Bottom of the 9th

A group of us are taking in the last game of the regular season. Go D. Backs!!!!!!

Shamrock Farms!

Greetings from shamrock farms!
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Biosphere 2

Soaking up a little humidity in the tropical rain forest. Then learned a little about the local water districts and their challenges.
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Desert turf

Lots of Bermuda grass with Rye for spring fill.
Maintaining a year round green surface in the Arizona desert requires 5 acre feet of water. Average annual rainfall...10 inches. Hmmm.
Other than water, biggest challenge is salt.
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U of A Controlled Enviroment Ag Center

We met with Dr. Giacomelli and got to see inside one of their greenhouses.  Where they are currently growing tomatoes.

Controlled Evironment Ag Center at U of A

Dr G. Giving us a tour of a "lab" at the center where the students grow tomatoes
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On the road again

We are on the road to Arizona. We say good bye to New Mexico and all of the wonderful people who made our time there so incredible.  Thank you for sharing your time, your passion for ag  and your generous hospitality.

NM Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte Speaking to Class VIII

Secretary Witte challenged Class VIII to speak out about where the food on our plates comes from. The story to share back home is the US farmer is a true hero. Today one US farmer feeds 153 people and will need to ramp up to feed 508 people by 2050.

Hot Topics

At the New Mexico Department of Agriculture in Las Cruces learning about the first hand experiences of farmers James Johnson and Dino's Cervante. Mr. Cervantes grows chili peppers and makes 40,000,000 pounds of mashed peppers sold every year for the hot wing sauce used at Hooters, Applebees and other places.

Dear Class VIII,

I was so disappointed to hear of your negative experience with the bus driver last evening. After placing a telephone call to the bus company, I am hopeful today will be a better travel day. Keep your spirits up and the positive attitudes coming. Thank you for letting me know about this. Thanks too for keeping the blog updated. I love reading it everyday.

Los Uvas Valley Diary

The Horton's were great hosts while showing us their dairy and farming operations.  Here we are touring one of the milking barns.

Moo-ving animals cross borders serious business

Staggered by the organization and efficiency neded to get 300,000-plus head of cattle from Mexico to the US every year.

Nature

Seen and heard so far: bugling elks, prairie dogs, goats, dairy cows, long horn steers, horses. Hoping to see road runners!

Rio Salado Sand Dunes

We made  a quick stop here on our way to Hatch, NM to visit Las Uvas Dairy.

Home Stay on Goemmer Ranch

During our home stay Will, Jim, Daniel and I enjoyed steaks "Chuck Wagon" style.
The next morning we were joined by Lee, Roland and Darrell for a tour of the wind farm.
Couple quick facts about the wind farm: 150 foot long blades making 15 RPM, on a 1,000 ft arc traveling about 165 mph.
TJD

Homes Away From Home

Just heard Class VIII home stay adventures ranging from goat milking to Horses for Heroes (a Wounded Warriors Project) to family dinners capped off by gtren cihili apple pie! We will be swapping stories for days. Awesome times!

Cattleman's Field Day

The cattle have lots of space out here

 

60,000 acres to roam

Dinner was great and topped of with homemade peach cobbler and apple pie with green chilies. Thanks Laura and Ashley!

King Brothers Ranch

Lee, Jenn, Kim, Roland, Jamie, and Darrell out on the range

Valles Caldera

Dina took Jack, Amanda, Michael, Stanley, Carl and Callie riding through the preserve.  What an amazing place. 

Home stay hosts are awesome!

On our way to the New Mexico State Fair Rodeo!!

Insider's tour of New Mexico State Capital

Our amazing behind the scenes tour of the Capital in Santa Fe, courtesy of Myles Culbertson and Caren Cowan, included seeing an example of the dead on accuracy of NM Gov. Susana Martinez.

Lunch at El Pinto

Fantastic and authentic New Mexican cuisine at El Pinto! Hey Class VIII your gonna love it!
TJD

Arrived in New Mexico, Land of Enchantment

A day of cross country travel from DC to Albuquerque. Class VIII has hit the ground running and looking forward to meeting our gracious homestay hosts tomorrow.

Leaving DC

We are boarded and ready to head to New Mexico for the second half of our national trip.

Boarding SW flight 2364

Albuquerque here comes Class VIII!

Learning who our roomies are

Fred sharing the coveted news of who we are rooming with in New Mexico.

Safe Travels Class VIII

Dear Class VIII,

As you venture on to the second leg of your national travel experience, I hope you have a safe trip and wonderful seminar experience.

Take 2

Happy Birthday Amy Kinder
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Class 8 Kennedy Center

Class 8 has a date at the Kennedy Center just before eight. We just ate and all are feeling Great! Class 8 IS GREAT!
TJD

Happy Birthday Amy! Wish you were here.

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Close Up of Rep. Rooney's license plate

A "Beef" tag is on the front of his pickup truck!

A Most Awesome Capitol Building Tour Guide!

Class VIII hit the jackpot with a U.S. Capitol Building tour personally conducted by Congressman Tom Rooney (FL-16)!

Democracy in Action

Great meeting with Congressman Dennis Ross (FL-12)! Appreciate his hard word on Numeric Nutrient Criteria/NPDES issues dealing with the Clean Water Act and grateful that he's watching out for agriculture when it comes to immigration policy.

Here we are at the French Embassy getting ready for the International trip.

VIP Treatment from CLA, TFI, RISE, ARA, & Syngenta!

Grateful for the warm DC hospitality shown to Florida and Hawaii ag and natural resources leadership participants tonight by CropLife America, The Fertilizer Institute, RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment), Agricultural Retailers Association and Syngenta-they graciously entertained us with a sponsored reception/dinner at the Capitol City Brewing Company. A wonderful time had by all!

On the bus to the War College

We look fed and happy after lunch.

Marcie Downing
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Political Science and Public Policy

Lessons in debt reduction, tax reform and an intro course to political science this morning courtesy of American University's Dr. Thurber. Fascinating!

Class III and IV Alums put out the red carpet for us

Grateful to Stephanie Grunenfelder and Ray Gilmer for their hospitality and their insights into the national political agenda. What a lovely start to our national trip!

WLI Class VIII has arrived in DC

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National Adventure Begins!

Arrived safely in DC--amused to learn the heaviest bags belonged to some of the guys! Packing for downtown DC and the Wild West in one bag was definitely challenging!

Hot off the Press!

Calling all Alumni! Read this!

Hot off the press (or keyboard, I should say): Wedgworth Leadership Institute Holds Annual Meeting

Here's a glimpse:



Check your inbox for the rest of the news release. It was sent out earlier this morning.

Happy reading!

IMG-20110919-00028.jpg

Marcie Downing
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Taking off

Our adventure begins. Class VIII is on the plane about to take off to Washington, DC.
Marcie Downing
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Changes are a comin'!

Howdy all!

Just to alert everyone: I will be making some changes to the blog over the next few weeks. Many of the changes are to enhance the overall look and feel of the blog and should not affect the way you post.

If you have any concerns, or have trouble posting, please let me know.

I may be trying out some different looks, etc, but will post once changes are complete. So just bear with me during the interim!

Thank you all,

McKenzie W. Smith

Pre-trip prep

Trying to get to everything on my to-do list before leaving for our National seminar...and going a little crazy...then saw this on a business marquee: "The secret to getting things done is to know what to leave undone."

My third-grader is explaining concept mapping to me so I can finish my Wedgworth homework before our national seminar!

WLI Wlecomes New Face

McKenzie Smith, a  leadership development graduate student in the Department of Agricultural Educaton and Communications at the University of Florida, has recently joined WLI to help Dr. Hannah Carter and its members with the Wedgworth Alumni Association, gathering and analyzing data, and handling some of the social media responsibilities.

McKenzie is from Sonora, Texas, and received her bacherlor's degree in agricultural communications and journalism from Texas A&M University. She is interested in ethics and women in leadership and agricultural leadership. She is recently married.

McKenzie is excited about this new opportuntiy and can't wait to meet some WLI folks!

Upcoming National Seminar

Psyched to hit DC, Arizona and New Mexico with my Class VIII friends and fearless leaders! Planning to bend a few ears about EPA's flawed Numeric Nutrient Criteria implementation in Florida while we are on the Hill.