University of Nevada Cooperative Extension is engaged in Nevada communities, presenting research-based knowledge to address critical community needs in the areas of agriculture; children, youth and families; community and economic development; horticulture; health and nutrition; and natural resources. It is a county-state-federal partnership providing practical education to people, businesses and communities. It is a unit of the University of Nevada, Reno’s College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources, and plays a vital role in fulfilling the University’s land-grant mission.
PROGRAM IMPACTS
4-H
Lyon County 4-H is a youth development program for youth ages 5 to 19. It provides afterschool leadership, community service, volunteering and mentoring opportunities to all five major communities in Lyon County. It is important for mental, physical, emotional, and professional development that Lyon County youth become active in their community. 4-H provides more opportunities for achievement outside of school. Numerous Lyon County 4-H members have continued their association with the University of Nevada, Reno by attending college there.
From July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018, 4-H in Lyon County ran 29 clubs with 23 volunteers and 199 4-H members in clubs. Clubs included during this year were art and photography, cooking, pets and livestock, gardening, knitting and crochet, legos, sewing, ski and snowboard, and community club. There were 60 4-H projects entered in the Lyon County Fair. This year we had one Nevada State 4-H Ambassador from Lyon County.
Lyon County 4-H Leaders’ Council was able to award scholarships to two high school graduating seniors for the upcoming year.
SNAP-Ed | VEGGIES FOR KIDS | SPAN-ET
Veggies for Kids was an anti-obesity program geared towards kindergarten age children funded by the SNAP-Ed program. The main participants were kindergarten students in 26 classrooms throughout seven schools in Lyon County. Students learned in an age appropriate way where their food comes from, the five food groups, what each food group does for their bodies and why they need to play hard for 60 minutes a day. There was also a garden component at the schools that introduces students to gardening to further their understanding of vegetables and fruits. In the seven schools participating in the program in four communities we had 764 unduplicated students participating.
Pretests and posttests were administered to students. Data from these tests indicated that there was significant difference in the knowledge and behavior of the children who had gone through the program.
Staff and parents indicated they noticed a difference in children’s eating habits and that they were drinking more water throughout the day.
Social media also came into play by the efforts of Dr. David Harrison. He made several videos using the Garden Heroes. These videos helped youngsters understand the importance of eating fruits and vegetables daily. The estimated count of people reached on social media was 12,972.
The SPAN-Et program is a whole-school evaluation tool that assesses the physical activity spaces and equipment, nutritional services, nutritional educational components, and wellness policies of schools receiving our SNAP-Ed program. The purpose is to ascertain nutritional and physical activity possibilities at the school in order to evaluate long-term impacts of our SNAP-Ed programs. It has been adopted state-wide for use in Lyon, Washoe, Lincoln and Clark Counties. Lyon completed assessments in two schools, completed and delivered the reports to the principals which includes area of suggested improvements.
Programs such as Veggies for Kids and the SPAN-Et evaluation program are important to Lyon Community youth. Education and evaluation is a method to facilitate change.
MASTER GARDENER
The Master Gardener and horticultural program in Lyon County meets the educational needs of commercial to home use crop and ornamental production. Lyon County participated in the Grow Your Own workshops, pesticide applicator workshops, weed management workshops, food preservation classes and educational booths at events to educate the public. Lyon County has an ISA certified arborist and master gardener to do identification, diagnosis, landscape and garden plant recommendations, and presentations in those areas of expertise.
RADON
The goal of the Lyon County Extension radon program is to extend educational materials and test kits through Lyon County. Lyon County has a high occurrence of radon above the healthy level set by USDA. Testing homes for radon is the first step in preventing radon caused illness or mortality. We have distribution points in three locations across the county and also take requests for test kits via social media to reach parts of the county without a pick up location nearby. We encourage participation in the radon poster competition and the 2nd place poster in the 2018 Radon Poster Contest was from a Fernley student in Lyon County.
NEVADA CoCoRaHS
Drought and water related issue were known to be of high concern to Lyon County. Dr. Kerry Jean Ormerod through the CoCoRaH Nevada program targeted Lyon County for inclusion in that program. A CoCoRaH staff member was housed in the Lyon County office to facilitate outreach in rural communities and to increase drought reporting via the CoCoRah network. Lyon County has increased the number of participants and reporting sites. This program uses volunteer observers to report weather data from approximately 100 weather stations across Nevada with a valued effort of $25,000 in volunteer service. These efforts have increased the number of reports by 24% over the last year, while the national growth rate was only 3%.
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
The Lyon County Extension Educator played a large role in organizing, coordinating and facilitating the 2018 Bed Bug Workshop offered in Las Vegas in February 2018. Bed bugs have become a resurging problem locally as well as nation-wide. A panel of bed bug experts from the western United States traveled to Las Vegas to present related topics. This presentation was also broadcast interactively via video in Battle Mountain, Carson City, Elko, Fallon, Gardnerville, Reno and Yerington. This was a free workshop geared towards those individuals who deal with bed bug prevention and control. It provided 6.5 continuing education units towards recertification. There were 72 individuals attending this workshop in all locations.
FISCAL YEAR 2017 - 2018
Summary
$587,798 - Total Revenue
$77,622 - Total Expenses
$187,112 - Total Balance
Revenue
$388,059 - Grants
$125,996 - County
$73,743 - State
Lyon County Cooperative Extension
504 S. Main St. | Yerington, NV 89502
Marcia Moffitt, Program Manager
moffitm@unce.unr.edu | 775-463-6541
