July 2024 Newsletter-Granville County Center

Nitasha Kearney was raised in Warren County, North Carolina and served as the Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program Associate in Vance and Warren County from July 2019 to June 2024. Nitasha Kearney received the 2020 Remote Super Star award from the J316 Camp Connection. Since her employment, she has received North Carolina A&T State University Blue & Gold award two years in a row. She was the 2023 Ila Mcllwean White Family Consumer Sciences Program Endowment award winner. She serves as state treasurer for the North Carolina Association of Extension Program Assistants, Associates and Technicians. She serves as president-elect for the North Central district association. Nitasha Kearney has transitioned to the program associate for Snap-Ed and EFNEP in Granville County. She is studying Human Resource Management at Mount Olive University. She has nutrition camps scheduled with North Central Boys and Girls club this summer in Granville county! She has taught previous nutrition classes at JF Webb High School and Northern Granville Middle School!

The CDC provides research acknowledging how introducing nutrition and physical education at an early age can pave a way to developing healthy habits. These healthy habits can be the key in reversing childhood overweight and obesity.

If you are interested in learning more about the Healthy Habits Program and how it addresses the NC essential standards, please contact me at ndkearney@ncat.edu or nkearne@ncsu.edu! I am looking forward to hearing from you in hopes that we can work together to educate and provide our youth in Granville county with the skills and knowledge to leading a healthy lifestyle. I believe it to be a valuable educational experience.

It has been incredibly dry! Farmers in Granville County have been battling two very different weather conditions in 2024. In the month of May, growers got up to 15 inches of rain on a single field. While usually rain is a good thing, this much rain in such a short amount of time resulted in saturated conditions and caused damage to crops, in some cases completely drowning fields. Since the end of May, we have received a very scarce amount of rain, if any, meaning that those drowned stressed plants are now drought stressed plants. Now growers are seeing an increase in fertility problems and diseases in all crops (tobacco, soybeans, and corn). Keep growers in mind this time of year as we hope for timely rain fall! Any growers seeing issues in their fields and would like it to be diagnosed, please reach out to Mikayla Berryhill at 919-603-1350 or mikayla_berryhill@ncsu.edu.

Granville/Person County Extension is working with N.C. Cooperative Extension Farmworker Health & Safety Educator Roberto Rosales and ECU Health’s Juan Allen to provide a Farmworker Health & Safety Training on Tuesday, July 9th at the Granville County Expo Center. There will be 3 sessions:

8 a.m.-10 a.m. in SPANISH
10:30 a.m. – 12:30 a.m. in SPANISH
1 a.m. – 3 a.m. in ENGLISH

Attendees will receive training on basic CPR/AED, heat stress, green tobacco illness, and first aid. Farms will receive a roster of attendees as well as a Certificate of Completion from N.C. Cooperative Extension.

Please contact Mikayla Berryhill by JULY 5TH with the session and number of workers to attend at 919-603-1350 or mikayla_berryhill@ncsu.edu.

Join N.C. Cooperative Extension at this field day covering recent research and management updates for corn, soybeans, and other grain crops. Topics will include soybean growth habit, corn agronomic best management practices, alternative grain crops, corn herbicide management plans, soybean disease management, local and statewide grain variety data, and local research trials.

SATURDAY, August 3rd

Oxford Tobacco Research Station – CURRIN FARM
2511 U.S. 158 Oxford, NC 27565

Registration @ 8 a.m.

Tour starts @ 8:30

Registration: go.ncsu.edu/northernpiedmontfieldday24

The popular, long-running educational Beef Tour has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 16th with Wake County serving as host county this year. The Tour will feature three stops. The tour is scheduled to begin at
7:30 – 8:00 a.m. with check-in at the first stop, Wood Angus Farm located at 755 Honeycutt Road, Willow Springs, NC.

The first stop will take a look at Angus cattle, discussing their genetics for production and show animals. They also will discuss their farm’s ‘Event Venue Barn’ and how they market their farm’s beef and pork.

The second stop will be at Southern Wake Cattle Company in Fuquay-Varina. Mr. George Broadwell will discuss his rotational grazing and a guest speaker will showcase regenerative agriculture on their 40-acres of pasture. This farm, a veteran-owned partnership, will also discuss their marketing of their beef quarters and meat bundles to the public. Refreshments will be served at this stop.

The third stop will be at the NCSU E. Carroll Joyner Educational Beef Unit off of Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh. Three types of shade structures for smaller operations will be showcased in addition to summer grazing management for cattle herds demonstrated. Guest speaker, NCDA & CS Meat Marketing Specialist, Jack Nales, will outline how beef producers can get "Assistance with Marketing your Meat products” with NCDA & CS and other organizations.

A delicious beef brisket lunch will be served by Strickland Farm Catering from Bunn, NC at the Beef Unit. A mini-trade show will also be held for participants to visit vendors along with door prizes given out.

If you plan to attend, the deadline to register is Friday, July 12th at this Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5-county-regional-beef-tour-wake-county-host-tickets- 911421645677

There will be a $10 per person fee to attend and participate. Contact Kim
Woods at kim_woods@ncsu.edu or 919-603-1350 for details.

Be sure to visit the Stovall Farmers Market located at the Stovall Branch Library in Granville on the July 11 and July 25 from 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.. There will be local produce, local vendors, food trucks, handmade crafts, and family fun. The Extension Office will be at the market with our Donation Station booth. We will be providing information on nutrition, recipes, giveaways, and much more. We will also be collecting money and/or produce to be donated to help local people in need.

Get ready to learn all about how to strengthen your bones and improve your overall bone health. Join N.C. Cooperative Extension for this 7-week life changing series starting on Tuesday, July 16 2024 at 2:00 PM EDT running through Tuesday, August 27, 2024 (same time each week). This program is brought to you by a multi-state Cooperative Extension collaboration where our knowledgeable speakers will share valuable information to help you keep your bones strong and healthy. We will cover topics on: osteoporosis, medications, healthy eating tips, nutrients for bone health, fall prevention, and more. Register at go.ncsu.edu/buildyourbones2024.

With the advances in artificial intelligence technology, AI programs can now create ultra-realistic images and videos. At first sight, it may be hard to tell if what you see was created or altered by AI. In this session, we’ll teach you tips and tools to help you determine if an image was generated by AI. We'll show you how to do a reverse image search to find out the internet history of any image you find online. While we can't definitively tell whether an image is AI, these tools will make you a tech savvy internet user. To sign up please call or visit Oxford Senior Center at 919-693-1930.

In partnership with Granville County Government we have created an internship program that hosts 5 rising senior teens to be interns for county departments, 4-H, and complete a teen leadership Granville program. Each youth participating receives a $2,000 stipend for their time this summer. They will complete work days at 4-H camps, the Animal Shelter, the Library, 911 Center, waste management, DSS, Administration, Emergency Management, Tourism, and Human Resources. They will also get to meet with our department heads, tour the county, complete various projects and so much more! Our 5 excellent interns this year are: Destani Harris, Jazmin Santiago-Barerra, Leah Scott, Madison Martinez, Praley Williams.

The week of June 17th-20th was Farm to table week. Eighteen youth got to experience going to a real working flower farm, harvesting flowers, and a lesson with an accredited florist, Stephanie Garrett, on floral arranging on Monday. On Tuesday, we got to take a behind the scenes tour of Strong Arm Baking Company and learned more about their locally sourced ingredients and partnerships with local farms. Then we enjoyed a delicious fresh made lunch. On Wednesday we visited Vance County Regional Farmers Market and purchased produce from local farmers and handmade items from local artisans. We then created our own businesses that the youth presented to a “panel” for the “Granville County 4-H Farmers Market”. On Thursday, we spent the day at the beautiful Bee Happy Farm where youth were able to pick blueberries, create handblown glass ornaments, enjoy the Koi ponds, and learn about the importance bees have in agriculture. It was a wonderful week!