West Virginia youths can join 75,000 of their peers in “discovering the treasures of 4-H” during National 4-H Week, held Oct. 7-13. Youths can go on a treasure hunt to explore the joys of 4-H, trying new experiences, serving their neighbors, gaining life skills and more along the way, by signing up for the West Virginia 4-H Youth Development program.
It could be argued West Virginians in rural communities need more prevalent access to healthcare and medical professionals — winding mountain roads and rivers can make it difficult for many to make appointments and maintain an active relationship with primary-care providers. Many small communities may not have a physician to provide routine guidance on simple, but serious, chronic ailments.
West Virginia University Extension Service is helping local farmers and agribusiness owners navigate new safety regulations and procedures while providing education and training to increase consumer safety from these foodborne illnesses. Teaming up with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and West Virginia State University, WVU Extension Service is offering a series of Food Safety Modernization Act training sessions for fruit and vegetable growers, as well as others interested in learning about produce safety.
The West Virginia University Extension Service will offer up a 10-day blend of tradition and future at the State Fair of West Virginia in Fairlea from Thursday (Aug. 9) to Aug. 18 through everything from time-honored livestock 4-H projects to the innovation of a championship robotics team.
As female involvement in West Virginia’s agriculture industry continues to grow, West Virginia University Extension Service’s Women in Agriculture team recognizes that the responsibility falls on their programming to help fulfill the needs of our state’s women farmers, innovators and entrepreneurs.
The West Virginia University Extension Service is partnering with the Green Bank Observatory, Pocahontas County Libraries and the Morgantown Public Library System to develop and guide the Leap into Science program in West Virginia through 2021.
The West Virginia University Extension Service has been teaming up with many drug court programs across the state to provide additional support and education that recovering addicts need to begin a new life. Illicit drug use in the United States has been steadily increasing, and in 2014 alone, more than seven million Americans who struggled with drug use. West Virginia has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in the United States and one-in-10 people in the state battle with some form of drug addiction.
The future of West Virginia’s state butterfly, the monarch, is in danger. Populations have declined so much that it is at risk of being placed on the endangered species list — a move that could have regulatory and economic impacts for the state. According to West Virginia University Extension Service Wildlife Specialist Sheldon Owen, most experts estimate that the Eastern population of monarchs has declined by 90 percent over the last 20 years
West Virginia University Extension Service’s 4-H program has been tapped to lead the 2018 NYSD challenge which will be held throughout October. WVU’s program was chosen via a competitive selection process conducted by the National 4-H Council, USDA-NIFA and Google to serve as the lead land-grant university for the event.
With new safety regulations and procedures in place for farmers and agribusiness owners, West Virginia University Extension Service is helping local growers navigate these changes while providing education and training to ensure consumer safety.