Extension
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
PO Box 210036
Tucson, AZ  85721-0036
520.621.7205
520.621.1314 (fax)

 

To submit tips, suggestions, ideas for changes and anything that could help
us be more effective, use  the "Director
<http://extension.arizona.edu/state/directors-suggestion-box> 's Suggestion
Box" - all submissions are anonymous.  

 

 

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