Program Impacts

Rangeland Resources

• Rangeland education program had 1,212 student contacts during workshops, conferences, field tours and collaborative planning meetings.
• Continued participation in the Jordan Meadows Grazing Management Collaborative Planning Group, providing participants with the appropriate peer reviewed research available to help inform discussions and decisions.
• Continued the Santa Rosa Mountains “repeat photography study”. Conducted a state-wide forage-loss assessment used to implement the USDA Farm Services Agency’s Insurance Program.
• Provided extensive comment on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s scoping document to permit aerial herbicide treatment of noxious weeds on Forest lands.
• Used funding from the USFS International Program to teach non-linear ecological concepts (using sage-grouse in Nevada as a model species) to graduate students at Samarkand State University, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
• Collaborated with Sergio Arispe, Oregon State University Extension, to create an educational video about livestock management for fine fuels. Available at:https://fine-fuels-vt.anrs.oregonstate.edu/.
• Completed a statewide forage loss assessment for the US Farm Services Agency, Disaster Assistance Program.

Noxious and Invasive Weeds

Noxious and invasive weeds are widespread throughout Nevada and threaten the productivity of cropland, pasture and rangeland. The Humboldt County Extension Educator continues to interact with the Paradise Valley Weed Control District, Nevada Department of Agriculture, the Nevada Conservation Districts and other entities to provide research based information for weed issues they encounter.

• There were over 400 student contacts at ten workshop presentations and other meetings.
• The focus of presentations this year was Herbicides: How they Work Influences their Selection; Roots, Carbohydrates and Herbicide Control and Weed Seedbanks. This education informs students about the importance of properly timing herbicide treatments for each species, and the need for a long-term follow-up control program.
• The Humboldt County Commission continued to supplement the Extension budget ($25,000) for weed control and management efforts. These resources helped implement weed control efforts on several thousand acres in fiscal year 2023.
• Published a manuscript about Foxtail Barley, as part of the ongoing series, Priority Agricultural Weeds in Nevada.

4-H and Youth in Action

• The Humboldt County 4-H Program included day camps, special interest programming and traditional 4-H clubs. There were 15 volunteer leaders and 191 traditional club members with many parents who volunteered time to help within the clubs. 4-H youth exhibited over 300 projects (large animal, small animal and static presentations) at the 2023 Tri-County Fair, 4-H Small Animal Show and Tri-County Junior Livestock Show.
• Hosted Leading the Mucc youth leadership development workshops in the summer of 2023.
• Held the 2023 4-H County Awards Night program on December 1, 2023.
• Held the 2023 Humboldt County 4-H Horse Show in August.
• Partnered with the Humboldt County Cattle Women to host the yearly Presentation Day for the livestock and small animal youth.
• Collaborated with the Humboldt County Farm Bureau to implement Ag in the Classroom for 3rd graders and the French Ford Ag Field Day for 5th and 6th grade youth. Over 600 youth participated.
• Hosted the second annual Sonoma Classic Junior Livestock Jackpot in April 2024: 64 youth participants.
• Presented carcass data for all Humboldt County 4-H market animals and discussed acceptable and desired carcass characteristics including which carcass attributes receive a premium price, the value of each animal on the market grid, explanations for why each animal received its respective grade, and suggestions about how to improve carcass quality.
• Recruited a part-time 4-H program assistant to restart the in-school STEM programing for rural schools in Denio, Kings River, Orovada, and Paradise Valley.
• Continued collaboration with the Winnemucca Boys and Girls Club for youth development and leadership programming.

Support for other extension and community programs and program impacts

• Taught a module about plant growth and livestock grazing for the Beginning Farmer Rancher Program.
• Addressed various horticultural issues that affect County residents, and disseminates research based materials to help resolve those issues and educate the public.
• Extension faculty with statewide youth development roles have developed the Just in Time Parenting program which the Humboldt County Extension Office assists in implementing via dissemination of research based publications and materials.
• The Humboldt County Extension Office distributes home radon testing kits and disseminates literature about the dangers of radon gas, a primary cause of lung cancer among non-smokers.
• The Extension Educator resided on the Board of the Humboldt Development Authority (Vice-Chair).
• Provided weekly input to the U.S. Department of Agriculture | National Agricultural Statistics Service Crop Progress Report.
• An evaluation of the annual Statewide Forage Loss Assessment in 2023 found these reports resulted in $1,554,244 of insurance payments to Nevada Ranchers from 2018 through 2022.
• Scholarship published by the Extension Educator/Natural Resource Specialist and housed on ResearchGate was accessed and read 1,304 times and cited in 44 publications. This material was accessed by individuals from 72 countries.

Scholarship and Research in Humboldt County

• Schultz, B. and Foster S. Nevada’s Priority Agricultural Weeds: Foxtail Barley. UNCE Special Publication 23-06. 18 p.
• Schultz, B. 2023. 2023 Forage Loss Assessment for Nevada. Technical Report to the USDA Farm Services Agency. 50 p. Submitted on December 12, 2023.
• Arispe, S., Schultz, B, and Gomez-Novarro, M. 2023. Fine fuels management virtual tour: Nevada. Access at: https://fine-fuels-vt.anrs.oregonstate.edu/
• Perryman, B., Schultz, B., Meiman, P., Alverts, B. Harris, T., Taylor, M., Borden, B., Stringham, T., and McCuin G. 2023. Comments Regarding the Currently Proposed Public Lands Rule to Make Conservation a Land Use. Progressive Rancher. September, Pages 38-42.
• Schultz, B. 2023. Changes in aspen stands in the Santa Rosa Mountains in Humboldt County documented by photos over decades. Humboldt Sun. October 4, 2023.

REVENUE AND EXPENSES