Kyle Caires (HNFAS) was focused on kids and animals for the weekend when he recently hosted two events on Maui, a small ruminant workshop for over 50 4-H youth and adults in Kula and a beef fitting and showmanship workshop at a local ranch in Makawao.

Jensen Uyeda, Josh Silva, and Jari Sugano of O‘ahu County Cooperative Extension teamed up with Lisa Rhoden of the North Shore Economic Vitality Partnership to conduct a pesticide education workshop at Turtle Bay on April 25.

Cooperative Extension’s Alyssa Cho, Andrea Kawabata, Jen Burt, and Matt Miyahira (TPSS) organized the 2018 Coffee Berry Borer Conference in Kailua-Kona, where 115 farmers, researchers, Extension faculty and staff, and other agricultural professionals gathered to learn about and share their latest CBB research and on-farm management experiences.

Kyle Caires’ (HNFAS) project entitled “Characterization of Vaginal Tract Microbiota in Ewes Synchronized With Intravaginal Progesterone Implants,” a result of collaborative research in Hawai‘i with partners in Brazil, has just been accepted for the the XXIV Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society of Embryo Technology.

Extension forester and winner of CTAHR’s 2018 Award for Excellence in Extension J.B. Friday (NREM) is quoted in a UH News story announcing that the two species of fungus that are causing Rapid ‘Ohi‘a Death, or ROD, have been described and named in a recently published paper.

Twenty-four 4-H students in Kaua‘i County participated in a food animal quality assurance training which focused on how to be good stewards of livestock raised as market projects for the county fair, under the guidance of Kaua‘i’s Livestock Extension agent Savannah Katulski.

In the wake of the two new cases of rat lungworm disease confirmed in the state, O‘ahu Extension agent Josh Silva was interviewed on KHON for tips on how to deter and kill the slugs and snails that spread the disease, such as using copper tape or just picking them up by hand—using gloves and tongs, of course!

Wildfire expert Clay Trauernicht and Pua‘ala Pascua (both NREM) are co-authors of a paper, “Bringing Multiple Values to the Table: An Assessment of Future Land-Use and Climate Change in North Kona, Hawaiʻi,” that recommends a collaborative approach in working with stakeholders to assess the multiple values that different ecosystems in Hawaiʻi provide.

Heather Greenwood Junkermeier (FCS) recently published an article in Maui News entitled “Osteoporosis Affects Both Genders.” She explains what osteoporosis is and what the risk factors of the disease are, and then suggests ways to mitigate them.

The CTAHR Farm Food Safety Team, in collaboration with Hawai‘i State Departments of Health and Agriculture, has released a new video on Rat Lung Worm (RLW) disease prevention. It is a potentially scary disease, but this video offers practical and down-to-earth advice that can help.

If you haven’t yet registered for the annual CTAHR Awards Banquet, now’s the time to secure your place! You’ll get a chance to celebrate the successes of students, faculty, staff, and friends, including Brian Bushe, winner of the award for Outstanding Service for an APT Employee!

Big Island Extension’s Andrea Kawabata, Jen Burt, and Matthew Miyahira represented CTAHR at the 11th annual Kona Coffee Farmer’s Association Coffee and Small Farms Expo at the Old Kona Airport, where they discussed issues such as the coffee berry borer and root-knot nematode.

Pouring rain didn’t stop Kaua‘i islanders from pouring into the Garden Fair this year. Jointly hosted by CTAHR and the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau, the 23rd Annual Garden Fair at the Kaua‘i Community College featured a series of CTAHR garden and agriculture presentations.

CTAHR students and other volunteers engaged 169 elementary first- and fourth-graders in garden activities over the spring semester, teaching them about nutrition for people and plants.

A Moloka‘i 4-H participant and his award winning animals were featured in a USDA Farm Service Agency Fencepost newsletter article on the FSA Youth Loan.

The highly popular and acclaimed Gene-ius Day program is the subject of a recent laudatory article on the UH Foundation website that describes how the original program has expanded into three complementary outreach efforts that are reaching and teaching more kids than ever before!

The Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety held its second annual meeting, and 10 members of the FSMA team of UH, University of Guam, and the American Samoa Community College, including Extension agents Kylie Wong and Joshua Silva, attended to deliver progress reports.

CTAHR wildfire researcher Clay Trauernicht recently joined other experts on disaster vulnerability and resilience in the Islands on Hawai‘i Public Radio program The Conversation.
 

Junior Extension Agent Emilie Kirk welcomed edible crop and flower farmers to a free spring workshop and tour of the Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Center.
 

Hawai‘i Island CTAHR Extension staff members teamed up with USDA to offer hands-on avocado-grafting workshops for 45 growers and promote their ‘Sharwil’ Avocado Project.