Friday Feedback for June 29, 2018 Independence Day Independence Day is annually celebrated on July 4 and is often known as "the Fourth of July". It is the anniversary of the publication of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776. Patriotic displays and family events are organized throughout the United States. The Declaration of Independence is an important part of American democracy because first it contains the ideals or goals of our nation. Second, it contains the complaints of the colonists against the British king. Third, it contains the arguments the colonists used to explain why they wanted to be free of British rule. Deputy Switch Among the changes that were effective last Monday was a switch in Deputy Director roles. Kif and Ty essentially traded places, which places Kif over the NASDA coordinators. There is still a lot of learning to do for everyone in their new roles, so a little patience is needed. In the end, all involved will become more knowledgeable and better prepared for changes to come. Plus there will be opportunities for those in their new roles to try out some new ideas. What hasn t changed, however, is the entire office s commitment to working together to meet the challenges of data collection and estimates preparation.
Friday Feedback for June 22, 2018 Regional Office Restructuring Kalaus The GLR will be restructuring next week. Starting Monday, June 25, Ann Courser will be taking over for Jim Collom as the leader of the Livestock Group. Jim will be replacing John Miyares as the Field Crop and Estimates group leader, and John will be taking over for Ann as the Standardized Surveys lead. Finally, Kif Hurlbut and Ty Kalaus will be swapping deputy positions. We expect the transition to go smoothly, but please bear with us as we work our way through the details. Please feel free to call the front deck to get your calls routed correctly. As always, contact your Supervisor or NASDA coordinator if you have any questions or concerns. Things to see in the Great Lakes Region Quilt Gardens in Elkhart, IN provides awesome tours of flower gardens and murals that are free to the public from June to October. With over a million blooms to witness, you'll want to explore this unique garden. Petoskey State Park just outside the aptly named city of Petoskey, MI makes for surprising success in the hunt for Michigan's state stone. For agates, Grand Marais in the Upper Peninsula is well situated on a Lake Superior beach part sandy, part filled with colorful rock treasures. The Gitche Gumee Agate and History Museum is great for its impressive mineral collection and hunting inspiration.
Nestled within a scenic nature preserve, the 123-acre Inniswood Metro Gardens, in Westerville, Oh, is a source of inspiration for all ages. Streams and woodlands filled with wildflowers and wildlife provide a majestic backdrop to the beautifully landscaped areas. Inniswood boasts more than 2,000 species of plants, specialty collections and several theme gardens. Friday Feedback for June 15, 2018 June Surveys are Concluded - Courser June Surveys are complete and we just finished running the final summaries. Thank you everyone who had a part in this huge project. We truly appreciate everyone s hard work and dedication which allowed us to finish June Area on time and under budget. Furthermore, the response rates for this year s survey exceeded last year s. You are awesome! We hope that everyone has a wonderful Father s Day weekend. If you haven t already done so, please mail your aerial photos to the regional office. Summer Solstice Summer Solstice, June 21, is sometimes referred to as "Midsummer Litha". It's the longest day of the year. The amount of daylight only goes down from here...for the next six months. Summer Solstice is the meteorological start of summer. It's time to enjoy vacations, great weather, pools, baseballs, and everything else that goes along with the favorite season of kids and most adults. Grab your favorite beverage and enjoy the season, because for many of us it is all too short.
Friday Feedback for June 8, 2018 June Area - Courser It s Friday and we are in the thick of it for June Area. We know you are too! Thank you for all your hard work on the survey as well as time spent on Crops APS and June Hogs. As of Friday afternoon, we have received 45% of completed segments and 41% of known Ag Tract Questionnaires in the office. REMEMBER Monday is the last day to ship UPS. Please make sure you use a Next Day Air UPS shipping label and keep track of your UPS Tracking codes. Also, as you finish up with that one last Segment Tract Edit please keep the following things in mind: Always include the preprinted screener with a bar code when mailing in segments. Not having the bar code slows down the check-in process. If you used a Section D Supplement, DO NOT tape, staple or clip the form to the tract questionnaire. Be sure the segment number, and tact letter are on the form and insert in the tract questionnaire. If a farmer is operating multiple tracts in a segment, one tract letter should be used for everything he s operating. DO NOT GIVE EACH TRACT A SEPARATE LETTER!!! If a phone number is printed on a label, it is not necessary to copy it over in the phone cell on the back page. I hope you have a productive weekend. There will be a few staff here in the office on Saturday, June 9. If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact Ann or Ty on their direct lines.
Friday Feedback for June 1, 2018 Enumeration Procedures - Magen For ALL surveys - If an operator indicates that they are going to mail a form or do the survey on their computer do not submit the form through MOST or on paper. Submitting the form can prevent the operator from completing the form online, as well as prevent follow up if the operator does not follow through. This is particularly important for large operations. If an enumerator hears this phrase from a respondent: I already mailed it in. Leave the record unfinished in MOST. Inform your supervisor why you left the record open in MOST. If the record is still not checked-in after the survey s call-out date, attempt to re-contact the operator to collect the data. If you are unable to make contact during the call-out period, code the record a refusal on the last day of data collection. Include a note in MOST to describe what happened. June Area Status & Edits Courser Although today is only the first day of June, I know that many of you have already started the huge undertaking we call June Area. Thank you to those who have gotten out and got an early start. We have only 11 days left of enumeration, but the end will be here before you know it! As of Friday morning, we already received 3 completed segments, 21 Ag Tracts (1.0% of expected) and 8 Tracts from new Segments. A couple of things to keep in mind as we move into next week: If there are any changes to the operation name, please record the complete correct NAME & ADDRESS information in the space provided on front page. This is very important. If we receive updates to the Operation Name but not the Operator, we cannot assume it is the same individual operating. If there are no changes, please just check the [Verify label if present] box. Section C, Crop Stocks/Cattle Boxes, Page 3: If only one box is checked at the bottom of Page 3, continue through the screening questions. PLEASE DO NOT check the second box, unless instructed, as it will effect skip instructions on subsequent pages (Page 8 for Crops, Page 12 for Cattle).
Section D, p4: If there is a farmstead in Field 1, nothing else can go in that field (no crops, no woods, no waste). Section D, p4: There cannot be more than 4.9 acres of waste in a Crop Field. 5.0 acres or more must be drawn off as a separate field. Section E, p7: If the tract acres = total acres and there is no Farmstead in the tract, there needs to be a farmstead accounted for outside the tract. BACK PAGE, p24: Code the Response/Respondent/Mode cells in the boxes that contain the appropriate Item Codes. Thank you again for all your hard work. Please keep in touch with your Supervisors and NASDA coordinators if you have any questions or concerns. National Doughnut Day National Doughnut Day, always the first Friday in June, honors the Salvation Army "Lassies" of WWI. It is also used as a fund raiser for needy causes of the Salvation Army. The original Salvation Army Doughnut was first served by Salvation Army in 1917. During WWI, Salvation Army "lassies" were sent to the front lines of Europe. These brave volunteers made home cooked foods, and provided a morale boost to the troops. Often, the doughnuts were cooked in oil inside of the metal helmet of an American soldier. The American infantrymen were commonly called doughboys. Salvation Army lassies were the only women outside of military personnel allowed to visit the front lines. Lt. Colonel Helen Purviance is considered the Salvation Army's "first doughnut girl". On National Doughnut Day, look to see if you re local doughnut shop, or other organizations, are offering free donuts to solicit donations for the Salvation Army or for another needy cause. If you find them, please be generous. The term "Doughboy" was popular in referring to U.S. Army infantryman during World War I. American foot soldiers were occasionally called doughboys during the Civil War. The earliest references to the term, comes from the U.S-Mexican war. National Doughnut Day was established in 1938 by the Chicago Salvation Army to raise muchneeded funds during the Great Depression, and to honor the work of World War I Salvation Army volunteers who prepared doughnuts and other foods for thousands of soldiers.