food production

Educator Spotlight: Bill Davenport

Posted on by
Bill Davenport with a dairy heifer at his home farm
Photo: Litchfield Hills Photography LLC

After thirty-three years as an agriscience teacher at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, William Davenport has found his way back to his early grounding in 4-H. He began work as assistant extension educator in charge of 4-H programming in Litchfield County in July 2019. Davenport is a graduate of the college, having earned bachelor of science and master of science degrees in animal science, then sixth year in administration and supervision at Southern ConnecticutState University.

“We are pleased to have Bill join the Extension team as an accomplished agriscience educator who brings a wealth of experience in STEM, agricultural literacy and leadership development,” says Bonnie Burr, assistant director of UConn Extension. “Bill will be carrying out programs with the county’s 929 youth ages 5-19 and eighty-nine enrolled/ trained volunteers. He will also be developing and implementing statewide 4-H livestock-related programs.”

Growing up in Litchfield County, Davenport loved being a member of 4-H. He attended UConn with the idea of becoming a 4-H agent. But when the position in his county was filled by a new young agent, it was suggested he consider ag education. He changed his focus and set a new goal.

“Now I’m back to my original plan and I’m very excited to have this second career in my life,” he says. Davenport plans to build the 4-H program and expand the clubs. “I love teaching and have enjoyed working with high school students. As an agriscience teacher, I was heavily involved with FFA, and now I have the opportunity to bring agriculture to younger kids.” One of his goals is to increase after school 4-H programming as a way of introducing additional students to 4-H.

“The program has unlimited potential,” he says. “Particularly for families with young children looking for an activity that is wholesome and educational, while being open and welcoming to all students of any background.”

“The basis of 4-H is teaching the importance of farming and the natural world, but it also includes so many life skills such as public speaking, leadership, communication, self-confidence and community service, as well as STEM programs and many other activities.”

Those life skills will go a long way toward helping students in their careers. To highlight this point, Davenport asked one of his students to speak at a regional FFA advisory meeting.

He says, “These meetings are attended by people in the agricultural industry.  An industry expert stood up after this student’s presentation and said that she interviews for hundreds of positions a year and would hire the presenter immediately as she had not observed such poise and confidence in many applicants with advanced degrees. That’s what we teach in 4-H and FFA.”

Davenport would like to see state 4-H and FFA work together. “Think of what we could do collectively to help agricultural literacy and the agricultural industry,” he says.

Davenport grew up on a dairy farm and found 4-H dairy and livestock judging to be a rewarding experience. He plans to revitalize interest in 4-H livestock judging. “I’d like to develop 4-H teams that compete nationally. I’d also be interested in mentoring UConn judging teams.”

As an educator, Davenport has received numerous honors, including 2004 Connecticut State Teacher of the Year, USA Today’s 2005 All-USA Teacher Team, 2004-2005 NAAE Outstanding Agricultural Education Teacher for Region VI and 2005 NAAE Syngenta Advocate for Agricultural Education Teacher Award. He is a member of the Connecticut State Board of Education and the National FFA Alumni and Supporters Council and served on the National FFA board of directors from 2013 to 2016.

Davenport houses twenty registered Ayrshire and Holstein dairy cows at his brother’s dairy farm, near the Connecticut border in Ancram, New York, and five heifers at his family homestead, Toll Gate Farm, in Litchfield. He lives with his wife Jill (Perham), also a UConn animal science graduate, and two daughters, Megan, a junior majoring in animal science and agricultural education at UConn and Allison will be at UConn in fall 2020.

Article by Jason M. Sheldon

Three Connecticut Projects Selected for RCPP Funding

Posted on by
RCPP pic2
(l to r) Congressman Joe Courtney, Last Green Valley Ex. Dir. Lois Bruinooge, NRCS Chief Jason Weller, Commissioner of Ag Steven Reviczky, NRCS State Conservationist Lisa Coverdale, DEEP Commissioner Rob Klee, Associate Dean UConn CANR Mike O’Neill, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Dean UCONN CANR Gregory Weidemann, and Connecticut Association of Conservation Districts President Denise Savageau attend the announcement event at the State Capitol in Hartford.

“More than 600 pre-proposals were submitted nationwide. With so many strong proposals, the project selection process was extremely competitive,” said Lisa Coverdale, Connecticut State Conservationist for the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. “We are so very proud that three from Connecticut have been selected for funding. This is such an amazing opportunity to work with some really innovative groups, including some we’ve never had the opportunity to work with before.”

Chosen as a national project was a proposal submitted by the Connecticut Association of Conservation Districts which will address excess nutrients that have been identified as the primary cause of hypoxic conditions in Long Island Sound (impacting upland water resources within the watershed including areas of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont). The RCPP program will provide $10 million toward the project which will develop a comprehensive, whole-farm management certainty program for farmers in the area. The project will utilize both working lands and easement programs to improve soil health and nutrient management, establish community resiliency areas with a focus on enhancing riparian areas, and institute a land protection program to protect agricultural and forestry areas.
 
“RCPP puts our partners in the driver’s seat,” said Coverdale. “Projects are led locally, and demonstrate the value of strong public-private partnerships that deliver solutions to tough natural resource challenges.” 
 
“This grant is a major investment that will help preserve our treasured Long Island Sound for generations to come,” said Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2). “The funding will enable local, state and federal partners to work together to protect the watershed across our region, improving the health of the Sound and strengthening our regional commitment to our environment.”
 
RCPP pic
Congresswoman DeLauro and Congressman Courtney congratulate UConn CAHNR Dean Greg Weidemann and Associate Dean Mike O’Neill in helping bring over $10 million in grant funding to Connecticut to address regional water quality and water quantity issues in the Long Island Sound watershed.

“This new funding gives the Long Island Sound a welcome and much-needed boost,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Co-Chair of the Congressional Long Island Sound Caucus. “It will enable us to connect local, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations, across the Long Island Sound watershed, and give them necessary resources to protect the Sound. In addition to protecting the natural beauty of the Sound, this helps create tourism and recreation jobs, bolstering our economy. This level of coordination and funding is unprecedented, and a great step forward for Connecticut.”

 

“For the strength of our regional economy and the long term health of our environment, preservation of the Long Island Sound and its watershed is imperative,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal. “Connecticut is leading the region in this vital effort to ensure our waterways, farmland and forests continue to thrive as we confront the looming challenge of climate change. This powerful collaboration will pay dividends for generations to come, and I look forward to continuing to support this important work.”

 

“This new initiative provides an incentive for local conservation districts, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations to collaborate on a landscape scale program to protect Long Island Sound,” said Denise Savageau, President of the Connecticut Association of Conservation Districts. “The RCPP will allow us to better leverage resources and will serve as a catalyst for new public-private partnerships within the watershed.”

 

“This multi-organization initiative provides land use managers the tools and resources to make a significant positive impact on conditions affecting Long Island Sound and its tributaries,” said Jeff Folger, Chair of the Connecticut Council on Soil and Water Conservation.

 

“The Connecticut River Watershed Council is pleased to be one of the project partners that will be using the RCPP award to improve the health and vitality of both the Connecticut River and the Long Island Sound,” said Andrew Fisk, Executive Director of the Connecticut River Watershed Council. “These two iconic New England waterbodies contribute mightily to the quality of life and the economy of New England, so we are proud to be working with landowners to help them do their part to restore and protect the public’s water.”

 

“The Nature Conservancy is excited to be part of the Long Island Sound Watershed Regional Conservation Partnership Program,” said Kim Lutz, Director of the Conservancy’s Connecticut River Program. “These funds will provide critical dollars to address conservation needs in two connected natural systems that are priorities for the Conservancy: the Long island Sound and the Connecticut River systems. We’re especially happy to have the opportunity to expand our work helping improve resilience in the face of a changing climate. The Conservancy is extremely grateful to Congressman Joe Courtney, of Connecticut’s 2nd District, and Congressional representatives throughout the multistate Long Island Sound watershed for support of this funding. We look forward to working with the NRCS and a diverse array of partners throughout the region to achieve the projects’ ambitious goals.”

 

“Long Island Sound is one of the Northeast’s greatest natural resource and deserves our protection and preservation,” said DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee.  “As it is a regional resource, it requires regional efforts to ensure its health – the funding we are receiving today will help make this happen.” 
“Protecting the shellfish-rich waters of Long Island Sound by helping farmers implement best-management practices on working farmlands is critical to sustaining the growth of Connecticut’s thriving agricultural economy,” state Department of Agriculture Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky said. “This funding will help ensure that these vital natural resources continue to produce both healthy food for consumers and a prosperous living for our hardworking farmers and other agricultural producers. I applaud the NRCS for this innovative approach that leverages resources and enlists the collaboration of all involved stakeholders.”
“We are thrilled to be part of this pivotal legacy initiative,” said Highstead Conservation Director Emily Bateson. “Highstead works with 20 public-private conservation collaboratives across the Long Island Sound Watershed who now have an opportunity to partner with the Natural Resource Conservation Service to dramatically increase land and clean water protection for future generations.”
Two additional state projects were selected for funding:
  • Achieving Agricultural Water Security in Connecticut through RCPP was submitted by the University of Connecticut. Partners will utilize $400,000 in RCPP funds to work with producers to help optimize food production, improve irrigation efficiency, reduce impacts of drought, and become economically resilient in the face of greater climate variability.
  • Improving Soil Health and Water Quality in the Thames River Watershedwas submitted by The Last Green Valley. Partners will utilize $400,000 in RCPP funds work to improve soil health and water quality in the Thames River Watershed. The long-term objective is to implement soil health conservation practices through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program on 1,000 acres of cropland and show a measurable improvement of edge-of-field and in-stream water quality, including a decrease in nutrient and turbidity levels. 
Projects not selected in this first year may be eligible in subsequent years. The next announcement of program funding for FY 2016 will be made later this year. For more information on Connecticut RCPP projects, visit the Connecticut NRCS website, or view the full list of projects on the National NRCS website.

What Every CT Resident Needs to Understand About UConn Extension

Posted on by

CES 100 greenI wish UConn Extension was not the best-kept secret in the state. It’s time everybody knew what a tremendous resource Extension is. Congress established the Cooperative Extension System as a national network in 1914 to tie university research to real life. UConn Extension programs have evolved over time, and as our state has changed, so has Extension to meet new and emerging needs. One hundred years after its inception, UConn Extension continues to impact the lives of our citizens statewide as it did 100 years ago.

 

The Smith lever Act came out of Congress to help communities grow better crops and plants, use land more wisely and provide safer food. It began by engaging youth through 4-H, their parents through adult education and farmers through training in cropping systems and business management. Those concepts still hold today but it has gone beyond rural agriculture and into urban audiences. These are “university” students in the community who still have concerns about growing food in a variety of ways, still have concerns about how we use our land and now more than ever, want information about food safety and nutrition.

 

A recent analysis found eleven or more UConn Extension programs are delivered in every single town throughout Connecticut. Over one hundred UConn Extension faculty and staff deliver 282 established programs that are grouped into four broad topic areas: food production, healthy living, environmental sustainability, and youth development/leadership. Here are a few examples of how UConn Extension has touched my life and is making a difference in the lives of others:

 

  • Ten years ago I became a Certified Master Gardener through UConn Extension. It opened my eyes to the impact that suburban homeowners have on polluting streams and waterways with fertilizer runoff, herbicides and pesticides. Our landscape management practices are dramatically different today; and my family is far more sensitive to reuse – we recycle to protect our environment and its limited resources.
  • Last month while preparing for an upcoming Farm Tour to benefit Extension, I met with a farmer who spoke with deep appreciation, and respect for his UConn Extension specialist. He helped the farmer implement techniques that reduce land erosion and production costs. Keeping farmers prosperous and productive makes our state a better place to live.
  • Ever since volunteering in a program to feed homeless, I’ve been sensitive to the thousands of people in our state who live with food insecurity, (not knowing when or where they’ll get their next meal). In 2013, UConn Extension helped research and publish a town-by-town analysis that provides those who run meal programs with much needed data to battle hunger in their towns. UConn Extension also directly helps families receiving government food assistance by sending their Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program specialists to community centers, teaching people how to stretch food assistance dollars with healthy food choices, and tasty meals.
  • The scope of 4-H has expanded since I was a member of a 4-H Club in Pennsylvania more than 40 years ago. Today over 17,700 Connecticut youth are enrolled in traditional clubs, and urban clubs located in towns like Bridgeport, Danbury, New Haven and Hartford. Just as they did years ago, 4-H still emphasizes learning by doing, and nurtures leadership and citizenship skills important to creating strong, capable, future adults. The urban 4-H clubs provide after school programs that educate youth while keeping them safe and off the streets.

 

Remember, UConn Extension has 282 programs, plus thousands of electronic and written resources designed for consumers like you and me. Many services are free, low cost or priced at very affordable rates to defray costs.  Our federal and state tax dollars along with over $6.8 million in external grants, obtained by Extension educators, enable UConn Extension to be accessible and relevant information for the needs and concerns of today’s Connecticut. Explore the hundreds of services and programs available through your UConn Extension!  Find out more by visiting: www.extension.uconn.edu

 

Jennifer Riggs

UConn Extension volunteer

Chair, Centennial Committee